Framework Wars

An epic battle is under way for ownership of the control system architecture marketplace. This time, the weapon in every combatant's armory is the Framework, with each vendor developing a slightly different one. If frameworks do become critical--which is debatable in a Microsoft-based world--buying decisions made now by process control end users may well determine the next king of the control system world.

Most major control system vendors are promoting their own overarching architecture or framework to ease integration of plant floor and enterprise systems. All of these frameworks use industry standards such as OPC, DNA for Manufacturing, and .Net; and all of the frameworks add to these standards with operating system extensions that provide functionality relevant to process control applications.

Despite vendor claims of using standards and ease of integration, many users are skeptical, concerned, and confused. Skepticism and concern are caused by fears that vendors once again may be trying to fence in customers with proprietary architectures and products. "Vendors need to understand that end users no longer want to be locked into a box. Instead, open platforms and modularity of their products will be required," says Francisco Campa, director of engineering for The Dixie Group, Calhoun, Ga.

A control system engineer with a major refiner says vendors are more interested in building walls than selling open systems. As evidence, he points to their strident efforts to sell him products that duplicate functionality of products his firm already owns. "We already use OSIs PI product, but if we want good long-term trending and analysis, we're strongly encouraged to buy the vendor's data historian," says the engineer. "If vendor systems were truly open, they would be better served by creating a few killer apps instead of many mediocre ones."

A more colorful description of concerns is voiced by Ferenc Szakcs, CEO and president of system integrator Cason Engineering, a system integrator headquartered in Erd, Hungary. "Framework software products are the top level of the hypnotic dreamworlds produced by the different vendors," Szakcs says. "Maybe manufacturers seriously believe framework software products will help in the integration of different platforms, but according to what we experienced until now there are not too many reasons to be optimistic."

Continuing our world tour, similar concerns are voiced in Australia. "I am yet to be convinced that a true open standard will ever be created or prevail," reports Austin Davey, general manager of Visy Pulp and Paper, Tumut, New South Wales. "I do not believe vendors set out to create proprietary walls--I think this is a result of different vendors coming up with different ways of making things better."

Although acknowledging the prevalence of closed systems in the past, other users are optimistic about the future direction of the industry. "Contrary to their history, I believe that technology providers playing in this space will become more open and comply with digital convergence open standards," says Johan La Grange, executive for information management, Sasol Synfuels, Secunda, South Africa. "The underlying standard technology that companies like Honeywell use supports open communication standards such as TCP/IP, XML, and .Net."

Many users are worried that buying a vendors framework products today will restrict product choices in the future. Users want to keep their options open so they can easily use the best products in each category regardless of vendor. Perhaps above all, users are very confused about just what a framework is and about how it will affect their control systems.

A framework is not a product available for purchase by an end user, nor is it an operating system. A framework is instead a set of tools, rules, and standards that internal and external developers use to create software applications and hardware products--a type of development system. Applications and products created with a framework development system will run on standard operating systems layered with framework operating system extensions.

The target market for frameworks is not the end user, it is software and hardware developers, both internal and external to the framework vendor. End users are the target market for products developed using frameworks. Vendors promoting frameworks believe Microsoft products need to be extended and supplemented to provide optimal performance in the process control arena.