
Turn IT/OT pilots into plant-wide wins
Learn the language, architecture, and governance to push past âjust a POCâ in our live online academy.
Letâs be honest…
Weâve all been talking about Industry 4.0 for over a decade now, but the dirty secret is: we still donât know how to scale beyond those first two flashy pilots, let alone cooperate between IT and OT.
The IT/OT Academy was created for exactly this moment. A live online course, in 6 sessions. Built by practitioners, for practitioners.
Whether youâre working in a factory, designing a solution, or advising clients: youâll finally get the frameworks and vocabulary to bridge the gap (and it’s made it the way we wished we were trained: short, to the point and brutally real đ )

Your instructors: David & Willem
Who is the IT/OT Academy training for?
đ¨âđť Iâm in IT
(and I need to work with OT)
You feel it. That cultural wall. The fear of breaking production when you propose a new solution. The meetings where âSCADAâ is thrown around and you quietly Google it later.
You want toâŚ
- Speak the OT language and earn trust on the plant floor.
- Lead digital projects that actually land.
- Future-proof your career with OT fluency.
đ Iâm in OT
(and I’m teaming up with IT)
You’re drowning in buzzwords (UNS, IIoT, AI…) but starving for a clear roadmap. You know your systems. But cloud? Data pipelines? Youâre not sure where to begin.
You want toâŚ
- Use data to improve operations, beyond just gut feel.
- Collaborate with IT as a partner, not a bottleneck.
- Modernize your plant without compromising safety or uptime.
đ ď¸ Iâm a Technology Vendor
(and I want to sell to both)
Your team builds great tech. But in the boardroom, the CIO loves your cloud pitch while the plant manager rolls their eyes.
You want toâŚ
- Design products that serve both domains.
- Communicate value in the right language, to the right people.
- Be seen as a trusted advisor, not just a product pusher.
đ§ Iâm a Consultant
(and I want an IT/OT playbook)
Your clients are navigating the IT/OT maze and they expect you to guide them. But too often, the strategy feels fuzzy and the delivery fragile.
You want toâŚ
- Structure IT/OT projects with confidence.
- Avoid cultural clashes and deliver lasting results.
- Earn credibility with a certificate and real-world tools.
Next live-online cohorts start August 29 and September 5
What others sayÂ
On our road-trip to the Pyrenees I binged your 12-part podcast series. Really solid contentâkeep it up! My wife and kids were sound asleep, so the tech depth was clearly high enough. đ
David and Willem cut straight through the Industry 4.0 buzz. At our Barcelona Innovation Summit they turned the âUNSâ concept from a slide-deck acronym into a practical blueprint our engineers and customers could start wiring the very next week. Their mix of strategic clarity and hands-on data-management tactics helped the attendees see how connectivity, governance and change management actually fit together.
Recently, I discovered itotinsider.com and I am going through all of The IT/OT Insider podcast backlog.Â
Normally I listen to podcasts in the gym, walking, in the car – but that doesn’t work here, there is too much value and I need to make notes!!!
I want to give a shout-out to the podcast content creators David Ariens and Willem van Lammeren – their interviews with industry leaders are full of golden nuggets. I have listened to some of the podcasts multiple times.
The Industrial Platform Capability Map referenced in the blog and put together by David Ariens and the team at The IT/OT Insider is a great framework for thinking about deploying an enterprise ready solution. [..] Trying to solve these one at a time may seen intuitive but leads to an unmanageable mess of software applications and custom code piecing together what should be an enterprise platform that scales.Â
What Youâll Master in 6 Weeks
Session 1 – 3:
Core Program
Understand
Why IT and OT see the world so differently (and what to do about it).
Cooperate
Learn the proven models that drive collaboration (and avoid those that kill momentum)
Scale
Translate small wins into real change. From pilots to sustainable platforms: UNS, Industrial DataOps, AI and more.
Session 4:
Sweet Harmony Treats
Meet your playground: Sweet Harmony Treats, a large industrial bakery known for their dangerously delicious waffles (hey, weâre proud of our Belgian culinary heritage ;)).
During the course, youâll step into both IT and OT shoes to work on a hands-on digitalization case. Your mission? Help Sweet Harmony Treats digitize their operations, without breaking what’s already working. Youâll analyze their challenges, map out opportunities, and co-create a digital roadmap with your cohort. You’ll be guided by our core frameworks and receive feedback from us and guest experts.
