How do you calculate SCADA migration hours?

Divide the number of screens or POUs by your engineer's migration rate to get base hours, then multiply by one plus the FAT/SAT/cutover allowance. With 260 screens at 1 screen/hr and a 60% allowance, base hours are 260 and required hours are 416.

Why add a 60% FAT/SAT and cutover allowance?

Pure conversion is the small part. Testing each screen against live tags, dry-running alarms, customer FAT sign-off, SAT on the plant network, and the cutover/rollback rehearsal routinely add 40-70% on top of base conversion time. 60% is a realistic midpoint for a brownfield plant.

What is a realistic SCADA screen migration rate?

For like-for-like HMI conversions with good source documentation, 1-2 screens per engineer-hour is typical. Complex faceplates, custom scripting, or re-architecting navigation can drop you below 0.5 screens/hr, so measure your first 10-20 screens before trusting an estimate.

Should I count POUs or screens?

Count whichever drives your effort. For HMI-led migrations use screens; for a PLC/logic-heavy replatform count Program Organization Units (POUs). If both move together, run the calculator twice and sum the required hours.

How many engineer-weeks is 416 hours?

At a productive 30 billable hours per engineer-week, 416 hours is about 14 engineer-weeks — roughly one engineer for 3.5 months, or a team of three for about a month including FAT and SAT.

SCADA migration hours vs PLC connectivity backlog?

This tool sizes the HMI/SCADA conversion and its acceptance testing. PLC connectivity backlog sizes the separate effort of getting controllers onto the network and exchanging tags. Large projects need both estimates because the work and the skills differ.

IIoT, SCADA & Edge Connectivity calculator

SCADA Migration Workload Calculator

SCADA Migration Workload converts a raw screen or POU count into a credible engineering-hours estimate for moving a control system from a legacy platform (Wonderware, iFIX, RSView) to a new HMI/SCADA stack. Controls leads and systems integrators use it to staff projects, set delivery dates, and defend a quote before an outage window is locked. It matters because migrations almost never fail on the screen conversion itself — they overrun on Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), Site Acceptance Test (SAT), and cutover, which this calculator forces you to budget explicitly. The output is the number you take into a resource plan, not an optimistic best case.

What this calculator does

Estimate engineering hours to migrate a SCADA project from one platform to another, from screens or POU count to migrate, the engineer migration rate (objects per hour), and an allowance for FAT, SAT, validation, and cutover.
Use it when an integrator or controls lead is sizing a SCADA migration sprint (legacy SCADA to Ignition, Wonderware, AVEVA, or FactoryTalk View) before quoting the project.
It computes total SCADA migration engineering hours by dividing screen/POU count by the engineer's migration rate, then inflating the base hours by the FAT, SAT, validation, and cutover allowance.

Formula used

Base SCADA migration hours = screens or POUs ÷ engineer rate
Required SCADA migration hours = base hours × (1 + FAT, SAT, and cutover allowance)

Inputs explained

Screens or program organization units (POUs) to migrate:
Engineer migration throughput:
FAT, SAT, validation, and cutover allowance:

How to use the result

Use it when scoping a SCADA or HMI replatform, sizing a migration team, or sanity-checking an integrator's fixed-price bid against your own screen inventory.
It assumes a uniform per-screen rate; a graphics-heavy mimic with embedded scripting and alarm logic can take 5x a simple status screen, so blend rates or segment the count for mixed estate.

Current U.S. benchmarks

Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026), up 41.5% in a year, and U.S. industrial electricity averages 8.66 cents per kWh. Both feed electrified-hardware unit economics.

Common questions

How do you calculate SCADA migration hours? Divide the number of screens or POUs by your engineer's migration rate to get base hours, then multiply by one plus the FAT/SAT/cutover allowance. With 260 screens at 1 screen/hr and a 60% allowance, base hours are 260 and required hours are 416.
Why add a 60% FAT/SAT and cutover allowance? Pure conversion is the small part. Testing each screen against live tags, dry-running alarms, customer FAT sign-off, SAT on the plant network, and the cutover/rollback rehearsal routinely add 40-70% on top of base conversion time. 60% is a realistic midpoint for a brownfield plant.
What is a realistic SCADA screen migration rate? For like-for-like HMI conversions with good source documentation, 1-2 screens per engineer-hour is typical. Complex faceplates, custom scripting, or re-architecting navigation can drop you below 0.5 screens/hr, so measure your first 10-20 screens before trusting an estimate.
Should I count POUs or screens? Count whichever drives your effort. For HMI-led migrations use screens; for a PLC/logic-heavy replatform count Program Organization Units (POUs). If both move together, run the calculator twice and sum the required hours.
How many engineer-weeks is 416 hours? At a productive 30 billable hours per engineer-week, 416 hours is about 14 engineer-weeks — roughly one engineer for 3.5 months, or a team of three for about a month including FAT and SAT.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.