Open Automation Software

Open Automation Software (OAS) is a comprehensive industrial automation and IIoT platform designed to connect, transform, visualise, and route operational data across heterogeneous environments. At its core is the Universal Data Connector (UDC), a server‑based engine that transports and transforms data among PLCs, databases, applications, and cloud services, allowing organisations to move information “from anywhere to anywhere” with reliability and speed. The platform’s device and data connectors offer native communications to Allen‑Bradley and Siemens controllers and Modbus equipment, while open‑standard interfaces such as OPC UA/DA and MQTT/Sparkplug B extend connectivity to virtually any industrial endpoint. OAS emphasizes edge‑ready, distributed networking. Its Distributed Network Architecture (DNA) enables deployments at the plant floor, data centre, or cloud, with secure server‑to‑server links and “Live Data Cloud” features for fast, encrypted data exchange across sites. This design supports load balancing, failover, aggregation, and one‑way flows to protect OT sources, delivering robust performance under intermittent network conditions. On the application layer, OAS includes a high‑speed Data Historian that logs to open databases (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, InfluxDB) and CSV, with buffering and store‑and‑forward to prevent data loss during outages. Visualisation spans .NET (WinForms/WPF) and web/mobile interfaces, enabling HMIs, dashboards, trends, and reports that surface both real‑time and historical data. Alarm logging and notifications allow engineers to define conditions, track events, and dispatch alerts via email, SMS, or voicemail, with real‑time views in .NET and web clients. Developers can build tailored solutions through SDKs and APIs. The .NET Data Connector gives programmatic, event‑driven access to live tags across Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android, and supports secure remote access over OAS networking without complex firewall changes. For non‑.NET stacks or cross‑platform integrations, the REST API exposes tag data as JSON for ingestion into external services, including examples for routing to third‑party REST endpoints. When a required protocol isn’t covered out‑of‑the‑box, the Universal Driver Interface SDK allows teams to author custom drivers in .NET Standard that run across multiple OSes, extending OAS to proprietary devices or APIs. Cloud integration is a first‑class capability. OAS ships dedicated connectors for Azure IoT Hub and Event Hubs (using AMQP with timestamp/quality propagation), plus AWS IoT, Kafka, and MQTT client/broker support, simplifying enterprise pipelines for analytics, machine learning, and digital twins. The knowledge base documents end‑to‑end workflows—for example, moving OPC UA data to Azure IoT Hub—covering installation on Windows/Linux/Docker, tag security, and publishing patterns. Licensing and deployment aim for flexibility and cost control. OAS supports Windows and Linux (including Docker), with “flex tag” licensing that lets organisations distribute tags across multiple servers from one master license, and unlimited client connections to web/desktop/mobile interfaces. Typical pricing tiers published by OAS highlight historian, SCADA, and enterprise IoT packages, with volume discounts and maintenance included. Beyond features and pricing, OAS positions itself as “open” and vendor‑neutral: customers can keep data in their preferred databases, integrate with their chosen cloud services, and build custom UIs—reducing lock‑in and enabling architectures that fit unique operational constraints.