Advice for Unlocking OT Cybersecurity Budget

Operational Technology (OT) security is no longer a theoretical concern. As cyber threats grow more frequent—and more targeted—critical infrastructure providers are feeling the urgency to act. But even when the security team can see the risks clearly, there's often one major roadblock to taking action: the budget.

These insights, drawn from years of navigating the intersection of cybersecurity and business operations, provide a roadmap for others facing the same challenge.

Tie Security to Business Risk

The often repeated (and maybe cliche) saying about asset management, “you can’t secure what you can’t see” also applies to budgets. If executives don’t see the business impact of cybersecurity improvements, they will not be willing to allocate spend to it. If you are asking for budget, you need to translate your needs into a language they understand and feel strongly about.
When you translate technical vulnerabilities into business-relevant consequences—such as safety impacts, potential regulatory violations, or operational downtime—decision-makers begin to understand the why behind the request for funding.

Better yet, translate your investments back to business dollars. 

Ex. If implemented, we expect [Software / Service / Practice] to reduce self-reports by 30% each year. That translates to a savings of roughly [hrs x avg hourly rate of employee handling self-reports]. See full table below.

Frame Security as Operational Enablement

Too often, cybersecurity is viewed as a cost center or an obstacle to operational efficiency. That perception is especially common in environments like power generation or manufacturing, where uptime is everything.

Advice from the field? Flip the narrative.

Show how a strong OT security strategy protects uptime and enables safe operations—even during high-impact events like patch cycles or cyber incidents.

Emerging software (like Bastazo) can help your teams:

• Aligning remediation with planned maintenance windows to avoid downtime
  
  
• Avoiding unplanned outages by proactively mitigating known exploited vulnerabilities
  
  
• Generating automated documentation for NERC CIP compliance to reduce audit burden
  
  

By framing security as a tool for reliability—not a threat to it—you can gain more traction with budget holders.

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Speak Their Language

It’s easy to get lost in technical details when justifying a cybersecurity initiative. But leadership teams often lack the context (or time) to decode the jargon. You need to communicate risk and ROI in terms the business understands.

Here’s what works:

• Use dollar values. “This vulnerability could lead to a $500,000 loss in a downtime event.”
  
  
• Benchmark against peers. “Other ICS organizations of our size are investing X% of their budget into OT security.”

SANS released a survey with a breakdown of budget allocation across the OT / ICS sector here.

• Appeal to reputation and regulation. “If we’re hit with an attack that impacts operations, it could be a hefty violation, or maybe worse, front page news.”
  
  

The goal is to show how funding the security work is not just prudent, but good business.

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Pro Tip: Start Small and Prove It

Piloting small, high-impact projects before asking for a larger investment is a tried-and-true approach. Quick wins build credibility and demonstrate value—especially when you can show measurable outcomes like reduced vulnerability exposure or improved audit readiness. When starting to vet new vendors or practices, ask if they have a POV or initial trial period to help you prove value first. 

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Build Allies Early

Whether it’s IT, compliance, engineering, or operations, the most successful cybersecurity initiatives are supported by internal champions across departments. By engaging stakeholders early, aligning with their priorities, and proving value quickly, security teams can shift from being the “no” team to the “how” team.

This takes work and relationship building (something we are not always the best at in cybersecurity). But it’s not that scary. Set up some 1:1 meetings with people who would be involved in approving the spend. Then spend some time talking with them about the new idea and how they would see value from it. How does it address the challenges they face in their roles? What are their blockers? It’s much easier to get real feedback and alignment in a 1:1 setting than in a board meeting. 

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Bonus: Business Value Calculator Example

Use this simple model to help estimate the value of your security initiative:

Total estimated value: $143,600 saved per year in labor alone. 

You can customize this model with your own organization’s data to build a compelling case.

Beyond the tactical labor savings, it is also recommended to make an example case for unplanned downtime, which is the biggest risk and financial loss an OT organization can face. For example, in 2023, a power plant went down for just under two hours. They were fined millions of dollars for contractual obligations they were unable to fulfill during this time. 

Regulators, stakeholders, and executives don’t care why your system went down. The business impacts (and fines) are the same. Making this case is important and can be tied directly to your OT cybersecurity budget request. It’s up to you to make that connection.

Unlocking OT security budget isn’t always easy—but with the right mix of visibility, business framing, and strategic communication, it’s absolutely possible.

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