The link in the article is concat of itself - needs to be repaired.
I was going to suggest contacting the pump vendor and see if they have a solution. It might be considered cheaper to pay this guy than it is to fix the problem.
Or - get a dozen of those new Intel PCs on a stick. Rather than running a dozen wires across the parking lot to trip on or finding a managed switch that can support that many VLANs - just create PC dongles.
The uploading software is probably hard coded to look for this well known IP address. It's possible that they are all direct connect (aka don't care IP) - but I wouldn't be surprised if not.
I call bullshit. This person sounds more like a bully salesperson. While I may not use *chalk* - we all use "whiteboard" markers. My children use chalk in the drive-way to express themselves - and I may, [ahem], play along. Cursive? My 4 year old has no problem reading my cursive when I draw letters in chalk on the driveway. When digital fails it is nice to have a backup plan.
Somewhere was an article that writing things down helped with retention of new concepts.
I can agree with her point that we use digital pens - when designing (software) I use a bamboo as a virtual whiteboard to collaborate with people across the globe.
Plus - she used "in the cloud" during the presentation. It was sales !! Not "research says"
Over the weekend I heard a different take on this (Reply All podcast). For Hasidic Jews - the internet contains immoral content. While they have their own websites that meet religious requirements, there is a company that builds special blocking software for accessing more public websites (Amazon was the example). For example it causes images of people to appear as blacked out - just in case it was a scantily-clad woman.
It is like net-nanny on steroids. Except steroids are immoral so it would be - not that.
Credit ... is the only enduring testimonial to man's confidence in man. -- James Blish