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.
Review the Brownfield OPA Migration Strategy before choosing the full practitioner course →
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. Use the O-PAS FAT and Interoperability Testing Guide to define the integrated test basis, evidence and correction cycle.
- 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
Enroll
Get access to Migration Planning & Execution
$597
One-time payment. Instant access. Self-paced.
Enroll Now →You’ll enroll and pay on the CSI Academy learning site, where the course runs.
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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O-PAS™ and Open Process Automation™ are trademarks of The Open Group. CSI is an independent commercial licensee of the O-PAS Standard. References to O-PAS do not imply certification or endorsement by The Open Group.