I would assume that they actually mean that the VFD communicates over I2C, Modbus, or some similar protocol, and that it could be interfaced with a SCADA system

I would assume that they actually mean that the VFD communicates over I2C, Modbus, or some similar protocol, and that it could be interfaced with a SCADA system if desired. Integrating a VFD with a motor makes a lot of sense. The VFD can be designed with the motor and can understand the motor’s characteristics. Also, the leads between the VFD and motor can emit quite a lot of EMI, and keeping them short is valuable. (I’m not actually an expert on this, but I did recently evaluate an integrated motor-and-drive versus a separate motor and drive for a smallish application, and the integrated system was a clear win. It’s still embarrassingly low efficiency — there’s a tendency for industrial motors below several HP to be poor to mediocre. Nonetheless, the integrated system was superior. And no, it does not have an Internet connection.)