One of the biggest problems that supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) users face is the costs associated with maintaining the system and the perception that these costs add no perceivable value.
"The whole fact is that from a software maintenance perspective its seen as a grudge purchase, and users do not understand or perceive the value behind the scene," says Paul Geng, business development director for scada developers, Adroit Technologies.
"All software companies have to keep in mind the trends that are taking place in the industry and leverage the technology to make it easier for customers and system integrators (SIs) alike."
A closer look at what goes on behind the scenes may help software users understand the necessity for maintenance fees.
Development houses need to stay abreast of new technologies and adapt these technologies to their customer's requirements and product lines. This involves a continuous up-skilling of the companies software engineers as changes in technologies come about. The software developers then need to apply the new trends and technologies to make it easily usable for the customers who could benefit from these newer technologies.
"It would be virtually impossible for a customer to go out and understand all the technology surrounding a control system. What the software houses do is provide a simple-to-understand solution, that negates the need for a customer to become a technology expert," says Geng.
Adroit, for example, is forward looking in its approach. It actively seeks out new trends and trains its staff to become experts as the latest technologies emerge. "Our objective is to make it easy for customers to deploy new technologies - so that through our products they can remain on the cutting edge and realise real benefits," he says.
The more complex the site you are running, the more critical it is to stay on top of site maintenance. Some sites, for example, are required to move data not only across plants but across the world, sometimes even between supplier and producers or head office and satellite operations. "Users must make sure that the technology works for them in an easy and reliable format - no matter how complex the set-up. This is where the money spent on maintenance is invaluable! New technologies such as .NET are immerging making complex systems leaner and easier to develop," says Geng.
Geng explains that system maintenance means that the software must also be backward compatible, as some customers have both old and new hardware, and this too needs to be maintained. Today's scada system maintenance is an amalgamation of rudimentary technology and state-of-the-art technology solutions in one system. Often several layers of technology are deployed on a single solution. Using new technology does not mean replacing existing systems, it simply means being more flexible and extensible.
As operating systems and hardware platforms change, the scada system needs to change with them. There is an element of continual innovation and improvement in systems maintenance. Geng says: "We are constantly in touch with Microsoft and the various hardware vendors to ensure that our software is up-to-speed."
So, what is Adroit doing to add value to maintenance clients? "With our maintenance contracts and service level agreements, we are able to benchmark systems and make sure there is no degradation in our system performance. We also have an excellent support team for new and old technology users, which customers can access via phone or online 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Geng.
Training at Adroit is constantly being upgraded to ensure that users are tested and trained on the latest technology. Training and re-skilling is an integral part of a sites maintenance contract and on larger systems onsite training is always included. Sometimes huge cost savings can be realised by deploying newly developed features, so educating customers and allowing them to deploy these features at no additional cost is paramount.
Deploying new technology for technologies sake is also not the way to go either. "If it is not broke do not fix it," says Geng. A careful SWOT analysis of the benefits and potential risks should be done before any design change or change of standard is made.
"We talk and interact with our customers frequently. This gives us insight into what they require from a business perspective. This ensures that our development strategies are aligned with our customers needs."
For more information contact Charles Hudgson, Adroit Technologies, +27 (0) 11 658 8100, [email protected]
| Tel: | +27 11 658 8100 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.adroitscada.com |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Adroit Technologies |
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