SCADA
Supervisory control and data acquisition: software and hardware that monitors and controls industrial processes across sites from a central operator station.
A SCADA system collects readings from PLCs and remote terminal units spread over a pipeline, a water network or a plant, shows them on an HMI for operators, logs them in a historian and lets operators issue setpoints and commands. It is supervisory by design: fast control loops stay in the field controllers, while SCADA watches and coordinates.
SCADA predates the IoT by decades, and much of the industrial IoT is about connecting these systems to analytics and the cloud through protocols such as OPC UA without compromising safety. That is also why standards like IEC 62443 exist: SCADA networks were built assuming an isolation that no longer holds. Industrial IoT: a practical guide covers the integration patterns.
Part of the IoT Glossary. Spotted an error or a missing term? Tell us.