Methodology · where the answers come from

A method, not a questionnaire.

Most "maturity assessments" are a quiz wired to a sales funnel. dxpert's assessment method is a structured way of diagnosing maturity, designing the target architecture, and sequencing the roadmap — built on what actually separated the industrial operators who succeeded from the ones who stalled.

The foundation

A practical, data-centric Digital Platform — not a reference-model poster.

The technological foundation of digital transformation has four jobs, in order: connect and collect the data, contextualize and normalize it into reusable information, expose the present (real-time visibility), and expose the past (governed history). Get these right and AI has something solid to stand on. Skip them and every model is built on sand. What a Digital Platform is, in detail →

Industrial data sources converging into one unified platform, producing a rising trend consumed by people and applications

Around that sit the operating disciplines that keep it real: a governed event-driven data backbone (a unified namespace) across OT and IT, edge-driven and lightweight by default, with security and ownership built in rather than bolted on.

This architecture isn't just how we assess — it's executable. Namespace generation and DataOps export are coming soon. The free validators remain available to check existing topics and naming conventions.

What the method synthesizes

It stands on the established frameworks — and goes past them.

dxpert's assessment method uses the recognized industrial standards and maturity lenses as inputs and fit-tests, never as the architecture. We speak their language so your team and your auditors can too. If a term here is new, start with ISA-95 or the glossary.

Framework / lensHow the method uses it
ISA-95 / IEC 62264Structure for operations and enterprise-control integration — MES/MOM scope, hierarchy, transactions.
IEC 62443The OT/ICS security architecture lens — zones, conduits, target security levels.
NIST CSF 2.0Enterprise cybersecurity governance and risk profiles, complementing IEC 62443.
ACATECH maturity indexA progression lens (computerization → adaptability) to explain where you are and what's next.
VAULTIS data-readinessA test of whether data is ready for AI: visible, accessible, understandable, linked, trustworthy, interoperable, secure.
OPC UA · MQTT / Sparkplug · MTConnect · AASInteroperability and event-driven movement — fit-tests for the data layer, mapped to roles, never treated as the architecture.

We treat RAMI 4.0 as a theoretical reference model, not a foundation, and the Digital Thread as a supporting pattern — not the base for the platform.

From method to output

One method, two outputs today — more depth coming.

dxpert's assessment method is a strategy, maturity, and architecture framework — not a quiz question bank. It grounds two things you can get today: the free diagnostic, a preliminary, self-reported signal you can run in minutes, and the board-ready roadmap, a sequenced, fundable plan that also tells you which paid services to commission next — the namespace export, agents, ongoing advisory. Everything past the roadmap is execution of what it calls for.

Try the preliminary diagnostic