CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Every day renewable and traditional energy companies add new Distributed Energy Resources to the electric power grid. This avalanche of new assets and the associated real-time data needed to manage each asset increases the complexity of managing the grid at a geometric rate. While managing the grid is an ever-expanding challenge, LiveData Utilities President Brad Harkavy explains how OT middleware can help utilities simplify the endless influx of DER data and systems while future-proofing their architecture in a session at the forthcoming SCADA Tech Summit.
Based on research from several smart grid utilities, his presentation, “Architect a Light-Weight Middleware OTMB to Bridge All Your OT Assets and IT,” is a featured session on Sept. 12, opening day of the two-day SCADA Tech Summit at the Double-Tree Oak Brook (Illinois).
Harkavy said that to answer these demands, more utilities are employing an OT middleware software pattern called an Operational Technology Message Bus (OTMB) within their OT/IT hybrid architectures. These architectures provide for bi-directional publication and consumption of OT data between SCADA systems, assets and devices utilizing various protocols (ICCP DNP3, MODBUS, OCP, etc.), IT and OT analytics applications, time-series databases and SQL databases.
“Utilities that have employed an OTMB as a bridge between IT and OT have experienced reduced operational complexity and costs while bringing integrated OT online faster,” Harkavy said.
The single architectural layer enables utilities to unify and manage distributed assets and their data regardless of their relation to a system or protocol language, he explained. In addition, this middleware layer establishes an operational technology structure to simplify growth and data management as well as enable greater business intelligence.
Harkavy will share information derived from establishing bi-directional communication and interoperability between independent and unique smart grid data networks and SCADA systems or SCADA-less systems at numerous utilities. He examines scenarios for SCADA system applications, OT real-time middleware applications, and a hybridized approach that uses both SCADA and middleware.
“Frequently an OTMB is a better integration bridge to analytics applications than a traditional SCADA system,” Harkavy said. “The increase of marketplace assets and consequent complexity requires utilities and generation operators to implement OT middleware solutions to successfully manage their systems and data today while having high performance scalability tomorrow.”
SCADA Technology Summit 2018 is a leading global event focused on the latest economic developments and technical advancements in the SCADA and ICS markets and technologies bringing together worldwide SCADA experts. Professionals involved in SCADA/ICS technologies use this once-a-year conference to learn the latest advancements in applications, new technology, as well as global issues of remote and distributed equipment and facilities.
About LiveData Utilities
LiveData Utilities is a leading innovator of real-time integration and data visualization technology for the smart grid. A business unit of LiveData, Inc., the company’s solutions continuously monitor, synthesize, and respond to highly complex, multi-faceted processes in real time, spanning a broad mix of distributed devices, diverse vendor systems, protocols, and databases. Founded in 1991, LiveData serves customers in healthcare and electric power and utilities industries.
LiveData Utilities™ smart grid solutions simplify operational technology integrations enabling real-time management of power grid assets; establishing network segmentation and protection for critical infrastructure; connecting to ISO/RTO markets; allowing SCADA, NMS, OMS and DMS real-time state monitoring, control, and communication; and providing demand response aggregation. For more information, visit www.livedatautilities.com. LiveData is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
NOTE: LiveData is a registered trademark of LiveData, Inc. LiveData Utilities, LiveData Real-Time Integration, and LiveData RTI Server are trademarks of LiveData, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.
