When it comes to power grid system upgrades, the three key considerations for a suitable protocol solution are costs, time, and effort. Engineers usually tend to choose computing platforms because they offer flexible operations. However, this choice often proves to be time-consuming and costly during development, and later on with regards to maintenance. If your system upgrade is only a transition phase and simply requires establishing communication between two systems, then a standalone protocol gateway is the more suitable option for your system upgrade because it does not require additional programming effort. Its benefits include reducing working hours and fast project development. Moreover, a standalone gateway has already as useful diagnostic tool that comes in very handy to reduce maintenance efforts.