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A large power generation company that provides electricity to millions of customers manages a diverse set of plants with a range of industrial control system (ICS) vendors. The company needs to comply with NERC CIP standards to maintain the reliability and security of its operations.
- Faced tight deadlines to achieve NERC CIP v5 compliance at newly acquired and existing medium-impact sites
- Managed multiple OEM-provided cybersecurity tools that operated in silos with no integration
- Needed unified cybersecurity platform compatible with wide range of vendor systems across globally distributed plants
- Required centralized visibility into compliance status, security controls, and reporting from a single dashboard
- Needed solution that worked across secure network architectures—including data diodes and segmented networks—to minimize direct site access
- Verve® by Rockwell Automation
- Hybrid agent/agentless architecture to capture expansive asset inventory, vulnerability management, patching, and configuration management
- Third-party security tools into a single centralized reporting platform
- Application allowlisting, SIEM log management, and security baselining to meet NERC CIP requirements
- Provided centralized compliance reporting and visibility across sites
- Achieved NERC CIP v5 compliance at one plant within just three weeks without operational disruption
- Reduced total cost of ownership by eliminating redundant OEM-specific tools and streamlining cybersecurity operations
- Improved accuracy and speed of compliance reporting through centralized dashboards and automated data collection
- Provided intuitive, unified platform that simplified security management
- Extended Verve Security Center to additional sites, creating an enterprise-wide view of cybersecurity and compliance
Challenge
Urgent NERC CIP Compliance Deadlines
A power generation company contacted Verve® by Rockwell Automation with one request—they needed to expedite their NERC CIP v5 compliance. And they needed to do it fast. Some of their newly acquired plants only had a few weeks to become compliant.
Siloed Cybersecurity Landscape
With a diverse mix of control systems, the company faced significant challenges due to siloed data and operations. Their disconnected tools also lacked integration—which made it difficult to monitor, report, and manage compliance across sites. Each OEM’s tool required a unique skill set, but their operational teams were lacking expertise.
Needed a Vendor-Agnostic Platform
They were looking for a vendor-agnostic platform that could simplify cybersecurity management, integrate seamlessly across all OEM equipment, and operate within restrictive network environments like data diodes and segmented networks. The company also needed centralized visibility and reporting to improve accuracy in meeting regulatory demands.
Solution
The power generation company used the Verve Security Center. This vendor-agnostic platform replaced some of the more siloed security tools with a single solution that worked across all of their OEM equipment—including systems from Emerson, GE, ABB, and Schweitzer.
Dedicated Architecture for OT Infrastructure
The hybrid architecture that Verve® by Rockwell Automation offered uses lightweight agents and agentless monitoring. This allowed the company to securely track and manage everything from servers and workstations to PLCs, relays, and networking devices—even in plants with restricted networks or data diodes in place. The platform handles key cybersecurity tasks like asset inventory, vulnerability management, patching, configuration checks, antivirus, backups, and log management—all from one dashboard.
Used Existing Investments
Instead of using brand new tools, Verve® by Rockwell Automation integrated with the existing ones. Antivrius software, backup systems, and other OEM-provided solutions were pulled into the Verve dashboard. They also implemented application allowlisting, which locked systems down so only approved software could run.
Result
Achieved Compliance with Minimal Downtime
The power generation company achieved full NERC CIP compliance at one site in just three weeks—all while keeping the plant online. This rapid deployment was critical to meeting tight regulatory deadlines without risking their operations.
Simplified Operations and Lowered Costs
By consolidating multiple OEM security tools into the Verve Security Center, the company reduced total cybersecurity costs and the complexity of managing siloed systems. The unified platform saved time and resources since it simplified tasks like vulnerability management, patching, configuration tracking, and compliance reporting.
The need for specialized cybersecurity skills also decreased significantly. Personnel no longer had to understand multiple vendor-specific tools. The platform’s automation and intuitive dashboard also allowed the team to efficiently manage security and compliance across sites.
Gained Confidence to Scale Across Sites
Due to the success of the initial rollout, the power generation company expanded the solution to additional plants. Their centralized approach provided a foundation for enterprise-wide cybersecurity management with consistent reporting, simplified audits, and stronger defenses for the future.
Published August 27, 2025