SimpliScada

10/28/2026

Simpli Explained: Every Connection Matters

Remote access can make SCADA systems easier to manage.

But every new connection also creates another access point that needs to be protected.

What does it mean when we say every remote connection creates another door to defend?

Think about cybersecurity like securing a building.

The more doors you have, the more entry points you need to monitor, manage, and protect.

SCADA environments can work the same way.

Every remote connection, application, and access point becomes another part of the system that utilities need to understand and secure.

In this episode of Simpli Explained, we explore why cybersecurity isn't only about protecting individual connections.

It's also about asking whether all of those connections need to exist in the first place.

Because reducing complexity can reduce the number of doors you have to defend.

Every connection matters.

🎥 Watch Every Connection Matters below.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Simpli Explained as we continue breaking down timely issues affecting the water and wastewater industry.

10/27/2026

Remember the Old Phone System?
Years ago, businesses relied on their own phone systems.
They maintained them.
Updated them.
Backed them up.
And worried about what happened when something failed.
Eventually, that changed.
Today, most businesses don't think about where their phone system lives. They simply expect reliable communication when they need it.
SCADA may be moving in a similar direction.
Utilities don't actually want servers. They want what those servers provide:
Reliable monitoring.
Reliable alarms.
Reliable reporting.
Reliable operations.
The server itself was never the goal. It was simply the technology used to deliver the outcome.
As technology evolves, sometimes there's a simpler way to accomplish the same goal without maintaining all of the infrastructure behind it.

10/26/2026

Simpli Explained: More Products ≠ More Security

When cybersecurity concerns grow, the response can often be to add another product.

Another application. Another tool. Another layer of technology.

But does adding more automatically make a SCADA system more secure?

What's the difference between securing a system and simply adding more cybersecurity products?

In this episode of Simpli Explained, we look at why cybersecurity isn't just about the number of security tools surrounding a system.

Every additional product can also introduce something else that needs to be configured, updated, monitored, and managed.

That makes the architecture behind the system just as important as the products protecting it.

Strong cybersecurity starts with understanding the entire environment, reducing unnecessary complexity, and designing systems with security in mind from the beginning.

Because sometimes improving security isn't about adding another layer.

It's about reducing the layers you need to protect.

🎥 Watch More Products ≠ More Security below.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Simpli Explained as we continue breaking down timely issues affecting the water and wastewater industry.

10/20/2026

Simpli Explained: Not All Cloud Is Equal

Moving SCADA to the cloud can sound like a straightforward technology decision.

But there's an important question utilities should be asking:

Are all cloud-based SCADA systems created equal?

The short answer is that "cloud" can mean very different things depending on how a system is designed.

Some platforms may move traditional SCADA infrastructure into a cloud environment while keeping much of the same underlying architecture.

Others are designed differently from the ground up.

In this episode of Simpli Explained, we explore why utilities should look beyond the word "cloud" and understand the architecture behind the system.

What components are still required?

What does the utility need to maintain?

How is the system accessed, updated, and secured?

Simply moving something to the cloud doesn't automatically make it simpler.

The architecture still matters.

🎥 Watch Not All Cloud Is Equal below.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Simpli Explained as we continue breaking down timely issues affecting the water and wastewater industry.

10/15/2026

Simpli Explained: Would You Install PBX Today?

Most businesses building a new phone system today probably wouldn't start by installing a traditional PBX system in a closet.

Technology has moved on.

So why are utilities still installing local SCADA servers?

In this episode of Simpli Explained, Dave uses the evolution of business phone systems to raise an important question about how utilities approach SCADA infrastructure.

For years, local servers were simply part of the architecture.

But technology has changed.

The question isn't whether local servers have worked.

It's whether utilities should automatically keep building systems the same way simply because that's how they've always been built.

Just as VoIP changed the way businesses think about phone infrastructure, modern SCADA architecture is creating an opportunity to rethink what utilities actually need to own, maintain, update, and secure.

