Strategic Planning
SCADA System Master Planning
A strategic roadmap that aligns your SCADA investments with your facility's 10-20 year vision.
The Challenge
Reactive upgrades waste capital and create technical debt
Without a master plan, SCADA investments tend to be reactive—driven by equipment failures, regulatory mandates, or individual project budgets rather than a coherent strategy. The result is a patchwork of incompatible technologies, redundant systems, and missed opportunities to leverage common infrastructure across facilities.
Capital improvement budgets compete with other facility needs. When SCADA upgrades aren't planned and budgeted years in advance, they either get deferred until systems fail or get tacked onto construction projects with insufficient scope and budget to do the work properly.
Many utilities also face the challenge of a retiring workforce. The operators and technicians who understand legacy systems are leaving, and the institutional knowledge required to maintain those systems is leaving with them. A master plan addresses this by documenting current systems and defining a transition path to maintainable, modern platforms.
Our Approach
Data-driven planning aligned with your capital program
Our master planning process begins with a comprehensive assessment of your existing SCADA infrastructure—hardware, software, networks, cybersecurity posture, and operational workflows. We document the current state in detail, including equipment age, condition, obsolescence risk, and remaining useful life.
We work with your operations, maintenance, IT, and management teams to define future requirements: growth projections, regulatory changes, operational improvements, and technology preferences. These requirements are balanced against practical constraints including budget availability, staff capabilities, and phased implementation logistics.
The final deliverable is a prioritized roadmap with concept-level designs, rough order-of-magnitude cost estimates, and recommended implementation phases aligned with your capital improvement program. The plan gives your board and management team the information they need to make informed investment decisions.
Capabilities
SCADA System Master Planning Capabilities
What we deliver.
Infrastructure Assessment
Comprehensive evaluation of existing SCADA hardware, software, networks, and cybersecurity with condition scoring and obsolescence risk analysis.
Requirements Analysis
Stakeholder workshops to define operational requirements, growth projections, technology preferences, and performance goals.
Technology Roadmaps
Prioritized implementation phases with concept designs, ROM cost estimates, and recommended sequencing over 10-20 year horizons.
CIP Budget Integration
Cost estimates structured for integration into your capital improvement program with phased funding recommendations.
Industries
Industry Applications
How scada system master planning applies across sectors.
Municipal Water Utilities
Regional SCADA master plans for water supply, treatment, and distribution systems serving growing communities.
Wastewater Agencies
Collection system and treatment plant SCADA planning including NPDES compliance monitoring requirements.
Special Districts
Multi-facility SCADA master plans for water and sewer districts with limited staff and phased funding constraints.
FAQ
SCADA System Master Planning FAQ
Common questions about this service.
How long does a SCADA master plan take to develop?
What's included in the final deliverable?
How often should a SCADA master plan be updated?
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