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Integration overview - SCADA, TMS and PI

A concise overview of how systems share data with SCADA, Telecom Management Systems and time-series historians.

Purpose

A short, non-technical summary of how WISE Group’s environmental systems, such as weather, metocean, EMS and HMS, commonly share data with enterprise platforms such as SCADA, Telecom Management Systems, time-series historians such as PI and WISE Group’s cloud Orbalux. The aim is to set expectations for typical patterns, standard interfaces, and the minimum topics to be agreed upon as part of the project definition.

Integration concept

Integration means sending the measurements you need, in a format the other system understands, with clear units and timestamps. Good integrations agree on three things up front: which measurements, how they are delivered, and how values are interpreted. Treat integration as a project decision, not a last-minute task.

Typical recipient platforms

  • SCADA, real-time monitoring and control dashboards used by operations.

  • TMS, platforms that manage telecom infrastructure and telemetry, such as SIM/APN management, modem and router health, alarm routing and telemetry. TMS integrations tend to focus on link health, alarms and telemetry rather than large volumes of historical environmental data.

  • PI/time-series historians, long-term storage and analysis for trending, reporting and audits. These systems typically ingest structured tag data at agreed intervals.

  • Orbalux, a centralised cloud platform for collecting, storing and presenting telemetry and environmental data from multiple sites; useful for central dashboards, cross-site analytics and API access.

Standard, non-technical interfaces you will encounter

Below are the common, vendor-neutral methods WISE Group’s systems use to share data. The most appropriate method for a project is selected to match the recipient system’s capabilities, operational needs, and the site's IT and security policies.

  • Modbus RTU or Modbus TCP — widely used where a SCADA or PLC needs direct read access to current values.

  • SNMP and traps — used for device status and alarm notifications; common in telecom and network management contexts.

  • CSV and history exports — a simple method to share logged data: select tags and time ranges and export CSV files for historians or offline import.

  • Web client, HTTP or HTTPS exports or API — browser-based viewing and lightweight data pulls or exports from the system’s web interface.

  • Digital contacts and relay outputs — on/off signals for alarm, status or interlock inputs.

  • Modern messaging such as OPC-UA and MQTT — enterprise messaging or pub/sub models preferred by some control and historian platforms.

  • Cloud ingestion using MQTT, HTTPS or APIs — for cloud platforms such as Orbalux, telemetry is commonly pushed over secure channels with agreed topic and tag naming and buffering policies for intermittent links.

Data semantics and units

Two non-technical items cause most confusion: units and aggregation. Agree whether values are expressed in knots or metres per second, and whether a value is an instantaneous sample or an aggregated value such as an average or running statistic. These choices affect what appears in charts, alarms and exports.

Time synchronisation and positioning

Accurate timestamps and correct positioning are essential when fusing motion and environmental data. Time synchronisation and reliable position inputs should be part of the integration conversation so records from multiple systems align correctly.

Minimal topics to agree on during project definition

To avoid ambiguity later, projects typically record the following:

  1. Recipient system and technical contact (SCADA, TMS, PI or Orbalux administrator).

  2. Data list: tags, descriptions, preferred units and whether values should be instantaneous or aggregated.

  3. Chosen protocol: Modbus, SNMP, CSV, OPC-UA, MQTT, HTTP(S)/API, relay contacts, or cloud ingestion.

  4. Network and security arrangements: IP plan, VPN, firewall rules and authorised hosts.

  5. Time synchronisation and positioning sources.

  6. Expected telemetry cadence, acceptable latency and buffering strategy for intermittent links.

  7. Data retention and export expectations for historians or cloud platforms.

Practical examples (very short)

  • SCADA: Modbus for live tags and status.

  • PI/historian: scheduled CSV exports or a collector for agreed tags.

  • TMS: modem and router telemetry, SNMP traps and alarms.

  • Orbalux: secure cloud ingestion and central dashboards.

Final note

This overview is intentionally high-level. It describes the typical patterns and the project decisions that drive successful integrations. Detailed interface specifications, such as register maps, session limits, MIB files, authentication schemes, and network configurations, belong in the project integration documents and in the technical manuals produced for each delivery.