Sometimes modernization starts with a simple question:

If you were designing the system today, would you still build it the same way?

🎥 Watch Would You Install PBX Today? below.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Simpli Explained as we continue breaking down timely issues affecting the water and wastewater industry.

10/14/2026

Does More Complicated Mean Better?
More components. More connections. More infrastructure.
Does that automatically make a SCADA system better?
Not necessarily.
The real question is what operators need the system to accomplish: collect the right data, turn it into useful information, provide reports and alerts, and support automation and control.
Then ask:
What’s the most direct, reliable way to get there?
Complexity should serve a purpose.
It shouldn’t be the measure of how capable a SCADA system is.

10/12/2026

Simpli Explained: Why Are Utilities Resisting?

When VoIP first began replacing traditional business phone systems, not everyone was ready to make the change.

There were questions about reliability, security, and whether moving away from familiar infrastructure was worth the risk.

Sound familiar?

Are we seeing the same resistance with cloud-based SCADA today?

In this episode of Simpli Explained, we look at the parallels between the early adoption of VoIP and the conversations utilities are now having about cloud-based SCADA.

New technology often creates hesitation, especially when the systems involved are critical to daily operations.

But resistance doesn't always mean the technology is wrong.

Sometimes it means the industry is being asked to rethink what it has relied on for years.

History has shown us this pattern before.

Understanding it can help utilities ask better questions about what comes next.

🎥 Watch Why Are Utilities Resisting? below.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Simpli Explained as we continue breaking down timely issues affecting the water and wastewater industry.

10/09/2026

Is Cloud SCADA Secure?

It’s one of the most common questions utilities are asking as SCADA technology evolves.

But maybe the better question is:

What does a secure SCADA architecture actually look like?

Cloud-based SCADA isn’t automatically secure simply because it’s in the cloud. And an on-premise system isn’t automatically secure simply because the server sits inside the plant.

The bigger issue is how the entire system is connected and how many pathways can reach the control network.

Remote access.

Internet-facing equipment.

User accounts.

Vendor access.

VPNs.

Connected devices.

Every pathway matters.

That’s why evaluating SCADA security means looking beyond cloud vs. on-premise and examining the architecture behind the system.

Our latest article looks at what recent water utility cyberattacks can teach us, what regulators have actually said about hosted SCADA, and the questions utilities should be asking about their own systems.

Security isn’t just about where your SCADA system lives. It’s about how it’s designed.

Read the full article:

https://simpliscada.com/is-cloud-scada-secure/

Is cloud SCADA secure? A look at what the real water system attacks had in common, and what regulators have actually said about hosted SCADA

10/08/2026

Simpli Explained: SCADA's VoIP Moment?

There was a time when business phone systems depended on physical equipment sitting inside the building.

Then VoIP changed the model.

Could SCADA be experiencing a similar shift?

In this episode of Simpli Explained, Dave compares the evolution of SCADA to what happened when businesses began moving away from traditional phone systems and toward VoIP.

The phone didn't disappear.

The way the system behind it was designed, delivered, and maintained changed.

SCADA is going through its own evolution.

Utilities still need visibility, control, reliability, and security. But delivering those capabilities doesn't necessarily require the same infrastructure it once did.

Sometimes the biggest technology shifts aren't about changing what a system does.

They're about rethinking how the system does it.

🎥 Watch SCADA's VoIP Moment? below.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Simpli Explained as we continue breaking down timely issues affecting the water and wastewater industry.

10/07/2026

A small utility may need only a fraction of the capacity of its SCADA infrastructure, but still have to pay for 100% of it.
The server. The messaging system. The hard drives. The supporting infrastructure.
As SimpliScada founder Dave McBride explains, a smaller system might use only 1%, 2%, or 5% of that capacity.
The problem? Traditionally, you still have to buy the whole thing.
That raises a question worth asking:
Should the technology scale to the utility, or should the utility have to pay for technology sized far beyond what it actually needs?