Glossary · OT cybersecurity
System integrator
Also known as: Integration service provider, Automation integrator
German: Systemintegrator
In industrial automation and IEC 62443, the system integrator is the organization that designs, builds, configures and commissions an automation solution for a specific site by combining products from one or more suppliers, and often supports it afterward. IEC 62443-2-4 specifies security capability requirements for such service providers.
- OT security
- Standards
In one sentence
A system integrator designs, builds and commissions an automation solution from supplier products; IEC 62443-2-4 sets its security requirements.
Example
The system integrator configures the PLCs, HMIs and network of a new wastewater plant, implements the zones and conduits specified by the operator and hands over the security documentation.
How it applies
- Engineering: The integrator translates the asset owner's security requirements into architecture: zones and conduits, component selection, hardening, access control and backup concepts. It verifies that the implemented solution meets the target security levels.
- Commissioning: Temporary accounts, open ports and test configurations from commissioning must be removed before handover; a documented security acceptance test helps.
- Maintenance: Integrators often provide service afterward, which makes them part of the operator's supply chain and remote access landscape.
- Documentation: The integrator's handover package should include network drawings, asset inventory, configuration backups, account lists (handed over securely), the security concept and operating instructions for security functions. Technical writers can structure this package so that the asset owner can maintain it.
System integrator vs. machine builder
A machine builder places a machine on the market as a product and is its manufacturer under the Machinery Regulation. A system integrator builds a site-specific solution. When an integrator combines machines into an assembly, it may itself become the manufacturer of that assembly.