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New research from Cyolo found that 67 percent of respondents across the manufacturing sector identified improved third-party collaboration... The post Cyolo finds secure remote access key driver of manufacturing efficiency, growth, competitive advantage appeared first on Industrial Cyber.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: Secure Remote Access Shifts from Cost Center to Growth Catalyst in Manufacturing
## Summary
New research from Cyolo reveals that 67% of manufacturing leaders view improved third-party collaboration as the top benefit of secure remote access (SRA), challenging the premise that cybersecurity hinders productivity. The findings position SRA as a key enabler for Industry 4.0 initiatives, driving operational efficiency and measurable business value, especially amid high levels of vendor connectivity.
## Key Details
- **Date:** Announcement of research findings (No specific date mentioned, reported recently).
- **Companies Involved:** Cyolo (Commissioned the research) and Takepoint Research (Conducted the survey).
- **Category:** Market Research / Industry Trends.
## The Story
Cyolo commissioned Takepoint Research to survey 535 CISOs, CIOs, OT security leads, and operations managers across North America and EMEA regarding secure remote access (SRA) in the manufacturing sector. The report, "Can Cybersecurity Drive Growth? The Strategic Role of Secure Remote Access in Manufacturing," found that SRA delivers significant business benefits beyond pure protection. Improved third-party collaboration (67%), increased operational efficiency (58%), and cost savings (50%) were cited as key advantages. This research directly contrasts the historical view of cybersecurity as purely an inhibitor. The findings are critical as OT environments accelerate digitalization and AI adoption, with 88% of manufacturers granting remote access to third parties for operational tasks, highlighting the need for robust controls over widespread vendor access. Furthermore, manufacturers are actively planning for AI integration into their remote access security strategies (96% plan to integrate AI). Despite this necessity, user experience satisfaction with current OT SRA solutions is low (Average score of 2.5/5).
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **Cyolo:** The research strategically positions Cyolo and its SRA solutions as essential tools for manufacturers seeking to realize measurable business gains, not just mitigate risk, potentially driving product adoption by aligning with executive growth priorities.
### For Competitors
- Competitors must adapt their messaging to align SRA solutions with business enablement (efficiency, uptime, reduced friction) rather than solely focusing on traditional defensive posture messaging. The low UX scores identified create an opportunity for vendors prioritizing usability.
### For Customers
- Manufacturers realize that enhancing SRA can directly improve uptime, agility, and innovation velocity, especially critical for managing complex supply chains and IT/OT convergence. However, current tools are often delivering poor user experiences, suggesting an immediate need for modernization.
### For the Market
- This signals a maturation of the operational technology (OT) security market, moving beyond basic compliance checkboxes toward viewing security infrastructure as a competitive differentiator that enables faster digital transformation (Industry 4.0). The high adoption of MFA (69%) and early moves toward Zero Trust (34%) confirm the hardening of OT environments.
## Technical Implications
The findings strongly support the integration of AI into SRA security for real-time threat detection and proactive risk identification. The pervasive need for highly usable, adaptive, and risk-based controls mirrors the principles of Zero Trust, emphasizing context (device health, behavior) for access decisions over static rules. The focus on improving centralized logging and monitoring is vital for effective governance and incident response in complex OT environments.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** SRA is being repositioned from a necessary cost/risk avoidance tool to a strategic business enabler, directly supporting C-suite goals related to efficiency and growth targets.
- **Competitive Advantage:** Vendors who successfully marry strong security controls (like MFA/ZT adoption) with exceptional user experience (UX) for frontline and third-party workers will gain significant ground over legacy providers with cumbersome systems.
- **Challenges:** Despite high awareness, only 34% have begun ZT implementation, indicating a significant gap between recognizing the need for advanced frameworks and actual deployment maturity in OT. Poor UX currently impedes adoption and adherence.
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Analysts are likely supportive of the findings, as they validate the market shift where security investments must demonstrate quantifiable ROI beyond simple breach avoidance, aligning with broader enterprise IT strategy.
- **Expert Commentary:** Executives like Almog Apirion emphasize that better security directly leads to a "bigger bottom line," reinforcing the business case for security spending.
- **Market Response:** The high dependency on third parties (88% granting access) suggests vendors offering specialized, managed, and highly secure third-party access platforms will see accelerated demand.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions and Expectations:** Expect increased investment in AI-driven SRA features, particularly anomaly detection within OT networks. The divergence in compliance drivers between EMEA (more rigorous mandates) and North America will continue to shape regional deployment strategies.
- **What to watch for:** Watch for vendor announcements detailing measurable UX improvements in their SRA platforms, and pilot programs demonstrating AI's effectiveness in high-value remote access scenarios.
## For Security Professionals
Security and OT professionals should leverage this data internally to advocate for budget and modernization efforts. Specifically, they should focus on:
1. **Shifting the Narrative:** Frame SRA refresh projects around business enablement (uptime, speed) rather than just patching vulnerabilities.
2. **Prioritizing UX:** Advocate for solutions that frontline workers and essential vendors will *actually* use, as poor UX undermines even the best policies.
3. **AI Integration:** Begin planning for the integration of AI capabilities into access monitoring and threat detection to align with industry plans.