The digital twin must adapt to the individual requirements of the end customer – in terms of the processes to be mapped and the IT infrastructure used.

A detailed concept for integrating the digital twin into the IT infrastructure is the most important building block for implementation. This includes defining the handling of sensor data, the real-time requirements of the system, the storage and visualization of the results as well as the security requirements of the system and compliance requirements.

Another question that needs to be answered at an early stage is the operating mode of the digital twin. In principle, the digital twin can be operated in an externally or internally managed cloud service, on systems in the company’s own data center or at the edge in the immediate vicinity of the physical asset. Each operating mode has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the customer’s use case and requirements.