March 30th and 31th, 2023 – Orlando, FL

Loews Portofino Bay Hotel – Universal Orlando

More Info Coming Soon

VTScadaFest News

Welcome back to our annual SCADA users’ conference

Engage with the experts.
Network with your peers.
Elevate your skill set.

Spend two, action-packed days with the people who create and support VTScada! Experience the refreshing corporate culture that has earned us a loyal international customer base for close to four decades. Network with 200+ automation professionals during receptions, technical sessions, hands-on workshops, and more.

Check out this Level 1 Presentation from VTScadaFest 2020:

Who Should Attend

System Integrators
Consultants
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
Project Engineers
Utility Directors and Managers
SCADA Operators

Why You’ll Love It

Network with over 200+ automation professionals.
Talk 1-on-1 with Trihedral developers and engineers.
Deep-dive into technical presentations and hands-on workshops.
Take condensed training courses at all levels before the conference.

Optional Training – Three Courses to Choose From

VTScada Operation & Configuration Course

Operators and developers will learn about the many features of the VTScada monitoring and control software by creating a working, full-featured application from start to finish. This course will explain how to use the native display screens, connect to hardware, build new displays, work with alarms, configure security and much more.
Download the course outline.

VTScada Advanced Configuration Course

Experienced VTScada developers will learn advanced configuration techniques that allow them to go beyond the standard tools for building their applications. Knowledge of the topics covered in the Operation and Configuration course is assumed. This course aims to teach you how to customize VTScada in order to extend the features and to save time, not how to build an application. It is important that participants know how to add an application, create tags that can communicate with I/O, and build user-interface pages. If you are not comfortable with those and other topics from the Operations and Configuration course, you are advised to take that course first.
Download the course outline.

VTScada Scripting Course

This course is designed for experienced VTScada developers who are proficient at creating advanced applications and want to learn how to code in VTScada and maintain and debug such code. This course teaches you how to code using the VTScada programming language (often referred to as VTScada scripting) which is a fully featured object-oriented programming language.

You do not need to take this course to become a VTScada expert.

Scripting Prerequisites: In order to take this advanced programming course, you must have taken both the Operation & Configuration and Advanced Configuration courses. You must be comfortable with coding using an object-oriented programming language (e.g., C++, Python, Java or JavaScript) and with basic programming concepts such as loops, conditionals, variables, parameters, data structures (e.g., lists, arrays, dictionaries), encapsulation, and inheritance.

Please do not register for this course unless you are already proficient in at least one object-oriented programming language and you are very comfortable building tags, pages, widgets, alarms, and other standard VTScada features.
Download the course outline.

* All amounts listed are in USD and are subject to Florida sales tax.

Presentations:

