How to Modernize Legacy SCADA Apps

Ever since the SCADA concept arose in the 1960s, industries have been looking at ways to use technology to monitor and control complex industrial processes more efficiently. Now—due to a confluence of evolving worker expectations, stringent cybersecurity regulations, and increasing business risks—the need to modernize SCADA is of paramount importance.

• Employee expectations: From supervisors to the assembly line, technicians are used to working with digital products and want the same seamless smartphone experience on the factory floor.

• Cybersecurity regulations: The security of legacy systems is no longer fit for purpose. To secure production and stay on the right side of the latest cybersecurity regulations, SCADA systems need protection from evolving cybersecurity threats.

• Economic risks: If your system doesn’t meet the latest cybersecurity regulations, you risk hefty regulatory fines. If it is outdated, you could also crash the entire SCADA system, leading to costly supervising and production delays. 

To ensure minimal downtime and business disruption, SCADA producers should transition from legacy industrial applications to a modern design gradually, with modular updates rather than complete overhauls. Here are the five best practices for SCADA developers to follow: 

1. Make incremental updates: Introduce changes gradually to control the risk of system failure. For example, instead of simply wrapping old technology with a modern UI, plan an incremental revamp across the entire stack—starting with one page or module at a time, from backend restructuring to UI updates.

2. Ensure scalability: Enable the system to work with a range of new hardware sizes and uses, such as wide-screen control panels for heavy machinery and smaller mobile-sized screens. For example, use a software framework that allows you to scale across hardware and computational resources with minimal code changes.

3. Empower system integration: Make it as easy as possible for system integrators to use your software. For example, add tools that speed up commissioning time for system integrators and widgets to expand the UI into multiple monitors or log into a specific area of the screen remotely.

4. Use long-term partners: Work with a reliable partner that frequently updates its products to meet changing demands. For example, look for partners that ensure all releases comply with previous versions and provide long-term support.

5. Automate testing: Avoid manual testing and automatically check for bugs or errors to improve the product’s safety, reduce costs, and accelerate the roll-out of updates. For example, ABB used Squish’s automated GUI testing to ensure high product quality and safety.

Qt Framework‘s robust cross-platform capabilities enable seamless transitions from legacy SCADA to modern systems without disruption, thanks to its simplicity, reusability, and support.

• Ease of use: Qt provides simple APIs and a uniform way of working across different platforms, such as Linux, Android, web applications, and more. Abstracting over the underlying system hides the complexity of adapting code to different hardware or operating systems, allowing developers to focus on added-value features, such as usability or visuals, instead of tinkering with low-level details.

• Reusability: With Qt, UI design is not dependent upon screen size, so the same piece of code can be reused for different products and processes, such as handheld devices. No matter the hardware system or form factor, Qt cross-platform capabilities and adaptive layout deliver a UI that fits the display in use—which is even more beneficial as the chip shortage isn’t over.

• Wide-reaching support: Qt not only provides platform support for a variety of hardware and software platforms but also covers the embedded side of development, including microcontrollers, microprocessors, RTOS, and more, allowing the handling of a variety of industrial devices from a single codebase.