A single software platform to monitor the changes of 16.000 devices? Yes, it is possible! The one built for the Western Australia Aqueduct (West Australia) is one of the largest Change Control & Configuration Management applications in the world. More than 300 different locations (the main one is Perth, a rapidly expanding city which is becoming increasingly attractive also thanks to the quality of services), 105 different plants for purification and distribution of water to 2 million people.
This could already seem like a very tough challenge, but we need to add further variables:
- Considering the extension of the territory, the most disparate climatic conditions occur, with even large temperature variations (which we know are among the worst enemies of field technology)
- It is not easy to coordinate 24 districts with more than 100 maintainers
- 180 different technological brands, 750 types of hardware devices and at least 150 different control and supervision systems
- 30 years of implementation means having gone through many technological eras: you can find a bit of everything in the field…
Well MDT Autosave is the technology that has been selected Water Corporation da to bring together under a single repository and center all the versions of the applications that keep up the intricate computer system that supports the Western Australian aqueduct.
Checking the versions, reporting every single variation of the single devices or supervisory system: this is the task that MDT Autosave has been carrying out every day for almost 5 years.
HOW DOES MDT AUTOSAVE WORK?
Having complete control of the applications is essential in everyday life, but it could be the fundamental element in the event of a partial or total downtime: in the event of a breakdown, IT attack or environmental damage, how long would it take to get the system "back on track"?
Over time, MDT Autosave features have assumed a fundamental role in Cyber Security in Critical Infrastructures.
The main benefits?
- Monitor changes in non-networked devices in treatment plants
- Enable system integrators and offsite development teams to work on programs without providing direct access to the device
- View a history of changes made to each device
- Compare the program running in the device to the program on the engineer's laptop
- Copy programs to create new programs in the field.
- Every technician has the same standardized operating environment (SOE): software is distributed to all users, versioning is performed, and no local administrative account is required.
- Improved inventory database due to AutoSave structure
- All configuration changes can now be initiated by AutoSave with a single master database accessible from anywhere
- Improved control system device inventory: Improved asset management and maintenance planning.
- Excellent workforce acceptance