Session Title	Level	Audience	Summary
A Crash Course on Cyber Resilience for Water Utilities	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	Grab a coffee and a pad of paper. This is a crash course in the processes, systems, costs, and consequences of getting a utility aligned with baseline and advanced cyber resilience standards.
Accessing History, Alarms and Real Time Data from Other Systems Including New SQL Views	Intermediate	Configures	Though our Historian is native to VTScada, we make it easy to put your history to use across your organization. You will connect to a variety of systems using built-in utilities such as the REST interface, the single-table ODBC interface and the new SQL tables cpming soon in VTScada 12.1.
Accessing VTScada Data from Excel	Advanced	Managers, Configures	Microsoft Excel is a common and very powerful data analysis and presentation tool. There are some new enhancements since the last VTScadaFest.
Advanced Application Troubleshooting Tools	Advanced	Configures	Get introduced to the powerful set of debugging and diagnostic tools available in VTScada including details on using the Source Debugger and several other related tools included with VTScada.
Advanced Driver Configuration	Advanced	Configurers	If you have many PLCs or RTUs and you want to get the most out of them, you’ll want to sit in on this session. Learn how to organize your data within the PLC, maximize the update rates, control when devices get polled and how to handle redundant communication paths.
Alarm Management Strategies	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	Alarms are a critical feature of any SCADA system. In this entertaining repeat performance, Alan Hudson takes you on a quick tour through the history of alarm management solutions and introduces best practices that will reduce operator fatigue and optimize productivity.
Alarm Notification Enhancements	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	Discover the new set of enhancements to the alarm notification system (ANS) in 12.1. Get an overview of voice and email alarm notifications and all the options available.
Alarm Voice Dialout Using VoIP – Look ma, no modem…or Internet!	Everyone	Managers, Configures	While VTScada will support voice modems for as long as they exist, version 12.1 lets you move beyond this physical hardware and take advantage of the many benefits of Voice over IP (VoIP) without necessarily connecting to the internet. Learn to configure VTScada to annunciate voice alerts over VoIP using VoIP-to-analog-phone-line converters.
Configuration Challenge (Escape Room)	Advanced	Configures	You are trapped in a hazardous industrial site deep beneath the Rosen Hotel with nothing but a laptop and a scary ticking clock. Only your cool head and intimate knowledge of VTScada software will help you escape to the pool level. This twist on the classic escape room will help you look at VTScada’s standard features in a whole new way. The winner gets a trophy, a snazzy door prize, and a free ticket to VTScadaFest 2023 to defend their title!
Function Library / Expression Editor	Intermediate	Configures	VTScada includes over 700 prebuilt functions that developers can add to expressions to provide advanced functionality. While VTScada’s built-in Help files provide an extensive reference of these functions, Version 12.1 makes it a snap to find the function you need and put it to use. Learn to use the new Expression Editor which includes complex pre-built expressions and even allows you to create your own functions and add them to the library.
Global Tag & Area Filters	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	This feature can be valuable in larger applications where operators need to focus on one area at a time, which may change from day to day. Operators who have been granted the Global Tag & Area Filtering privilege can use a tool in the title bar to restrict their view of tags and alarms to only those they need to see at that moment.
HDV, Yeah You Know Me! – An Intro to The Historical Data Viewer	Everyone	Managers, Operators	The Historical Data Viewer (HDV) is one of the most powerful ways for operators to interact with their priceless historical data. This fast-paced crash course covers how to easily create custom trend groups, customize plots, add encrypted notes, and export ranges of values. It also covers newer advanced features like Historical Data Editing.
How System Integrators Are Winning with VTScada	Everyone	Managers, Configurers	Learn how VTScada’s unique features, licensing, training, and support have helped integrators gain an advantage over their competition. See how SupportPlus renewals provide an all new revenue stream.
Itanta Reporting and Analytics	Intermediate	Managers, Operators, Configurers	The Itanta reporting software is a third-party tool with built-in connectivity to the VTScada historian. Come watch what this product can do without writing any code as presented by one of Itanta’s founders.
I/O Performance Enhancements	Everyone	Managers, Configures	Come learn about the new enhancements to drivers in 12.1 which improve the overall update rate dramatically while reducing the overall load on the system. Learn about some new settings available to make the most of this new capability.
Importing Custom Map Tiles	Intermediate	Configures	How could our Slippy Maps and Site Templates be even better? Learn how to have your own site images appear as you zoom in on a map by replacing the standard map with your own images.
Mission Critical Mindset	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	Mission critical thinking is not just for big systems. While SCADA software must constantly rise to the challenge of ever larger applications, smaller users now understand the true cost of failure in the form of spills, downtime, or lack of regulatory compliance. VTScada has the power and features to run the largest systems in the world while making those capabilities practical for even the smallest systems.
