Enshittification in OT: Why Open Standards Win

Show notes

For the first time in a long while, all three hosts are in the same room. Jarie, David, and Andrew use the time for an impromptu episode on the state of the automation industry. They cover a framework for how vendor relationships go bad, the open-standards work that offers a way out, this week’s vendor news, and what’s coming in 2027.

Andrew introduces “enshittification,” a term he didn’t coin. It describes how products and services tend to get worse over time. The hosts apply it to OT software and vendor relationships, explain why Open Process Automation started, and use the ExxonMobil ACT project to show it working in a full commercial installation. Along the way they cover news from CODESYS, Yokogawa, and the Ignition conference.

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Key topics

• The enshittification cycle has four stages: efficiency (you pick the cheapest or most capable option), dependency (your processes and standards are built around it), weaponization (the vendor knows you’re stuck, so prices rise and quality drops), and escape (the pain gets high enough that you leave, even for a less efficient option).
• To escape weaponization, avoid the dependency stage. Depend on architectures and standards, not on one vendor’s products.
• About 14 or 15 years ago, ExxonMobil faced an obsolescence problem. Vendors said products would be unavailable in five or six years, while fixing the problem would take far longer and cost billions. Most automation migrations are infrastructure projects, not earnings projects, which makes them very hard to justify to a board.
• The ExxonMobil ACT project is a full commercial installation at the Baton Rouge chemical terminal, bid against other major vendors. It was delivered by CPLANE, COPA, and partners who adopted the OPA standards.
• The end user and the system integrator reported that it behaved like any other automation project, with the same timeline and staffing issues. The difference is that you aren’t stuck with one vendor.
• Vendors are moving to Linux and containers. Proof-of-concept work also exposed cybersecurity gaps and interoperability problems.
• CODESYS tech week: a Linux version and a web-based version for multi-user editing. The web version is still limited in functionality.
• Yokogawa announced a high availability product, expected to be shown at The Open Group in a couple of weeks. The hosts say it’s now possible with two vendors, and they distinguish high availability from simple redundancy.
• Ignition conference takeaways: the “open” tribe gathers there. Ignition is moving to yearly releases, and the next is Ignition 2027. COPA was recognized on stage for the high availability work.
• Choice and optionality: Ford versus Chevy, PC versus Mac, and cloud vendors. A half-inch wrench analogy argues that buyers should choose by function, economics, and need, not by brand.
• The rule going forward: no loss of control, no loss of view, and no loss of data.

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Welcome, and why the hosts are in the same room
• 00:46 — What “enshittification” means, and where it applies in OT
• 01:55 — The four-stage cycle: efficiency, dependency, weaponization and escape
• 03:51 — Proprietary lock-in, and why OPA aims to avoid the dependency stage
• 04:52 — The “SaaS apocalypse”: building your own tools with AI, and the price hikes that followed
• 05:42 — The automation conundrum: we need vendors, but not dependency
• 06:13 — Why ExxonMobil started OPA: obsolescence, and migrations too big to fund
• 07:54 — Vendors are moving to Linux and containers
• 09:20 — Cybersecurity gaps and interoperability problems from proof-of-concept work
• 10:18 — CODESYS tech week: Linux support and a web-based version
• 11:47 — The ExxonMobil ACT project in Baton Rouge
• 13:13 — “Just another boring automation project”
• 14:22 — Working with operators in the R&D pilot
• 15:50 — Yokogawa’s high availability announcement
• 17:20 — Relying on an architecture and ecosystem, not a single vendor
• 18:49 — The wrench analogy: everyone gets to choose
• 20:19 — Open standards without proprietary lock-in
• 21:06 — Ignition conference takeaways
• 23:05 — No loss of control, no loss of view, no loss of data
• 24:05 — Why 2027 may be the inflection point

Notable quotes

“To escape the weaponization stage, you gotta avoid the dependency stage.”

“It’s just another boring automation project.”

“No loss of control, no loss of view, and no loss of data is really the rule we should live by moving forward.”