Enhancing Industrial Control with OPC UA and ProSight for Cloud Integration
- tass peters
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Industrial control systems face growing demands for remote access, data visibility, and scalable monitoring across multiple sites. Traditional PLCs, DCS, and SCADA systems excel at local control and safety but often lack seamless cloud integration. OPC UA and ProSight together offer a practical way to extend industrial control into the cloud without disrupting existing infrastructure.
This post explains how OPC UA and ProSight work together to provide secure, vendor-neutral data access and cloud-based analytics. It also explores how this combination supports hybrid SCADA and IoT architectures, enabling modern monitoring and centralized insight for industrial operations.
What OPC UA Brings to Industrial Control
OPC UA (Open Platform Communications – Unified Architecture) is a communication standard designed specifically for industrial automation. It allows devices like PLCs, DCS, and SCADA systems to expose data in a structured, secure, and vendor-neutral way.
Key features of OPC UA include:
Vendor-agnostic communication
OPC UA supports interoperability between devices from different manufacturers, avoiding vendor lock-in.
Structured data models
Data is organized hierarchically, making it easier to understand and use by applications.
Security
OPC UA includes built-in encryption, authentication, and user access control to protect sensitive industrial data.
Long-term reliability
Designed for industrial environments, OPC UA supports stable and continuous operation.
By exposing data through an OPC UA server, industrial devices make their information available to authorized clients without compromising control or safety logic.
Industrial control panel with OPC UA server hardware enabling secure data communication
How ProSight Extends OPC UA to the Cloud
ProSight acts as a cloud visibility and analytics layer that complements OPC UA. It does not replace PLCs or on-premises SCADA systems but enhances them by providing remote access, dashboards, alarms, and historical data analysis.
A typical setup works as follows:
PLCs and other devices expose data via an OPC UA server.
A secure gateway or edge device reads this data locally.
Selected data points are forwarded to ProSight in the cloud.
ProSight aggregates data from multiple sites and devices.
Users access ProSight dashboards and alerts from anywhere, including mobile devices.
This setup keeps critical control and safety logic local while extending visibility to remote teams, management, and mobile users. ProSight also supports combining OPC UA data with wireless sensors, 4G direct-to-cloud devices, and environmental monitoring systems.
Benefits of Combining OPC UA and ProSight
Using OPC UA and ProSight together provides several practical advantages for industrial operations:
Centralized monitoring across multiple sites
ProSight consolidates data from OPC UA servers at different locations, giving a unified view without rebuilding existing control systems.
Improved decision-making with historical and real-time data
ProSight stores historical data for trend analysis and provides real-time dashboards for quick response.
Enhanced security and control
Control logic remains on-premises, reducing risk, while ProSight uses secure gateways and encrypted communication.
Support for hybrid SCADA and IoT architectures
Combining OPC UA data with IoT sensors and cloud devices enables flexible, scalable monitoring solutions.
Reduced operational costs
Extending visibility to the cloud reduces the need for on-site visits and manual data collection.
Practical Example: Multi-Site Manufacturing Plant
Consider a manufacturing company with several plants across different regions. Each plant uses PLCs and SCADA systems to control production lines. Traditionally, plant managers rely on local SCADA screens and manual reports to monitor operations.
By deploying OPC UA servers on the PLCs and connecting them to ProSight via secure gateways, the company gains:
A single cloud dashboard showing key metrics from all plants.
Alerts sent automatically to managers’ mobile devices when issues arise.
Historical data analysis to identify production bottlenecks.
Integration of environmental sensors monitoring temperature and humidity alongside machine data.
This approach improves responsiveness, reduces downtime, and supports data-driven decisions without replacing existing control systems.
Cloud dashboard providing real-time and historical industrial data from multiple sites
Steps to Implement OPC UA and ProSight Integration
To get started with extending industrial control to the cloud using OPC UA and ProSight, follow these steps:
Assess existing control systems
Identify PLCs, DCS, and SCADA components that support or can be upgraded to OPC UA servers.
Deploy secure gateways or edge devices
Use hardware that can read OPC UA data locally and securely forward selected data to ProSight.
Configure ProSight cloud environment
Set up dashboards, alarms, and data storage tailored to operational needs.
Integrate additional IoT sensors if needed
Add wireless or cellular devices to capture environmental or asset-specific data.
Train users and establish access controls
Ensure remote teams and management can securely access relevant data.
Monitor and optimize
Use ProSight analytics to identify improvement opportunities and scale across more sites.
Final Thoughts on Extending Industrial Control to the Cloud
Combining OPC UA with ProSight offers a practical path to modernize industrial monitoring without disrupting existing control systems. This approach keeps critical control local while providing cloud-based visibility, analytics, and multi-site management.
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