Operations bought an EMS/IoT system without involving IT — now they just need “access to the router

[u/carpe_diem2022]

Hi there :) ,

Need some advice from people who have dealt with similar situations.

Our Operations Dept decided to install IoT system/digital energy meters across a fairly large factory site.

They found the vendor, agreed on the solution, signed the contract and started the project.

IT was not involved at all.

Apparently nobody discussed things like:

• How these devices spread across a large factory are actually going to communicate
• Network infrastructure, switches, fiber/cabling, VLANs, etc.
• Network/security segmentation
• Server/VM requirements
• Database requirements
• Backup and monitoring
• Internet connectivity
• Vendor remote access
• Firewall rules
• Cybersecurity

Now that the project is already moving forward, IT gets an email saying they need “access to the router” so they can put the system online.

That's it. Access to the router. :)

And somehow, when IT starts asking questions about architecture, security, server requirements, ports, protocols and who is responsible for what, the perception becomes that IT is delaying the project.

I don't want to become the guy who simply says “No”, but I'm also not going to give a third-party vendor access to our corporate router/firewall and connect a bunch of unknown industrial/IoT devices to the production network just because someone already signed a contract , the IT network must be always separate from OT network.

How do you handle situations like this?

Interested in both the technical approach and the organizational/process side of this.

[u/Brad_from_Wisconsin]

What does "access to the router" mean"
It could mean that they need to have the address of the router so that they can configure the devices that they will be installing.
Access could be granted the ability to have their equipment pass traffic to and from the router.
It could mean that they need to have a configuration made on the router to create a "guest" network for their devices to live on.
You need more information.
If they are asking for access to configure the live router, you need to step in and tell them that for security purposes, the configuration needs to be reviewed prior to it is put in and it needs to be set up by a network admin from IT.
You may gain a lot of credibility by stepping up to make sure that this implementation works. Just demand documentation and sign off prior to implementing anything.