27-Apr-2017 The WITS Plugfest is approaching

The WITS PSA will be hosting the first WITS Plugfest for some time on Wednesday May 17th 2017. The Plugfest is an opportunity for Field Device vendors and Master Station vendors to meet and connect their respective systems to demonstrate that they work against the standard. Vendors have a chance to iron out any problems that exist in the standard or their software by working with other’s during the day in a co-operative and friendly environment.

Those of you with long memories may recall that Plugfests were used extensively during the development of WITS-DNP3 to improve and correct the protocol ensuring systems were interoperable and used the protocol in the same way. So why re-introduce Plugfests now? Our main reasons are:

Both Self Certified and Verified products have moved on in version number since original testing, the Plugfest will give an opportunity for the vendors to test that their products still operate correctly with the latest versions of other systems, this reducing the burden of testing on users.

  • Later WITS functionality, such as that in WITS 1.2 and WITS 1.3 has not been tested with the same rigour that WITS 1.1 received and we hope to extensively test these functions during the Plugfest, again removing the testing burden from users.
  • New vendors and devices have been brought to market and are still coming to market. The Plugfest gives these vendors a chance to test their devices against both Master Stations in an environment where they have access to some of the most knowledgable WITS-DNP3 people.

Both Master Stations will be available at the Plugfest and we currently have eight device vendors attending to test their Field Devices. Unlike years ago when the Plugfests were a largely vendor affair, we are also lucky enough to have some users attending who will help drive the Master Stations and relieve pressure on the Master Station staff. All in all, over 20 people will be attending the day which is kindly hosted by Xylem in Nottingham.

Should you wish to be involved or find out more, please contact us at enquiries@witsprotocol.org.

 

Written by Mark Davison, Terzo Digital