Making data actionable by moving it away from machines and onto software is a fundamental challenge for the industrial “internet of things.” Looking to tackle that challenge is the object linking and embedding for process control standard, which is a series of software interface standards and specifications created to allow Windows programs to communicate with industrial hardware devices.
The standards, which were created by industry vendors, end-users and software developers, define the interface between clients and servers, and servers and servers, including access to real-time data, historical data, monitoring of alarms and events and other applications, according to the OPC Foundation.