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September 25, 2025Episode 27. Optimizing Manufacturing Workflows with Next Plus & AI
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Growing Water Utility Taps into GrayMatter’s Command24 Support
When you’re running a water utility that serves tens of thousands of people, it’s not enough for your SCADA system to work most of the time.
It must work all the time.
That was the mindset of a major Rocky Mountain Region water utility as it looked for a better way to handle after-hours SCADA issues.
For years, the utility relied on a patchwork of in-house staff and informal help from system integrators. When the utility’s leaders began a multi-year modernization effort, they knew they needed consistent and dependable support.
“We need to have somebody in the middle of the night when that operator can’t figure out what’s going on and they need help,” the utility’s IT Department Manager said.
“They want to know that somebody is there within 30 minutes that’s aware of the problem and they have that support at 2 a.m.”
The Problem
With only one full-time SCADA operator in-house, the utility had been relying heavily on trusted integrators and partners. While those relationships were strong, support wasn’t guaranteed after business hours and holidays, and that was becoming a problem.
“It comes up more often than you would think,” the manager said when asked about the frequency of off-hours issues. “I would say four, five, six times a month probably.”
Login problems, PLC outages and connectivity failures would crop up during nights and weekends. Operators had to rely on good faith calls to engineers who weren’t formally on the clock.
“We had kind of a handshake agreement. We had their phone numbers, and they graciously allowed us to call. We would get charged the time, but they didn’t necessarily have to help.”
Hiring more full-time staff was considered, but it was ultimately ruled out.
“Trying to find good SCADA folks is darn near impossible right now,” he said. “It would be very expensive, and it doesn’t scale up and down... it’s very difficult to keep people trained up and educated on the latest and greatest.”
Login problems, PLC outages and connectivity failures would crop up during nights and weekends. Operators had to rely on good faith calls to engineers who weren’t formally on the clock.
The Solution: Command24 Support
Instead of hiring, the utility expanded its relationship with GrayMatter to include 24/7 support through its Command24 service. GrayMatter’s engineers already knew the systems, the people and the processes because of previous modernization projects.
“It formalizes the support. It guarantees that support, and it provides more of an SLA (Service Level Agreement) around the time frame of knowing when we’re going to get a response.”
Now, instead of wondering who to call, operators follow a clear process that involves one number and one email. No guesswork.
Command24 filled a critical gap, and financially, it made sense.
Hiring a full-time SCADA operator would easily exceed the expense of the utility’s annual cost of its Command24 service tier.
Why it Works
The rest of the utility’s leadership team unanimously backed the move to Command24.
“We work with many managed service providers and they need to meet high standards. We don’t even use the word vendor, we use the word partner and we’re very specific with that,” the manager said. “GrayMatter already knows our systems. They already have documents in place... it was a great fit culturally.”
That cultural alignment made the support model a natural extension of the utility’s approach to modernization.
“Because of the interdependence of modern technology, we’ve really emphasized the importance of keeping the teams communicating together,” the manager said. “GrayMatter has really stepped up in working with our other teams.”
“Trying to find good SCADA folks is darn near impossible right now. It would be very expensive, and it doesn’t scale up and down... it’s very difficult to keep people trained up and educated on the latest and greatest.”
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IT Department Manager
MAJOR U.S. WATER UTILITY
What is Command24?
No more calls in the middle of the night, no more trying to figure out what the problem is and who needs to solve it. Command24 is total OT infrastructure support for all your control systems and operational software.
We know you have many vendors providing support for point solutions — but only ours takes a holistic approach to operational support. With Command24, any OT challenge means just one person to call.
Whether your issue is with a PLC, software, instruments or the network, our team makes sure you aren’t on your own to solve it.
.Q: When I call, who answers the phone?
A: Our U.S.-based team is ready to talk 24/7. You’ll have access to dedicated resources or a specialized pool tailored to your needs.
Q: How do you identify the scope of support?
A: We identify the highest value assets and where they sit. It comes down to a plant-by-plant analysis of what you think you need.
Q: What are the boundaries?
A: Most major OT network and PLC platforms.
Q: I already have support from a manufacturing vendor why do I want this?
A: The problem isn’t always clear or confined to one system. We focus on your problem, not just the technology.
Q: I have an SI that I like to use.
A: Your SI handles projects — our 24/7 OT support keeps operations running when they’re sleeping or offline.