  With the continuing decrease of sensor technology prices as well as the
increase of communication and analytical capabilities of modern internet of
things devices, the continuously generated amount of data is constantly
growing. Various use cases show the untapped potential of this data for new
business models. However, conventional industrial IT networks of traditional
manufacturing companies can hardly meet the modern requirements emerging with
today's and future industrial internet of things applications. Outdated and
rigid network infrastructures are one of the main reasons for hesitant
innovation efforts and cross-organizational collaborations as well as the slow
adoption of modern business models by traditional manufacturing companies.
Following the design science research paradigm, our work contributes by
elaborating on a comprehensive list of requirements for future industrial
internet of things networks from a theoretical and practical perspective as
well as a proposed reference architecture acting as a blueprint for future
implementations.
