For decades, the automation pyramid has shaped the process industry – but is it still up to date? Increasing demands for flexibility, scalability, and digitalization require new concepts. Industrial Control as a Service (ICaaS) is an innovative approach based on modern IT methods, enabling a future-proof automation architecture.
Why ICaaS?
Traditional automation architectures are often rigid, expensive, and complex to maintain. Especially in Greenfield plants, companies face challenges such as:
- Tight timelines for planning and commissioning
- The need for flexible and scalable production processes
- Rising demands for software update management
- High investment and operational costs
ICaaS directly addresses these issues by virtualizing industrial control systems and deploying them in a cloud or edge environment.
How Does ICaaS Work?
The concept combines established industry standards with modern IT technologies:
- OPC UA over MQTT: Standardized communication between remote I/O and virtual controllers
- Virtualized PLCs: Controllers run as software in the cloud or on edge devices
- Zero-trust security model: Strict authentication for maximum data security
- Seamless integration: Modular expansion, compatible with existing systems
At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the concept was successfully tested in a demonstration project, achieving an average latency of just 16 ms – an impressive result for non-time-critical applications.
FLECS as an Enabler for ICaaS
FLECS plays a key role in this innovative approach:
✔ Marketplace for industrial software solutions
✔ Easy deployment of automation apps
✔ Flexibility through containerization and cloud technology
ICaaS lays the foundation for fully software-defined automation. Companies benefit from faster commissioning, lower costs, and maximum scalability.
📢 Want to learn more about ICaaS?
The SPS Magazine has published an in-depth article on this topic, written by experts from Boehringer Ingelheim, Endress+Hauser, Beckhoff Automation, FLECS Technologies, Copa-Data, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
