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By Glenn Booth .
When you're in the market for a supervisory control and data acquisition – SCADA – system, the safest scoping process typically consists of three phases: project research and planning, request for proposal (RFP) and vendor evaluation/selection.
Project research and planning involves discovering your high level and long-term requirements, budget and timeline for the SCADA project. For large, complex projects, starting with a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) can reduce much of the risk. A FEED is an initial basic design that identifies the required resources within an accepted level of accuracy. Smaller projects might require just an internal assessment of data requirements, deliverables and equipment required to support the SCADA system and data interoperability with other applications.
Request for proposal (RFP) is a formal document that is sent out to qualified vendors. The RFP will request technical, pricing, delivery, installation, support and term details of the vendor’s SCADA solution. If detailed requirements for the SCADA project are not known, many times companies will issue a ‘Request for Information’ (RFI) to obtain preliminary input from the vendor community.
Vendor evaluation and selection starts with asking the right questions in your RFP:
The process in vendor evaluation typically involves a large matrix and scoring of the RFP/RFI responses. Careful weighting should be applied to priority requirements. The safest path is to have a small group involved in evaluation of responses. Companies will typically narrow their selection to two vendors and request a final quotation for the deliverables.
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Additional resources…
Industry acronyms (Survalent)
Smart grid SCADA to continue steady growth; new leader emerging
From control center to optimization engine
Research and Markets report: Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) Market - Global Forecast & Analysis (2012 - 2017)
SCADA Tutorial: A Fast Introduction to SCADA Fundamentals and Implementation
Case study: Arizona Electric Power Cooperative
Video case study: Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited (BELCO) Success Story
Wikipedia: SCADA
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