You may be someone who already is aware that your data is best available to your employees on the cloud to continue delivering stronger results. Everyone gets level-appropriate access during the day or at midnight, in the office or in Katmandu.

But with it that available, ‘How secure is it?’ you may want to know.

Instead of just saying, “Trust us,” we’ll share some of the extensive steps we take to make sure your data is very safe, both from intruders and from forces of nature. After all, we hold that data in trust for our customers and we don't take security lightly.

I'm betting it's safe to say you've had enough of the endless stream of singular reports piling on your desk. With a single report from one end of the operation paper clipped to another report from the middle, you’re constantly sorting everything manually, or hand-entering it into several separate databases. Maybe some of your reports are from yesterday and others are from last week. Maybe the databases are scattered on computers or servers in several locations.

How can you make good (or any) business decisions or locate issues when everything is scattered, missing, in the wrong pile, stapled to the wrong report or accidentally tossed out?

Without a unified report you may not be able to see how a small issue in one area can lead to a big need down the line—until it’s too late. You need a single source for sensor data up and down the line, as it happens?

Unfortunately, data breach notifications are in the news cycle almost every day now and are fiercely impacting every industry. When it’s someone else’s company; you may have a moment of empathy for all they're about to go through as people, a company and financially—but it quickly becomes a major crisis when a security breach impacts your company, or you personally.

Cyber security is a significant sustainability challenge for every industry today.

Security attacks come in many forms and almost every week we read about another company that has had data become compromised, either from ransomware in a corporation or banking data captured from a retailer. How do you defend against those kinds of attacks while giving your people easy, but secure access to the site or asset data they need in order to efficiently make the best business decisions?

Have you ever tried to give someone advice about something that was way outside of your expertise? I have made that error many, many times. When I make the error of an unsolicited suggestion on something (usually to my friends on subjects like fashion, hair styles or anything related), I'm occasionally told to "stay in my lane."

It quickly sets things into perspective for me, and I retreat, with a smile, knowing they're totally right; I'm way, way, way out of my lane offering advice about a topic I clearly do not fully understand or have taken the time to learn enough about. They're totally right, I should stay in my own lane.

When it comes to data security, you're busy, and we completely understand that making sure your operational data is secure may not be always top of mind to you, or your highest priority at all times. After all, the last thing most people have time for is to worry about the security of operational data, because well, they're already very busy making sure a million other operational decisions are made really well, promises kept, employees remain productive, all the while with goals and targets continuously being achieved, or even better; exceeded.

You’ve been really busy lately; planning to design install and manage your own SCADA system. You've done all your homework, researched, endlessly read on the how to’s, precautions and potential disasters to avoid. You’re ready to invest your hard-earned money and commit even more of your precious time into the next steps.

Seeing is truly believing. Through Emerson's DeltaV™ SaaS SCADA you can “see” so many issues right from your computer or phone:

Is my unit running? What’s the line pressure? Who's actually on-site? Is the tank filling up?

Techs and pumpers are already logging much less drive time, the equipment is logging lots more “up” time and the accountants are pushing that bottom line lower and lower. And yet—it still would be nice to actually see what’s happening out there.

Awhile back a friend decided to replace a leaky faucet himself and save some money. He thought the faucet was screwed on, so he grabbed a wrench and started twisting away.

As oil and gas producers look to find efficiencies in their production operations, the first and best solution to discuss is adding automation to their well site operations. Traditionally, some may be hesitant to implement a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, due to the initial capital costs involved and complexity. However, when one is looking at reducing total operational costs and increasing recoverable reserves, the positives from investing in SCADA become clear, especially when one considers the increased affordability brought by modern technology.