The compelling advantage of an association is that members can combine resources and efforts to accomplish that which, individually, would be impossible. Your collective support has helped CSIA raise awareness of control system integration as a profession, promote best practices for the industry, and grow into a recognized, credible source of information and connections. As our public website says, CSIA is "the go-to resource for control system integration."

The CSIA website consistently ranks high in search engine results. In addition to educating prospective clients and members, the website drives traffic to Find an Integrator, where prospective clients can search for the integrator with the right qualifications for their industrial automation project.

Find an Integrator, which is an enhanced membership directory that we have made public, has served us well. However, you told us you wanted more ways to channel visitors from the CSIA website to your firms. In response, the Board of Directors approved development of an all new platform to replace Find an Integrator. Diamax, a firm with extensive experience developing online buyers guides, will work with CSIA between now and April 2014 to create what we are calling "marketplace."  

All members - integrators and partners - will receive a free listing, plus the opportunity to upgrade their listing with many new features such as sales contacts, white papers, video, and links to suppliers or integrators they are affiliated with. Nonmembers' listings will show minimal information, with the opportunity to join CSIA and receive all the benefits of membership, including better visibility and placement in search results on the marketplace.

More information will be shared as development gets underway.

Members of the development task force include: Rich Brueggman, Data Science Automation; Roy Kok, Ocean Data Systems; Joe Martin, Martin Control Systems; Pat Miller, Engineered Energy Solutions; Mark Moriarty, Rockwell Automation; Derek Rector, Diamax; and CSIA staff.

Thank you to the task force that developed the criteria and selected Diamax as the supplier. Members included: Sam Hoff, Patti Engineering; Steve Goldberg, Matrix Technologies; Joe Martin, Martin Contol Systems; PC Romano, Avid Solutions; Mark Voigtmann, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; and CSIA staff. 

You told us that selling is one of your biggest challenges, so CSIA responded with this program developed for CSIA by the global leader in sales training, Sandler Training. The respondents of the recent survey spoke loudly, telling us that you are ready to embrace this program to overcome the challenge of selling system integration services. From the survey:

• 32 are interested in the Initial Training on the two days prior to our 2014 Executive Conference.
• 21 are interested in the Initial Training that will take place soon after the conference.
• 31 are interested in a one-year online Reinforcement Package with monthly sessions and other online privileges.
• Six are interested in a one-year training program conducted weekly at their local Sandler Training Center.

Here's how the program works. Attend an initial training program either the two days before our annual conference or a two-day program soon after the conference (location to be determined) at a cost of about $2,000. The class is preceded by an individual assessment. After initial training, select either the local training at a Sandler Training Center or the online Reinforcement Package. The approximate cost for local training is $9,000, depending on the number registered. The approximate cost for the online Reinforcement Package is $2,500. A DISC or Devine Assessment cost is approximately $400.

Follow the link for a general description of the Sandler's Solution Program that delivers sales training to sales professionals and those who manage sales professionals. The program is tailored to the system integration industry, except for the local training where you will be with people from many industries.

Final details, pricing and registration will be available soon. Note that the maximum number of participants for the initial training is 50 so decide quickly when registration opens.

What is the ROI? Acquire one or more contracts worth a total of about $100,000 at a net profit of 10%, and your approximate $10,000 investment is paid back. All future net profits that would have otherwise been missed go straight to your bottom line. I think you'll agree that is good value.

Business solutions, at your fingertips

by Bob Lowe, CSIA Executive Director

Our monthly webinars conclude with an opportunity for attendees to provide suggestions for future webinars. We appreciate the feedback and do attempt to find presenters for popular topics. However, we now have a substantial library of webinar recordings, newsletters with educational articles, library documents, and conversations on Open Forum that may provide the insight you are seeking.

Some examples of requests from a recent webinar are:

• Business system software options - View the November 2012 webinar by Don Roberts and also see the PTMA library on the Connected Community. For future reference, there will be a presentation at the 2014 conference on ERP for integrators.
• Financial statements - View the October 2012 webinar by Craig Billings
• Configuration management - See the Resources for Managing Your Business library entry by Jeff Miller called Configuration Management "How To" White Paper for Control Systems Integrators.
• Project risk management - See the Resources for Managing Your Business library entry called Proposal Risk Assessment Template. It is a start. For future reference, there will be a presentation at the 2014 conference on project risk management.

