Many packaging machinery end-users are hesitant to invest in remote services technology for worries of some unwanted virtual guests.
That’s according to a survey conducted for PMMI Business Intelligence’s “2024 Trends in Remote Services and Monitoring” report. About 43% of surveyed end-users say cybersecurity is a main barrier to investment in remote services, along with 90% of OEMs.
Worries among OEMs and end-users could be attributed to cyberattacks in recent years, the report says.
The main fear among end-users regarding cybersecurity is malware, cited by about 77% of respondents. Most surveyed OEMs agree, with nearly 90% saying they are somewhat or very concerned about malware.
Supply chain attacks are another top concern among end-users, with about 73% saying they are somewhat or very concerned with the threat. About 85% of OEMs feel the same.
Close behind in end-user concern are data theft and tampering, which about 72% cite as a concern. About 90% of OEMs also say they are concerned about data theft and tampering.
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End-users strengthening IT networks and utilizing remote access delivery methods
Business Intelligence researchers say it seems end-users are becoming less concerned with cybersecurity as they have strengthened their IT networks and improved their methods of allowing remote access.
The metric of 43% of end-users saying cybersecurity is a main barrier to remote services investment comes only a few years after 100% saying it was a barrier in PMMI’s 2020 whitepaper "Trends in the Adoption of Remote Access: Moving Forward During COVID-19."
The proportion of end-users and OEMs currently utilizing (2023) each remote access delivery method, alongside the delivery methods they predict will be in-use by 2026 and which delivery methods were in use during 2020. Data for 2020 is taken from PMMI’s "Trends in the Adoption of Remote Access: Moving Forward During Covid 19."PMMI Business Intelligence: 2024 Trends in Remote Services and Monitoring
The method with the largest increase in end-user adoption from the 2020 whitepaper to now is externally managed secure networking. About 14% of end-users utilized the technology in 2020, compared to about 26% in 2023.
Use of externally managed secure networks to enable remote access is expected to continue to grow, with about 31% of end-users and about 48% of OEMs predicting they will use this method by 2026.
Compared with current usage, the largest increase among end-users is anticipated in converged networks, which is set to jump from about 12% to about 32% over the next three years.
In contrast, use of direct VPNs is expected to plummet from 71% in 2023 to about 18% in 2026, as other methods providing access to segmented sections on the plant floor network have greater appeal.
SOURCE: PMMI Business Intelligence: 2024 Trends in Remote Services and Monitoring
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