CygNet to Ignition SCADA Conversion for Enterprise-Scale Oil and Gas Operations

Summary

DMC’s Automation team partnered with one of the largest private oil and gas firms to modernize a legacy Cygnet SCADA system into a scalable Ignition-based architecture. The existing system relied on legacy infrastructure that had become difficult to maintain and expand as operations grew. The client needed a long-term solution that could support tens of thousands of distributed field devices, facilities, and tags across the organization.

Rather than manually rebuilding the system, DMC developed an automated Cygnet Migration framework to transform Cygnet export files into Ignition-ready configurations. This approach enabled the team to standardize the migration process while significantly reducing manual engineering effort.

The updated SCADA platform upgraded operator visibility and provided a more flexible user interface for day-to-day operations. The new Ignition architecture also gave the client a scalable foundation that could support future expansion and simplify the rollout of additional assets over time.

Solution

DMC replaced a legacy, region-specific SCADA system with a single standardized operating layer across the client’s upstream oil and gas assets, allowing the client to monitor and support field operations across multiple regions.

The new system uses centralized data collection through a unified backend architecture. Previously, distributed field devices in Cygnet communicated through a service-managed polling architecture, which led to overhead and inconsistent architectures across assets. DMC implemented a unified backend architecture using Ignition and AUTOSOL. Distributed field devices communicate through AUTOSOL ACM, which provides a consistent interface between Ignition and a wide range of RTUs, PLCs, and other control equipment. The new architecture supports reliable, real-time data access across tens of thousands of geographically dispersed assets.

The new, modernized interface streamlines navigation across all assets and quickly surfaces information, allowing operators to view equipment health, alarms, and system status at a glance. Assets can also be accessed directly by device type, reducing time spent reviewing or troubleshooting equipment.

Standard Data Model and Equipment Rollout

DMC created a standard database-driven model that stores configurations for equipment, remote field devices, and tags. This configuration data can be created in bulk, migrated from legacy platforms, or edited from the Ignition interface. It is then easy to deploy changes and automatically update ACM devices or Ignition tags.

 A custom equipment management dashboard helps users add and configure new and existing devices directly from Ignition, significantly reducing the time and effort required to roll out new equipment in the field.

CygNet Migration Framework

Rather than manually rebuilding the system tag by tag, DMC developed a custom automated migration framework to transform CygNet data into a clean, standardized production-ready configuration. The tool merges the fragmented CygNet export files into a unified, searchable, relational model. It generates a graphical model to visualize the legacy system and converts the data into an Ignition-ready configuration database schema.

 In addition to migrating data, the tool also removes inactive assets, standardizes naming conventions, and enforces relationships between devices and tags. The result was a single consolidated data model that served as the basis for generating the new Ignition configuration, ensuring consistency and establishing a scalable framework for onboarding future assets.

Results

With a modern Ignition and AUTOSOL SCADA system in place, the client now has real-time visibility into field-wide data and operations. Replacing the CygNet system with a standardized, database-driven architecture provides a scalable foundation for growth, positioning the client to onboard new assets faster and reducing reliance on manual configuration. The result is a more flexible, maintainable system that supports continued growth across the client’s upstream operations.