控制和SCADA系统设计用于过程控制、操作员界面、数据收集和报告。由于系统管理员能够很好地执行这些功能，因此他们拥有大量关于被监控过程的实时和历史数据。许多控制系统所有者发现自己仔细地归档和存储了这些信息。通常情况下，存储的信息永远不会被检索到。许多公用事业公司都在问，如何有效地利用控制系统收集的信息。公用事业公司还利用自动绘图和设施管理（AM/FM）、实验室信息管理系统（LIMS）、维护管理、建模和其他软件产品。这些应用程序通常由公用程序中的不同组使用，并且通常在分配给该组的pc或工作站上运行，该组可能与公用程序其余部分中的计算机隔离。管理人员、工程师、维护主管和秘书们在从其他团队使用的应用程序生成的报告中读取数据，并将这些数据输入到他们的计算机中时会感到负担和沮丧。 有效利用控制系统收集的信息，以及在应用程序之间共享数据都是集成的问题。本文将考虑计算机网络标准如何为集成铺平了道路，以及实现集成的方法。这篇论文是从外行的角度写的，没有假设一个网络或数据处理的命令。

Control and SCADA systems are designed for process control, operator interface, data collection, and reporting. Because they perform these functions well, system managers have a wealth of real-time and historical data about the process being monitored and controlled. Many control system owners find themselves carefully archiving and storing this information. More often than not, the stored information is never retrieved. Many utilities are asking how information collected by control systems can be productively used. Utilities also utilize automated mapping and facility management (AM/FM), laboratory information management systems (LIMS), maintenance management, modeling, and other software products. These applications are usually used by different groups within the utility, and are often run on a pc or workstation assigned to the group which may be isolated from computers in the rest of the utility. Managers, engineers, maintenance supervisors, and secretaries are burdened and frustrated with reading data from reports generated by applications used by other groups, and entering that data into their computers. Productive use of information collected by control systems, and sharing of data between applications are both issues of integration. This paper will consider how computer network standards have paved the way for integration, and methods for implementing integration. The paper is written from a layman's perspective, and does not assume a command of either networking or data processing.