What is SCADA? — Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Explained
SCADA — Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition — is the layer above PLCs and DDCs that visualises plant, raises alarms, archives every data point, and exposes everything to the wider business. In a building, SCADA is increasingly used as the master integration layer above multiple BMS head-ends.
SCADA vs HMI vs BMS Head-End
An HMI is a single screen on a single panel showing one machine. SCADA is a server (or pair of redundant servers) showing every machine on a site or estate. A BMS head-end (Trend 963, Niagara Supervisor, Desigo CC) is essentially SCADA tuned for HVAC — same architecture, narrower remit.
The Major SCADA Platforms
Siemens WinCC, Rockwell FactoryTalk View SE, AVEVA System Platform / InTouch, Inductive Automation Ignition, Iconics GENESIS64, Citect, COPA-DATA zenon. Niagara N4 is also routinely used as light-SCADA for multi-protocol estates.
Historian Databases
Time-series historian databases (OSIsoft PI, AVEVA PI, InfluxDB, TimescaleDB, Ignition Historian) sit underneath SCADA, archiving every tag at sub-second intervals for years. They underpin energy reporting, ESG audits and predictive maintenance.
External References & Standards
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