New Batching & Recipe Management Tools	Intermediate	Managers, Configures	Batching is an integral part of industrial processes where repeatability and traceability are key. VTScada has long supported custom batching solutions but now this functionality is a standard part of VTScada. Version 12.1 allows you to easily run batches based on any number of configured ingredients, recipes, and recipe books. Information on each batch is permanently recorded in the VTScada Historian and safely distributed across all servers.
Notes from the Field: Cyber Resilience, Moving Target Defense, and a Return to Meaningful Operational Efficiency Gains	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	Through over 20 publications in the last 25 months, the standards that define cyber resilience in the United States have been overhauled to formalize the use of the cybersecurity technologies commercialized over the past decade. The result for early movers has been a welcome return to faster connections, falling costs, tighter lines of communication, and simpler network architectures. This non-technical talk will cover what changed, and the operational impacts being observed in the field.
Party Tricks with the New Embedded Browser	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	This multi-purposed Widget, coming soon in Version 12.1, allows you to drag-and-drop a frameless browser onto a VTScada page that displays a URL. This is a quick and easy way to embed helpful information like YouTube Help videos, PLC configuration web pages, web-based reports, or even thin clients from different VTScada applications. It can even exchange messages between VTScada Script Code and JavaScript running in the embedded browser.
Philosophy Behind VTScada	Advanced	Managers, Configures	Come learn about the underlying concepts driving VTScada and why they are different and so important to making systems fast, flexible and reliable. We’ll talk about the VTScada script language and what makes it unique and why that’s vitally important.
Security Certificate Setup for Remote Access	Advanced	Configurers	The internet is a dangerous place. Fortunately, there are tried and true approaches to securing connections. When accessing VTScada using remote thin clients, a TLS or VPN connection is essential. Learn what to do to apply for and install a “certificate” to encrypt the connect. Certificates are also used for using the VTScada Excel Add-In and for connecting to OPC-UA.
Setting up Amazon Cloud for VTScada	Advanced	Managers, Configures	Hosted solutions have become a trusted way to improve access and build system resiliency. Amazon Web Services is a platform from which you can host redundant servers. Come get your head in the cloud and learn how VTScada helps you easily develop and manage your web-based system.
SNMP – Accessing Data from Network Devices	Advanced	Configures	Modern SCADA application incorporate more hardware than just PLCs and RTUs. VTScada allows you to pull information from devices that use the Simple Network Management Protocol such as printers, uninterruptible power supplies, and network switches. The ability to monitor and alarm this infrastructure is an important part of increasing your system’s resiliency.
Software Security Standard IEC-62443-4-1	Everyone	Managers, Configurers	Aside from best practices, there are recognized standards for software to harden SCADA systems against threats. The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and ISA share a standard. Learn what it is and why it’s “another brick in the wall”.
Sparkplug B	Everyone	Managers, Configures	Sparkplug B is an open protocol built upon MQTT. Learn how Sparkplug B can be used to automatically discover IO and import them into VTScada. Discover it’s strengths and weaknesses and how to use it within VTScada.
System Health Monitoring	Intermediate	Managers, Operators, Configures	Did you know VTScada has some advanced tools that permit the system to monitor its computing environment and provide alerts in advance of potential problems? Join us for a discussion and training on their benefits and configuration.
System Integrator Tools – OEM Layers & ChangeSets	Advanced	Configurers	The key to reusing work from one project in another in VTScada is understanding OEM layers and leveraging ChangeSets. Learn how to use these tools and when to use them and when to avoid them.
The PLC Alarm Tag	Advanced	Configures	This session covers best practices for configuring alarms when the PLC is the alarm master, not VTScada. If you prefer to configure your alarm logic in your PLCs, this tag makes it easy to read alarm status and configuration from these devices (if supported by the PLC’s protocol) for display in your VTScada application.
Tips & Tricks	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	Since we use VTScada everyday, we know how to get the most out of it and we are happy to pass that wisdom on to you. This presentation will help operators, developers, and managers to work smarter and get more from their VTScada applications.
What’s New in 12.1	Everyone	Managers, Operators, Configures	While we designed VTScada with the power and features to run the largest systems in the world, we make those capabilities practical for even the smallest systems. Come get a look at the new features in version 12.1 that continue to help operators, developers, and managers work faster, smarter, and safer on applications of any size.
Wireshark Tutorial	Advanced	Configures	Join Graham Bloice, Senior VTScada Developer and a Wireshark Foundation Core Developer, for an introduction to Wireshark, a powerful open-source packet analyzer used for things like network troubleshooting, debugging, security analysis, and communications protocol development.

Workshops: (TBA)

Workshop Title	Level	Categories	Description