So search around, you may be surprised what you find. Items from the past may not be perfect solutions but are a start. Keep the ideas coming. We do try to go with webinars that are somewhat specific to systems integration and avoid ones that would span many industries and are otherwise available in the marketplace. Also, I encourage you to ask your pressing business questions on the Open Forum.

COMING UP:

Ken Edmundson

Gina Coleal

Nick Setchell

ARCHIVES:

Jeff Miller

Oct. 23, 2013

Ken Edmundson

Aug. 28, 2013

by Bob Lowe, CSIA Executive Director

CSIA has developed a program that enables branch offices to be audited from a member's head office to avoid the cost of an auditor traveling to the branch office. End-user clients have told me that having only the head office CSIA Certified is not acceptable if their project will be served by the integrator's branch office. A Shell Oil engineer was the most recent person to voice that opinion.

I witnessed the first branch office remote audit in October at JMP Engineering's head office in London, Ontario. Conducted by Brian Mullen of Exotek, it was an effective audit. The Remote Audit Plan was developed by a task force of volunteers and we are grateful for their service. We are also grateful to Scott Shawyer, JMP Engineering President, for offering to use his company for the pilot program.

There were lessons learned at both my witness audit and the second one performed by Brian for another JMP Engineering branch, so improvements will be made to the plan and it will become available to CSIA members with head offices that are CSIA Certified in early 2014. Currently, the Remote Audit Plan is a separate document but will be integrated into the new Certification Management System that began in September 2013.

It is important to note that very good technical infrastructure at both the head office and branch office is necessary for a successful remote audit. If the technology for audio, video and collaboration does not function well and the auditor cannot effectively perform the audit, thereby requiring rescheduling, it stands to reason that there will be substantial cost to the member.

• BTB Solutions, Ridgefield, Wash.
• Omnicon SA, Cali, Columbia

• Breach of contract
• Fidelity of employees
• Loss of documents
• Payment of withheld fees
• Cyber liability
• Privacy liability
• System damage
• System business interruption
• Pollution liability
• Hired or leased vehicles automobiles
• Global coverage

ARC Advisory Group recently conducted an end user survey to identify the current status, trends, and adoption of supply chain management (SCM) solutions via cloud in Asia. The survey also focused on understanding the end use reasons for deploying or no deploying SCM solutions via cloud. The survey also captures the achievements of the SCM on cloud users and where they see the technology flourishing in a five-year timespan.

With the onset of the recent economic recession, companies started looking at utilizing technology to reduce costs and increase efficiency. This helped create interest in cloud computing (software, platform, and infrastructure offered via a service) with its promise of low upfront costs, since companies can deploy any part of the software, as a service, by paying in the "per use" model. Though there were some initial hesitations concerning security and scalability, suppliers have addressed these issues to a great extent by bringing in different cloud models (public, private, and hybrid).

Read the full report and see the ARC Index archives on the CSIA Connected Community.

by Bob Lowe, CSIA Executive Director

ISA Automation Week 2013 featured a well-designed, six-track education program and excellent keynote presentations. My two presentations - CSIA Best Practices for Project Management and CSIA Best Practices for System Development Lifecycle - in the theater of the Networking Hub attracted good-sized audiences.

In addition to Automation Week I attended a semi-annual Automation Federation meeting which, amongst other things, solidified our contacts with some of the subject matter experts on cybersecurity. It led to the CSIA Cybersecurity Task Force having the opportunity to review and comment on the soon-to-be-released IEC62443-4-2 standard Security for industrial automation and control systems - Part 4-2: Technical Security Requirements for IACS Components. This international standard will impact the CSIA Best Practices Manual Revision 5 so it's great to participate in the comment phase of the standard's development.

We are grateful to ISA for the opportunity to participate in their ISA Automation Week 2013. Our relationship with ISA continues to grow. We are finding multiple ways for our associations to mutually benefit one another.