shared responsibility

Shared responsibility commonly refers to a structured model in which two or more parties formally divide and coordinate duties related to security, compliance, and operations. Each party is accountable for a defined portion of the overall control environment, and the combination of these responsibilities is intended to address the full risk or process scope.

What shared responsibility includes

In industrial and regulated environments, shared responsibility most often describes how obligations are split between:

• Service or technology providers, such as cloud providers, SaaS vendors, or industrial automation vendors, and
• Customers or operators, such as manufacturing plants, corporate IT/OT teams, or system integrators.

Typical areas covered by a shared responsibility model include:

• Security controls, such as physical security, network security, access management, and monitoring
• Compliance controls, such as documentation, procedural controls, and evidence collection mapped to standards
• Operational controls, such as configuration, change management, backup and recovery, and incident response
• Data handling, including data classification, encryption key management, and retention policies

The model clarifies which controls are implemented and maintained by the provider (for example, data center security or core platform hardening) and which must be implemented and maintained by the customer (for example, user provisioning, plant-level procedures, or integration with MES/ERP and OT assets).

Operational meaning in manufacturing and OT/IT

In manufacturing and industrial OT/IT environments, shared responsibility is often used to describe how:

• A cloud or MES provider manages infrastructure, baseline security controls, and certain application features.
• The plant or enterprise configures the system, manages users and roles, maintains local network security, and operates procedures on the shop floor.
• Compliance with frameworks (such as NIST-based control sets, sector-specific standards, or internal policies) depends on both parties fulfilling their assigned responsibilities.

For example, a FedRAMP-authorized cloud platform may implement and evidence many NIST SP 800-53 controls at the infrastructure and platform level. However, the manufacturing customer remains responsible for how applications are configured, how user accounts are administered, how production data is classified and protected, and how plant procedures and records satisfy broader regulatory requirements.

Common confusion

• Not full outsourcing: Shared responsibility does not mean the provider assumes all security or compliance obligations. Customers still have explicit duties.
• Not generic “shared accountability”: In this context, it is a defined allocation of control ownership and tasks, not just a general statement that multiple teams care about an outcome.
• Not automatic compliance: Using a service with strong or certified controls does not by itself make a plant or enterprise compliant. The customer must implement its parts of the model.

Relation to FedRAMP and NIST-based controls

In cloud and SaaS offerings used by manufacturers, shared responsibility frequently appears in the context of FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 control baselines. The provider is evaluated against a defined control set, but the customer is still responsible for:

• Implementing and documenting site-specific policies and procedures
• Managing integrations with MES, ERP, and OT systems
• Maintaining evidence of how controls operate in the plant or enterprise environment

Understanding the shared responsibility model for each service helps clarify which controls are covered by the provider and which require additional design, implementation, and governance within the manufacturing organization.