Coming October 2026
The IT/OT Handbook
A practical guide to bridging IT and OT in manufacturing, process industry, and critical infrastructure.
Why this Book
After more than a decade of Industry 4.0, digital twins and AI, you might feel as if you’re lagging behind. But the truth is that most companies still don’t know how to scale beyond those first two flashy pilots, let alone bridging the gap between IT and OT.
We looked for a book that shows the full picture: how technology, organisational dynamics, cooperation patterns and the cultural challenges all link together, but we coudn’t find one.
Two years ago, the two of us decided to write a book ourselves. A book rooted in the reality of the shopfloor, not on buzzwords and slides.
The IT/OT Handbook is the result of two years of research, hundreds of conversations with practitioners, and everything we’ve learned across decades digitalizing chemicals, food & beverage, and critical infrastructure, distilled into the three-step framework we wish someone had given us when we started.
“This book is a wonderful and overdue handbook for all Industry 4.0 practitioners who have been trying to access the value that we all know remains to be unlocked!”
—Zev Arnold, Principal Director, Accenture
The framework
Three steps: Understand, Cooperate, Scale.
Understand
COOPERATE
SCALE
These 3 steps are the framework our blog, the Handbook and the Academy are all built on. Not because it sounds neat, but because in that order our work actually holds together 🙂
Each step builds on the one before it, a bit like levelling up in a video game: you do not get to fight the final boss before you have learned to move. Everyone knows this. Plenty of organisations still try to skip straight to buying a platform nobody asked for.
But getting through the three steps once is not the finish line. Digital transformation is not a project with a start date, an end date and a closing slide. It is a cycle. Done well, every solution you deliver sparks the next idea, and the whole thing starts again with deeper understanding, stronger cooperation, and broader scale each time round.
Who is this book for
Written at the intersection of IT and OT
IT & OT Practitioners
Automation engineers, data scientists, plant IT managers, control-system specialists — the people implementing digital change on the shopfloor. You’ll get the frameworks to navigate the organisational mess that usually kills your technical work and the language to explain your problems to your management.
Consultants & Advisors
If you’re advising industrial clients on digital transformation, this book gives you the playbook. Cooperation patterns, data platform architecture, organisational maturity models — all grounded in manufacturing reality, not theory.
Operational & Technology Leaders
Plant managers, CIOs, CTOs, heads of manufacturing excellence — the people who fund, sponsor, and scale initiatives. You’ll understand why pilots stall, how to avoid failure and how to make transformation stick.
Vendors & System Integrators
If you’re delivering technology into industrial environments you only get a partial view. This book will help you understand the context in which your solutions and customers operate. From recognizing the hidden factors that can make or break a project , to how you can unblock them by bridging IT and OT.
Pre-order your book today
Pick your closest location.
Amazon ships globally. Barnes & Noble ships to most countries outside Europe.
Make sure to claim your bonus material after you have pre-ordered!
North & South America
Other
Barnes & Noble (Asia + Oceania)
Amazon UK (pre-order not yet available)
Amazon India (pre-order not yet available)
Redeem your pre-order bonuses
Did you pre-order our book via one of the online bookstores?
Claim our exclusive bonuses
→ Attend the exclusive virtual launch event on October 6 with speakers from IT and OT. Limited to the first 100 pre-orders.
→ Immediate access to our Cooperation Patterns Cheat Sheet
→ Immediate access to our Cooperation Virtual Masterclass
How?
Upload a proof of your pre-order below
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Bulk order our book
★ For vendors & event organisers
The perfect gift for your customers and events
Looking for something meaningful to give away at your next conference, user event, or end-of-year gift? Forget the branded USB sticks. Give your customers and prospects a book they’ll actually read — and that positions you as a company that understands the real challenges they face every day.
Bulk orders are available at reduced rates. And we’re not just authors sitting behind a desk — we’re happy to make it an experience:
- Host a webinar for your customers around the book’s themes
- Speak at your event or user conference
- Run a live book signing session
- Co-create a workshop combining our frameworks with your technology
Bulk orders available starting at 20 copies
Custom prints with your logo and custom page are also possible.