CSI Academy · Practitioner Course
Migration Planning & Execution
End-to-end brownfield DCS migration methodology — from readiness assessment through phased cutover and stabilisation. Built from real migrations, where downtime is measured in millions per hour.
Curriculum
15 lessons across three parts
Part 1 — Planning the Migration
Why Brownfield Is the OPA Proving Ground
End-to-end brownfield migration methodology.
- The installed-base reality
- The brownfield economics
- Course roadmap
Migration Readiness Assessment
Can this facility migrate, and what would it take?.
- The installed base inventory
- The knowledge audit
- Scoring readiness and reporting out
Baseline Documentation
You cannot validate what you never documented.
- The I/O database
- Alarm system baseline
- Packaging the baseline
Migration Strategies Compared
Rip-and-replace, phased, parallel-run, wrap-and-extend.
- Rip-and-replace
- Parallel-run
- Choosing: mapping assessment facts to strategy
Selecting the Pilot Unit
The pilot proves the methodology, not just the technology.
- Risk criteria
- Visibility and organisational effect
- Scoring candidates and committing
The Migration Basis of Design
One document that governs every downstream decision.
- Strategy and scope boundaries
- Interface inventory and transition states
- Ownership and change control
Part 2 — Execution Disciplines
Interface Management
Phased migration means years of two systems side by side.
- Data interfaces
- The operator experience across two systems
- Interface testing and register discipline
I/O Migration and Marshalling
Every strategy eventually touches field wiring.
- Marshalling strategies
- Hot cutover
- I/O migration in the program plan
Application Migration
Translating control applications to the target environment.
- Translation approaches
- Validation against the baseline
- Applications ready: proving it formally
FAT for Modular Multi-Vendor Systems
No single vendor owns the assembled system.
- Component-level FAT
- Integrated FAT content
- Exit criteria and the FAT record
SAT and Site Integration Testing
SAT verifies the installed system in its real environment.
- Installation verification and pre-outage SAT
- Loop checks and field integration
- SAT closure and the readiness gate
Part 3 — Cutover and Beyond
Cutover Planning
Sequence, schedule, roles, communications, rollback.
- Sequencing the work
- Roles, authorities, and communications
- Readiness review: permission to proceed
Executing the Cutover
Execution is disciplined delivery of the frozen plan.
- The opening moves
- When it goes wrong
- Declaring cutover complete
Post-Cutover Stabilisation
Stabilisation secures what cutover achieved.
- The support model
- Punch list management
- Closing the phase
Case Study and Capstone Exercise
A realistic composite: mid-size chemical plant, aging DCS.
- Assessment and baseline findings
- Execution: what the plan absorbed
- Your capstone exercise
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Also included with CSI EPC Practitioner certification enrollment.
Questions? trevor@csi-automation.com
Migration Planning & Execution
Format
Self-paced video lessons
Duration
15 lessons · approximately 2 hours
Level
Practitioner — assumes DCS engineering background
Capstone
Migration strategy selection for a supplied refinery scenario
Questions
trevor@csi-automation.com
OPA Architecture in Practice
Best taken after the architecture course — this course assumes you know the target you are migrating to.
OPA Architecture in Practice →CSI Academy
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