Pro tips exist to help you look more experienced and technically savvy than you have a right to be. If they can help you on your automation journey, great!
At my employer, upper management has approached several of the plants about getting these swapped out with VTScada. (I admit, I am surprised they did not discuss Ignition.) Legacy platform upgrades are a necessary part of system upkeep.
When you have a request like this, it is incredibly important to manage the scope of your work. You need to find out...
What the customer thinks is being replaced
What the customer actually wants
What the customer need to get #2 done
Risks entailed by the migration
Mitigations for each of those risks
Modernization brings new features to a system and removes risks for the end user. Features could include reporting, monitoring, online access, etc. The obvious risks removed by software updates are vulnerabilities, but having outdated gear makes technical support difficult.
However, doing said upgrades correctly can be tricky. When you modernize, there are opportunities to cut corners and remove tasks. If you are getting a full Digital Process Control System upgrade, you will get to start from scratch and rebuild everything. This will eliminate the built up "technical debt," which requires tribal knowledge of a few staff members to run things. Those staff have massive leverage over management.
Let's take a full "DCPS upgrade."
Is the customer planning on moving between platforms only on the HMI, or are they swapping out the PLCs as well? If the PLCs are not being swapped, you save a lot of money, but you would limit the gains on your new functionality
Are the graphics supposed to come over? If so, try your most difficult screens with a test version first. You may want to look up the difference between bitmap and vector graphics
How are your reports generated? Are they done with a custom script that might not translate?
Are you sole sourcing vendors? It is easier with a standard vendor, but if that vendor has issues with parts (looking at you, Rockwell), your projects could be held up
How are you handling support contracts?
Is your maintenance team doing this in-house or contracting the work out? If in-house, expect slower work. If contracted out, expect issues re-training the in-house staff
How is the server hosting being handled? Etc
I could go on for ages. Be careful when you pick work and choose deadlines. This is a conservative industry where a lot of cash is at stake. There is a reason the existing systems are in place. Broke gets fixed, good enough sticks around...
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