AVEVA’s Select partner for the UK & Ireland is sparking important conversation about the potential of modernisation for operations in 2025 and beyond.
By Andy Graham, Solutions Manager, SolutionsPT
Modernisation is at the forefront of industrial transformation conversations as we move toward the collective goal of a more sustainable and efficient future. As we collate the feedback from our flagship Xchange event held at the end of 2024, I wanted to take an opportunity to share some key insights from the speakers and outcomes from the workshops on how operations control and connectivity are empowering the workforce. Held in Cork, Ireland, the SolutionsPT Xchange event continues to blend presentations on the future needs of industry with hands-on practical training to solve the challenges of today. With an attendance of 110 engineers, business leaders, and OT professionals the dialogue centred around the importance of modernisation and the event’s theme of Upgrade to Innovate.
Leading on the event’s theme and fulfilling SolutionsPT’s mission of digital transformation for every enterprise was Sue Roche, General Manager:
“The goal of Xchange is to facilitate conversation rather than simply present information. That’s why we asked attendees to share their first reaction to the terms upgrade and innovate. They often cite challenges like lack of budget or skills, showing that collectively there is too much fear and not enough excitement about realising the full potential of assets. Simply put, businesses are not embracing the latest technology and it’s holding all of us back. Looking at monitoring and control specifically illustrates the scale of this problem. In Ireland (while more advanced), 24% of AVEVA HMI licenses are 10 or more years old and the UK’s are even older with 56% of AVEVA SCADA at version 2014 or older. These figures show that a lot of companies are not benefiting from the latest technology and that is a big legacy problem. However, the path to solving it can be simplified, alleviating concerns over cost and skills to empower industry to achieve higher performance, efficiency and quality through a digitalisation journey.”
One important takeaway from Sue thoughts is the impact on industry when there is a reluctance to upgrade. Not only is there a risk to competitiveness, but legacy systems also bring increased cyber-security concerns, moving upgrading from being beneficial to a business-critical activity. The good news is that upgrading in 2025 will bridge the gap between legacy systems and advanced technology. Supported modernisation means businesses of any size can access next-generation capabilities in a cost-effective and scalable way.
“We want to show all of industry that there doesn’t have to be fear of change, upgrading can be easy with the click of one button, adopting new technologies and unlocking capabilities one step at a time. Modernisation can be designed to suit all budgets and answer all skill concerns, freeing OT professionals to be excited about the technology available, engaging the workforce in the conversation and promoting collaboration across teams, which is one of the key benefits of upgrading!” added Sue.
Sue’s call to action certainly shouldn’t be ignored as there are some compelling deadlines coming up. Support and security updates for Windows Server 2016 will end in January 2027 and Windows 10 even sooner in October 2025. Businesses turning away from upgrading because of the risk to operations will in turn face increased risk as systems become obsolete.
As AVEVA Select Partners UK&I, SolutionsPT is in a unique position to make upgrading a seamless experience. AVEVA is continuing to build on the trust that Wonderware InTouch secured over many years in operation, dedicating a sizeable R&D budget to ensure customers can upgrade simply. AVEVA InTouch HMI still represents the best-in-class software for operators to manage and interact with industrial automation processes. It aims to drive operational excellence by moving beyond simple graphics to create meaningful content that increases operator effectiveness.
During hands-on interactive workshops at Xchange, attendees brought their own laptops and mirrored real work environments to explore how the new InTouch tackles modern challenges. Sessions covered Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) and User-Defined Tags (UDTs). The new InTouch solves the challenge of data integration while enabling rapid application development with web client deployment. Combined with Operations Control Edge, InTouch represents the future of HMI and SCADA, giving frontline teams real-time process monitoring and control directly at the equipment or line level. In terms of backwards compatibility, each of these capabilities is instantly accessible through upgrading alone. Engineering work completed in legacy Wonderware applications can be modernised without having to re-develop from the ground up. To protect cost and time investment, AVEVA ensures that applications can always be seamlessly upgraded to the latest versions.
Empowering a Connected Workforce
My own session at Xchange focused on reimagining HMI and SCADA for a digitally-connected workforce, and how to achieve process consistency and improve decision-making through a unified digital thread. This all comes down to data, which is a unique resource as it increases in value the more it is used and represents a huge amount of untapped potential if it’s not.
Worldwide, the projected volume of data creation in 2024 is 147 zettabytes, with Forbes reporting that 73% of data will go unused in operations. AVEVA Operations Control portfolio leverages IIoT and Industry 4.0 to take control of distributed operations, simplifying centralised management for production lines and sites. By unifying data models, businesses can streamline workflows, eliminate data silos, and collaborate across operators and managers. The connected framework means teams have the information to consistently improve efficiency, regardless of hardware considerations, and enable predictive analytics. Aggregating, contextualising, and visualising data across operations turns insight to action, enabling teams to unlock the true value of their data and reimaging HMI and SCADA.
The concept of ‘Upgrade to innovate’ offers a cost-effective approach to digital transformation and bridging the skills gap. The evolution to hybrid software-as-a-service takes the expertise of SolutionsPT and brings it into the workforce to solve this growing issue. Over 60% of survey respondents report that vacancies are causing issues with day-to-day operations, over 40% report that vacancies have reduced business capacity and turnover, and over 80% believe there are not enough suitable candidates available. These figures highlight how businesses may be ready and willing to upgrade but are hindered by the skills gap, and without a solution in place will reduce output. SMEs can upskill new starters quickly with the support of SolutionsPT’s technology understanding and dedication to training. Human operators are still the most valuable and crucial element of any industrial operation, but they are busy, and training takes time. Digital knowledge of employees is just as important as digitalisation of facilities, giving workers access to the information they need, when they need it, while continuously capturing new improved ways of working.
Industrial enterprises on the modernisation journey will have the power to choose the configuration, architecture and deployment options that best meet objectives. SolutionsPT is a complete partner for that journey, reimaging the capabilities of HMI and SCADA while actively solving challenges for businesses of all sizes.
