ASRock Industrial announced Aug. 4 that its iEP-5010G-010 industrial IoT controller has become the world’s first product to earn the Open Group’s Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS) certification. 

The company reports this achievement is a milestone in advancing open, interoperable and secure process automation, and demonstrates its commitment to delivering edge-computing platforms that support the industry's transition toward open automation architectures. By enabling standards-based integration across multi-vendor environments, iEP-5010G-010 is expected to help users reduce vendor lock-in, simplify system integration, and accelerate digital transformation in industrial applications.

More specifically, iEP-5010G-010 earned O-PAS certification under the “O-PAS Certification Program for O-PAS Standard, 2nd Edition,” by conforming to Redfish’s OSM-003 system management profile and PP-003 regulatory physical platform profile requirements. The controller was independently verified by Enterprise Transformation Partners and IECEE organizations.

In addition, iEP-5010G-010 achieved IEC 62443-4-2 certification for Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS) components, providing a cybersecurity foundation to support its O-PAS certification. This certification also confirms the platform’s support for standardized, in-band system management through Redfish, enabling hardware management, OS information, metrics and DCN visibility. Also, complying with PP-003 confirms that the platform meets the physical requirements for regulatory control devices, providing a secure, interoperable and scalable foundation for process automation systems based on O-PAS.

ASRock reports that O-PAS adoptions are increasing as owner-operators and other end users in the process industries seek greater flexibility, interoperability and long-term sustainability. By reducing reliance on proprietary technologies and simplifying system integration, upgrades and lifecycle management, O-PAS enables more open and flexible automation ecosystems.

With its O-PAS certification in place, iEP-5010G-010 provides a standardized foundation for open and interoperable process automation systems. Designed for harsh industrial environments, this rugged, fanless, IIoT controller is powered by an Intel Atom x6425RE processor, features a wide 6-36 V DC power input, and has a -40 °C to 70 °C operating range. This let is provide reliable edge computing for process automation and other industrial applications.

“Achieving the world’s first product certified by the O-PAS Certification Program reflects ASRock’s commitment to advancing open industrial automation by adoption industry standards and continuous innovation,” says James Lee, chairman of ASRock Industrial. “As industrial infrastructure continues to evolve toward more open and interoperable architectures, we remain committed to delivering reliable edge-computing platforms that help users simplify system integration, modernize critical operations, and build future-ready automation systems.”

Aneil Ali, director of the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) at the Open Group, added, “The O-PAS Certification Program is a milestone for the process automation industry and the OPAF. From the outset, end users emphasized the importance of independent testability over self-declared conformance, and O-PAS product certification delivers it.”