SCADA systems are implemented where several installations are scattered in a geographical area and there is need for automation. They can be considered as a combination of automation and telecommunication systems. The term "area" has a vague meaning especially with today's telecommunications potential. It can refer to an area of an industrial plant or a country or a continent or even the whole world.

The main categories where SCADA systems are applied are:

• water distribution networks and waste water collection networks
• potable water treatment plants and sewage plants
• gas, chemical or fuel distribution networks
• Building Management Systems - BMS
• electricity generation (conventional, wind or solar) and distribution units
• signaling and automation of road or rail networks, airports, tunnels and underground rails
• large industry plants
• monitoring of climatic conditions in fridges – furnaces and meteorological stations
• agriculture automation in greenhouses, stock farming and irrigation systems
• monitoring and management of telecommunication networks (both wired and wireless)