tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30976176.post7137791283350122815..comments2023-08-12T03:37:46.163-05:00Comments on DCS Security: Fact # 3 - Standardization - IT and DCS MergingJim Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15676746489123643303noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30976176.post-54185599589810601592006-11-29T14:30:00.000-05:002006-11-29T14:30:00.000-05:00This is one reason why I think Control Systems in ...This is one reason why I think Control Systems in particular would be a very good fit for Open Standards and Open Source Software. Support for such software is something that anyone could do, even if the integrating firm has gone out of business, the original software writers are long gone, or even if the computer hardware itself is orphaned. <br /><br />In this case, the user would receive a full copy of compilable source code. This will ease transition in to newer hardware and newer software without having to trash the whole control room and start over with new everything. <br /><br />We just recently exorcised the last NT4 boxes from our networks just a few months ago. Many were only five years old. I know this is commonplace in the computer industry, but it is tiresome and I'm looking for something a bit more long term.<br /><br />Microsoft's model of purchasing a whole new OS (and usually a new computer so that you can run it) every few years or so is exactly the sort of thing that got the US auto industry in such trouble in the 1980s. Many people prefer consistency and quality, instead of a new model every year. The same is true in the SCADA and DCS world. <br /><br />This is where I see an opportunity for Open Source Software and Open Standards to make substantial inroads in to the market. In the industrial automation industry, proprietary standards are less and less attractive because we are less and less sure of a company's future. Nobody wants to buy proprietary I/O panels for a distribution SCADA system if we don't have some assurance that the company will be able to service our equipment for another 15 years. <br /><br />However in the software industry, companies are born, peak, and die in less time than that. Open standards are more resilient. Even if the original person who wrote the software is long gone and doing other things, you can still show the source code to a consultant and ask them to fix it, improve it, migrate it, or replace it. <br /><br />There is even an open source MS-DOS clone out there, supported by an enthusiastic community of contributors. This is great news for legacy applications. <br /><br />In the end, it's the integrators who will make the decision to go with open source or with a proprietary OS. I think as more and more mangers become aware of the advantages of Open Source, I think they'll opt for the stability it has to offer. <br /><br />That's not to say that open source is free of bugs, or even that it's better than proprietary code. I make no such claim. I do point out, however, that it is better suited for long term projects than closed source...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com