SCADA is the acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA is a computer based system for gathering and analyzing real-time data to monitor and control equipment that deals with critical and time-sensitive materials or events.The basic SCADA architecture begins with programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or  (RTU). PLCs and RTU are microcomputers that communicate with an array of objects such as factory machines, HMI, sensors, and then route the information from those objects to computers with SCADA software.