CASE STUDY
AVEVA PI Domain Migration
Working with Corporate IT & Engineering Teams to Transfer Ownership of a Running PI System
OBJECTIVE: A PI process historian typically lives in a DMZ between the OT and IT networks. It has connections to the mill control systems and the business IT network to serve up process trends to desktop users. With network infrastructure, network addressing, routing, and firewall settings changing in a very short transition period, Hargrove had to assess the situation, develop a detailed plan, and work closely with the company’s personnel to ensure the PI system continued to function.
CHALLENGE: The PI system at the mill had been primarily maintained by the corporate team of the former owner. The new company had a different corporate standard for process historians and therefore lacked in-depth PI knowledge. By the time the PI system was identified as a migration risk, there were only about six weeks before the planned cutover on January 1st. The company only had a partial architecture drawing of the PI system and many unresolved questions. There was the added challenge of working through holiday periods which reduced the effective working window and constrained resource availability.
SOLUTION: Move Fast, But Be Organized
After first being contacted by the company and discussing the situation, Hargrove created a proposal outlining a plan within 24 hours.
The company agreed to the plan which consisted of a data gathering trip to the mill, generating a cutover plan, and a return trip to the mill on January 1st to assist the team with the PI domain migration. Hargrove was onsite performing assessments within two weeks of first contact by the company.
Our onsite discovery process helped to fill in blanks in the system architecture by gathering data both from the systems and the mill personnel. The company had not only installed the base PI server, but a large installation with multiple layered products that would have to be migrated and tested.
After Hargrove had the necessary system information, Teammates developed a detailed, flexible cutover strategy as part of a much larger IT led migration plan. Hargrove then traveled back to the mill for the multi-day migration process starting on New Year’s Day.
Results: Success Through Planning and Effort
In such a complex process, not everything went strictly according to plan or schedule. A few “undocumented features” were found in the PI software along the way. However, due to diligence in assessments, Hargrove knew the company’s system well and was able to adapt to changing events on the ground. Most importantly, the effort was a success in the end, with minimal system downtime and a well-functioning PI system continuing to collect and serve process data at the end of the migration.
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