IIoT, SCADA & Edge Connectivity worked example

SCADA Upgrade Cost at 54% share of legacy tags migrated: a worked example

This worked example runs the scada upgrade cost numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 54% share of legacy tags migrated instead of the typical 75%. Estimate the loaded cost of a SCADA upgrade across HMI servers, polled tags, and screens from the unit cost per HMI server (or seat), the tag count loaded onto the upgrade, the share of tags actually migrated, and a fixed engineering and cutover adder.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Number of HMI servers or runtime seats: 4 seats (held at the documented default)
  • Cost per HMI server or runtime seat: 18,000 $ / seat (held at the documented default)
  • Share of legacy tags migrated: 54 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 75)
  • Fixed engineering, FAT, SAT, and cutover cost: 95,000 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Variable SCADA platform cost = HMI server count × cost per seat × share of tags migrated.
  • Total SCADA upgrade cost works out to 133,880 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • SCADA cost per HMI server or seat works out to 33,470 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable SCADA platform cost works out to 38,880 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed engineering and cutover cost works out to 95,000 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share of legacy tags migrated sits at 75% and the headline result is 149,000 $, this scenario comes in 10.15% below the baseline at 133,880 $.
  • Use it during early capital planning or vendor down-selection, before you have a binding integrator quote, to set a defensible budget and a per-seat benchmark. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Total SCADA upgrade cost: 133,880 $ (headline result)
  • SCADA cost per HMI server or seat: 33,470 $ / piece
  • Variable SCADA platform cost: 38,880 $
  • Fixed engineering and cutover cost: 95,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live SCADA Upgrade Cost calculator, set share of legacy tags migrated to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.