Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesIndustrial IoT

Applications of Ribbon’s IT and Optical Network: Oil & Gas and Rail Industries with Sam Lisle

Critical infrastructure operators in industries like Oil & Gas and Rail are facing new networking challenges. These challenges include transitioning from legacy systems, improving security, and embracing digitization. Sam Lisle from Ribbon Communications provides insights into the evolving needs and solutions in these sectors.

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Industrial IoT teams put it to work with AI Visibility (GEO).

By Industrial Iot · Critical InfrastructureCritical Infrastructure OperatorsOil and GasOptical Networks
Share
Applications of Ribbon’s IT and Optical Network: Oil & Gas and Rail Industries with Sam Lisle

Key takeaways

01

Critical infrastructure operators are transitioning from legacy systems to enhance network security and digitization.

02

The rail industry is investing in communication-based rail control systems to increase track capacity and ensure safety.

03

The Oil & Gas industry is modernizing IP networks and employing fiber along pipelines for enhanced monitoring.

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Industrial IoT?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Industrial IoT coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Request an invite

Critical infrastructure operators are facing new and emerging challenges regarding networking. For many, that means transitioning from legacy systems, providing greater security, and digitization. Those in the Oil & Gas and Rail industries are keenly aware of these issues. Providing insight on how these industries are evolving and the solutions available is Sam Lisle, Ribbon Communications’ Director of Business Development.

“Operators in these industries have very unique networking needs. For many reasons, they build their own networks. It’s not a purely economic motivation. It’s also because they are risk-averse and need two distinct networks—a traditional IT one and an OT, or operational technology, network. Those OTs require highly specialized solutions,” Lisle explained.

These OT networks must be guaranteed, assured, and secure. Outages or problems have grave consequences, including the need to protect human life.

Regarding the rail industry’s transformations, companies are using communication-based rail control systems. “It’s a big investment but increases track capacity and keeps people safe. Data is continuously collected about speed and location, requiring a highly deterministic type of networking,” Lisle said.

In Oil & Gas, the industry relies greatly on aging equipment to control and monitor compressors, valves, and pumps. Lisle noted, “They need IP network modernization. A new approach is laying fiber along pipelines to detect animal or people that get too close.”

Ribbon supports integrators that work with end-users in these industries in a partnership. Their capabilities in this realm offer comprehensive solutions. “We support legacy systems and let operators move at their own pace. We also provide a very guaranteed and predictable performance with encryption. Our breadth of capabilities is also very easy to manage, not requiring long training,” Lisle shared.

Learn more about Ribbon’s solutions by watching the discussion.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Industrial IoT starts with a company putting its controls engineers, plant-floor specialists, and integration partners on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Plant and controls buyers research deep before contact, and your engineers get to shape that research.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

About the author

II
Industrial Iot

Follow Industrial IoT Insights

Get new expert content in your inbox.

Industrial IoT: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Industrial IoT buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. See how AI describes your company today, and where competitors show up instead.

Free workspace

You just read one Industrial IoT expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your controls engineers, plant-floor specialists, and integration partners into the articles, video, and social content Industrial IoT buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale Studio workspace
One video edit a month, on us
AI writing, editing, and publishing tools
In-platform coaching to learn the system

More Industrial IoT Insights

Can a Finishing System adapt to fluctuating labor availability?

Can a Finishing System adapt to fluctuating labor availability?

Labor shortages in manufacturing have led companies to explore automated solutions to maintain productivity and efficiency. Adapting finishing systems to fluctuating labor availability is essential for business resilience. Automation offers a viable strategy to counteract the scarcity of skilled workers.

  • 01Automation can help counteract the scarcity of skilled workers in manufacturing.
  • 02Adaptable finishing systems are essential in dealing with fluctuating labor availability.

Aug 13, 2026

Conveyorized Finishing Systems that are Expandable and Scalable

Conveyorized Finishing Systems that are Expandable and Scalable

In the current industrial landscape, the need for flexibility and scalability in manufacturing systems is growing. Automation, such as conveyorized finishing systems, is being adopted to counteract labor shortages and enhance productivity.

  • 01Manufacturing systems today require flexibility and scalability.
  • 02Companies are increasingly adopting automation due to labor shortages.
  • 03Conveyorized finishing systems are helping to maintain efficiency and productivity.

Aug 13, 2026

Cranswick automates 240-picks-per-minute sausage line with Rockwell Automation delta robots, freeing workers for skilled roles

Cranswick automates 240-picks-per-minute sausage line with Rockwell Automation delta robots, freeing workers for skilled roles

Cranswick, one of Britain's largest premium food manufacturers, has commissioned a fully automated robotic pick-and-place system powered by Rockwell Automation's Allen-Bradley hardware and autonox delta robots to handle end-of-line sausage packaging at 240 cycles per minute. The deployment, delivered by CWM Automation, removes a manual bottleneck on a high-volume seasonal line and reassigns workers to more skilled positions. The project lands as UK food manufacturers face mounting pressure to find automation ROI amid ongoing labor constraints and rising production targets.

  • 01Cranswick's new autonox delta robot system executes 240 pick-and-place cycles per minute on its pigs-in-blankets packaging line, a throughput rate that manual labor cannot match at scale.
  • 02Allen-Bradley Kinetix VP servo motors and a GuardLogix 5380 safety controller handle precision detection and orientation of each sausage before placement, per Rockwell Automation's announcement.
  • 03Workers displaced from the manual packaging stage are being redeployed to more skilled roles on other production lines, a model other food manufacturers can replicate to address labor productivity gaps.

Aug 13, 2026

Explore More Industrial IoT Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Industrial IoT.

Browse Industrial IoT Hub

About the Expert

II
Industrial Iot

Director of Business Development at Ribbon Communications

Sam Lisle is the Director of Business Development at Ribbon Communications. He specializes in providing networking solutions for critical infrastructure operators in the Oil & Gas and Rail industries. Lisle focuses on the modernization of IT and optical network solutions to enhance security and efficiency.

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Industrial IoT and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512