Emerson (NYSE: EMR) and OPSWAT announced a global strategic reseller agreement on April 16, 2026, embedding OT-native patch management capabilities directly into Emerson's Ovation™ Automation Platform for power generation and water/wastewater operators worldwide.
Background
Critical infrastructure operators-including power generation and water/wastewater utilities-face mounting cyber threats, regulatory pressure, and operational risk from unpatched vulnerabilities. Patch management in operational technology (OT) environments has historically diverged from IT practice: control systems running continuously on legacy hardware cannot tolerate the reboot cycles and service interruptions that conventional update tools require.
These environments often combine older industrial assets with newer digital systems, complicating software updates without operational disruption. The deal reflects a broader shift in industrial cybersecurity, as automation and digital transformation connect more operational assets to software and data systems. That expansion has created additional entry points for attackers, while many operators still rely on legacy technologies not originally designed to withstand modern cyber threats.
The two companies had an existing relationship through the DeltaV™ Alliance. The new agreement extends OPSWAT's MetaDefender Kiosk™ and MetaDefender Unidirectional Security Gateway™ reach from the DeltaV platform to the Ovation platform under a separate, enterprise-wide reseller structure.
Details
As the first initiative under the enterprise-wide agreement, Emerson will integrate OPSWAT's OT patch management capabilities into its Ovation™ Automation Platform. The solution builds on prior collaboration by securing the Ovation platform through OPSWAT's MetaDefender Endpoint™ and My OPSWAT™ Central Management On-Premises, both already part of Emerson's purpose-built power and water cybersecurity suite.
Emerson operates the Ovation Automation Platform at more than 800 sites globally, all utilizing cybersecurity technologies designed for critical industries including power, water, and wastewater.
OPSWAT's solution delivers a patch management approach designed specifically for industrial environments, addressing challenges posed by mixed modern and legacy toolsets and the ongoing surge of nation-state and ransomware activity targeting the energy and water sectors.
Robert Yeager, President of Emerson's power and water solutions business, said in a statement that "our customers need cybersecurity solutions designed specifically for operational technology-not adapted from IT," adding that they benefit from "purpose-built OT cybersecurity solutions that protect critical, real-time industrial systems while supporting availability, performance, and safe operations."
OPSWAT founder and CEO Benny Czarny stated that "in environments where safety and availability are mission-critical, cybersecurity cannot rely on traditional IT assumptions but must be deterministic, scalable, and engineered specifically for OT realities."
The global partnership underscores Emerson's strategy to collaborate with proven cybersecurity providers-a shift driven by evolving regulations and the need for continuous vulnerability response.
Outlook
For OPSWAT, the agreement provides access to a broader installed base of utilities and industrial operators through Emerson's channel and product portfolio. The integration supports operators benchmarking against NIST Cybersecurity Framework controls and IEC 62443 patch management requirements, both of which mandate documented vulnerability remediation processes for industrial control systems (ICS). OPSWAT recently debuted MetaDefender Aether, an AI-native decision engine designed to accelerate zero-day threat detection at the network perimeter, signaling that additional capabilities from the broader OPSWAT portfolio may follow under the reseller arrangement.
