Copia Automation, the leader in Industrial Code Lifecycle Management (ICLM), has officially published the results from its 2nd Annual State of Industrial DevOps Report, which took into account the opinion of more than 200 senior industrial leaders.
Going by the available details, this particular study treads up a long distance to reveal how 92% of organizations now invest in or actively plan to adopt Industrial DevOps. Having said so, this momentum remains under the risk of a critical “perception gap” between senior executives and operational managers, a gap which is evident across true cost and causes of downtime.
“The data shows a heavy reliance on ad-hoc fixes to solve immediate problems, but this creates a cycle of technical debt. A quick win adds value; a quick fix just adds time down the road. The industry’s move toward Industrial DevOps is a move toward investing in solutions that enhance long-term value, not just extend the life of a temporary patch,” said Jeff Winter, Vice President, Business Strategy at Critical Manufacturing, and a Contributing Analyst & Editor for this report.
As for the results, they revealed that, even though the overall average cost of downtime is a staggering $3.63 million per hour, C-Suite downtime numbers are 51% higher, at an average of $4.29 million per hour, vs. Managers ($2.84M).
This gap extends to the root causes of disruptions. Hence, C-Suite attributes over half (52%) of all downtime to industrial code issues, whereas on the other hand, operational managers see code as a much smaller factor (30%), deeming hardware malfunctions and human error as bigger challenges instead.
Cybersecurity breaches also highlight the given divide, ranking as a top concern for C-Suite (45%) but a low-level issue for Managers (22%).
“This year’s report reveals a crucial insight: while the adoption of Industrial DevOps is accelerating, a hidden ‘perception gap’ across leadership tiers can silently sabotage progress,” said Adam Gluck, CEO and Founder of Copia Automation. “If the C-Suite sees a multi-million dollar problem driven by code and cyber risk, while managers are focused on immediate hardware fixes, the resulting misalignment is immense. A robust Industrial Code Lifecycle Management platform provides the single source of truth needed to close that gap and align the entire organization on both risks and solutions.”
Next up, we must dig into how 89% agree that AI will unlock new efficiencies, but at the same time, leaders are focused on strategic risk (data security is a top concern at 40%),
Another detail worth a mention relates to how the average enterprise now manages over 2,000 PLCs and another 2,100 associated devices, creating a crisis of scale. As a result, the #1 valued AI feature is “AI-driven version control with change detection & anomaly alerts” (49%).
Hold on, we still have a couple of bits left to unpack, considering we haven’t yet touched upon how those 87% of leaders believe it is very or extremely important to integrate OT cybersecurity tools with industrial code management tools, thus conveying the need for a unified platform.
Rounding up highlights would be a piece of detail claiming that change management resistance (43%) is now the top barrier to adoption. You see, it even surpasses budget (26%) and competing priorities (32%).
“The 2nd Annual State of Industrial DevOps Report signals a tipping point: 92 percent of manufacturers are committed to Industrial DevOps within the next year, and 90 percent say their teams will benefit directly,” said Sebastián Trolli, Research Manager, Global Head of Industrial Automation & Software at Frost & Sullivan. “That momentum reflects a hard-won reality. The winners will standardize now, while adoption is surging, rather than scramble later when industrial AI demands bulletproof code governance. They’ll enter the coming decade with transparent change logs, instant recovery paths, and a security posture built for continuous learning. “
