System integrators have always represented specialists who deal with men in relation to the machines, devices and software they use. In an industrial process, automation machines, devices and software are all essential factors for the efficiency of production lines, but it is the system integrator that makes them communicate effectively with each other.

The current characteristics of the information technology have changed the way the system integrators work: the technology evolves at such a speed that it becomes really difficult to be always updated on every single news. These innovations have had important consequences on everyday life, influencing the way we communicate, spend time, set social relationships and above all work. Not keeping up with the times means risking being left behind.

A system integrator who thinks looking to the future not only offers its customers the solution they need at the moment, but will be able to propose a control system that will accompany their business activities for the next 10 years, and also well. An efficient system integrator manages to reconcile the past and the future, getting the best from both.

With so many variables at stake decreeing a company’s business success, it’s important to know what to expect from a system integrator but also what the future holds in store for the industrial automation industry.

The way we accept and embrace technological innovations on the market has also changed. It took 50 years for the phone to arrive in the homes of half the American population, but it took only 10 years for Internet access to be made in the same houses.

It is as if people have become accustomed to the fact that technological changes occur with great rapidity and frequency, and in a certain sense they expect them.

The Internet has certainly been one of the main proponents of this change, given the speed and ease with which it is able to spread information worldwide. For the industrial sector, the Internet has managed to make the world a smaller and bigger place at the same time; smaller because communicating with a global audience has become a faster, larger operation because market opportunities have opened up in areas that were not even imaginable in the past.

This important connection opportunity, if on the one hand it represents an undeniable business advantage, on the other hand presents a price to pay: an ever-increasing competition.

The competition is today more fierce than ever, and this only increases the need to stay up to date on all the technological innovations.

The industrial automation sector is also affected by this increase in competition; in addition to having to pursue the technological advantages, it is necessary to reach them with the minimum expenditure of energy so as to be competitive on a global scale.

Is there anything that has not been affected by the advent of the Internet? It is evident that the system integrators called to answer our question recognize the Internet as a pre-eminent role in their work. The Internet is considered to all effects the technology that has most influenced the integration of the systems. The most important changes are:

• Wan Networks;

• Remote Access;

• Cloud Computing.

Databases are today the most widespread type of database in the world, to store all kinds of data useful for industries. Databases are usually of a relational type, structured as a spreadsheet with rows, columns and cells accessed by multiple users simultaneously and by the higher functions. The databases recognize simplicity, ease of connection and flexibility:

• Systems interconnected;

• Data analysis;

• Historical data log.

Smartphones and mobile devices are spreading with incredible speed: just walk down the street or enter the restaurant to see how many people are holding and using a smartphone.

People use them all the time, and now they are used to having everything they need literally close at hand. This need for immediate access to data has certainly not gone unnoticed by industrial automation operators. Today needs are:

• Clients requests;

• To be able to access data anywhere;

• Dynamic Data Presentation.

Usually the software is installed on one machine and only works on it, but the server-based applications work in another way: they are installed on servers and run on any machine connected to the server, without necessarily requiring the installation of the software locally.

Server-based applications have changed the installation of SCADAs and contributed to the dissemination of their use; being SCADA one of the most used solutions by system integrators it is easy to understand how this technology has made the difference in the work of the latter:

• No need for installation;

• Automatic updates;

• Reliability.