(14d) Management of Open Systems in Process Control

The introduction of open systems technology into the process control environment has made a positive impact on the user population in terms of common data access tools, quick access to plant data and operating conditions, remote access and support, etc. However, it has also brought about new challenges for those who must support and maintain those systems.

Problems that were essentially non-existent on proprietary architectures are inherent in open systems. These include:

· Open systems security vulnerabilities (e.g., virus and worm attacks) This represents the biggest challenge for open systems. Potential solutions include anti-virus practices and critical software patch management. Unfortunately, current limitations with popular operating systems require system restarts to activate critical patches. In the process control environment, frequent system restarts reduces availability and increases risk.

· A multitude of software/hardware versions and release levels from numerous vendors This issue can lead to "open systems chaos" and ultimately reduced system availability and increased support costs unless standard software installation procedures, a standard security model, and well-defined hardware technology options are designed and deployed.

· Proliferation of servers and workstations performing specialized tasks resulting in a much larger number of physical boxes to support Application vendors often deliver their own, unique platform with no regard to increased numbers of diverse systems. An effective set of software management tools and practices is required to efficiently maintain growing networks of systems with constant workforce.

· Hardware reaching obsolescence much more quickly than proprietary systems Proprietary control systems had 20 year (or longer) lives. Open systems hardware requires upgrade or replacement every 4-5 years. Resisting this change is futile; hardware refresh is unavoidable, so we must identify effective techniques to minimize the churn.

· New skill sets are required. In the past, support personnel could receive necessary formal training directly from a single vendor. With the deployment of open architectures and systems, a different and much richer set of skills is required. Many of these skills are shared with the IT field and include network design and implementation, network protocols, open systems management, and others. These are in addition to vendor-specific process control system training.

This paper will examine these problems in more detail and offer some potential solutions.