Because you donât learn digital transformation from theory, you learn it by doing.
Session 5:
Practitioner Panel
In this session, we invite experienced industry leaders to share how theyâve actually applied the principles we teach. For example: How do organizational models play out when the pressure is on? What does DataOps really look like on the factory floor?
No theory, no fluff. Just candid stories from people whoâve done the hard work: what worked, what failed, and what theyâd do differently.
Youâll have the chance to ask questions, challenge ideas, and connect directly with the people shaping the future of industrial digitalization.
Session 6:
Ask Us Anything + Case Debrief
Still have questions? Good.
In our final session, we open the floor entirely to you. This is your space to bring up topics we didnât cover or dive deeper into ones that hit close to home.
Whether itâs a sticky stakeholder issue, a specific tech question, or just âHow would you handle this in my plant?â, weâre here for it.
No script. No slides.
Next live-online cohorts start August 29 and September 5
Meet Your Instructors
David Ariens â Data scientist turned digital transformation architect. Expert in industrial cybersecurity, MES/MOM, and OT data platforms. Loves the human factor, but is passionate about tech.
Willem van Lammeren â Chemical engineer with a love for IT. Experienced across OT, ERP, and infrastructure. Passionate about bridging strategy and execution.
Together, they host The IT/OT Insider: a podcast and blog followed by 10,000+ professionals. Now, they’re bringing their insights live to your screen.
Curious? Take a sneak peek
















Next live-online cohorts start August 29 and September 5
What others sayÂ
Before this training, every time I walked into the plant I felt like an outsider: i didn’t quite understand what the Operations people were talking about. On the other hand, we still had a clear mandate to start a roll out of our Fabric project. What David and Willem taught us completely changed that. I now speak the OT language without dumbing things down or stepping on toes.
David Ariens’ latest article on Industrial Data Platform Capability Maps is a must-read for anyone tackling the complexities of Industrial DataOps. With a clear breakdown of the seven main capabilitiesâConnectivity, Contextualization, Data Quality, Data Broker & Store, Analytics, Visualization, and Data SharingâDavid brings clarity to a space thatâs often overwhelming. Thank you, David, for your thought leadership in helping us all cut through the noise in IT/OT integration! đ
Great introduction to the UNS concept for the uninitiated! Good to bring some nuance into the topic: multiple namespaces, building a vision and being use case/outcome driven rather than technology driven.
As a sales manager for industrial software, I thought I knew how to pitch to OT. Turns out I was mostly speaking âITâ with a strong accent.
This training gave me the context I didnât know I was missing… about the stuff that matters on the shop floor, how decisions actually get made, and why some of our best features werenât resonating. Honestly, we just don’t have the OT/Operations expertise in our team. This training is now part of everybody’s onboarding program đ
Questions?
What happens if I cannot make it to one of the sessions?
Every session is recorded and you will receive the recording and the courseware afterwards.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes, you get a certificate of completion at the end of the program if you followed a minimum of 4 sessions live.Â
Can my company buy multiple seats and is there a discount possible?
Yes, starting at 3 seats we offer a 20% discount, for 6 seats and more 30% discount on the list price. Mail us at academy@itotinsider.com to get a custom quote.
Do I get an invoice?
Yes, you will get an invoice after payment.
I need to go through purchasing first, can I get a quote?
Yes, mail us at academy@itotinsider.com and donât forget to add your company details.
Can I book this training on behalf of someone else?
Yes, you can book the training using your own name, drop us a mail at academy@itotinsider.com with the name and email address of the person who is actually following the academy
Are refunds possible?
If you have read our small print, you’ll notice that we don’t do refunds.
Why? Because once the training has started, you have access to all materials.
However, if you would be unexpectedly unavailable at the time of your cohort, we can move you into another cohort taking place now or in the future. If you notify us that you cannot make it, the training has not started yet, and no other cohorts are available, we will refund you.Â
How can I attend the sessions?
You will receive a link to the video conferencing system before each session.
Do you also offer an e-learning?
Currently not, but we plan to in the future. We are now launching live classes (the recordings will be made available afterwards for you to rewatch).Â