Software distribution as easy as OPC

Software distribution in the manufacturing and engineering sectors still relies on traditional methods, resulting in expensive software, inflexibility and lack of choice. However, this is about to change, according to Richard Haycock, director of Hexatec Systems. He says that the OPC standard will revolutionise industrial computing and change the face of software distribution forever.

OPC (originally OLE for Process Control) is an industry standard created with the collaboration of a number a leading worldwide automation and hardware software suppliers working in cooperation with Microsoft. The standard defines a method for exchanging real-time automation data among PC-based clients using Microsoft operating systems. The organisation that manages this standard is the OPC Foundation, of which the charter is to develop an open and interoperable interface standard, based upon the functional requirements of Microsoft COM, DCOM and Active X technology, that fosters greater interoperability between automation/control applications, field systems/devices, and business/office applications.

"With the introduction of the OPC communications standard, you can now buy industrial software from wherever you like," says Haycock. "Gone are the days when you were restricted to single suppliers. This standard removes all the difficulties associated with interfacing between plant control hardware and industrial software.

Currently, industrial software applications are typically sold through sophisticated distribution networks because they require a lot of technical support, often due to difficulties associated with communicating with process control equipment. As a result, systems integrators in the industrial environment have to buy into expensive loyalty schemes in order to sell software manufactured by the large vendors. By removing the complication of communications drivers, the need for local support is reduced, effectively changing the market environment. Users now have the option to purchase software direct from the internet.

Opting out

"If web distribution is adopted throughout the industry, prices could decrease dramatically, by eliminating the multi-layered distribution networks that have kept prices artificially high," says Haycock. "No doubt the large software vendors will fight web distribution in order to protect prices. But already the writing is on the wall. Over time, my feeling is that these companies will opt out of the SCADA market and concentrate on enterprise applications for the higher end, higher value market, particularly as the larger more established vendors possess products that include a lot of legacy software, making them complicated and expensive to adapt for direct web sales.

"If web sales of industrial software become the norm, distributors will have to revise their business models and offer added value in some other way. Hardware vendors are unlikely to be affected, but those selling software could find themselves out of business unless they accept that the environment is changing and adapt accordingly," Haycock concludes.

Already Hexatec is taking the radical approach of providing free development software for its latest SCADA offering, Saturn. The benefit is that users pay for nothing until they install it into a customer site, as no upfront payment is required for the development software. There are no costs associated with loyalty schemes, so it helps cash flow, and the application can be fully tested before any payment is made

for a run-time licence. What's more, the availability of Saturn development software over the Web at www.easyscada.com provides users with free and instant access to the application.

• Hexatec Systems
  g107@industrialnetworking.co.uk