My vision of OPC from an end-user perspective in simple, and I felt I should comment on the following to clarify and make sure the vision of OPC is understood.
One of the criticisms I have heard of restricting access to the end-users, and I've included the quote below.
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On the same side it is impossible for and end user to understand the implications (technological and quality) of using products based on the OPC standard (has he does not get the standard to read). He also has not chance to evaluate, whether an OPC based product, really adheres to the standard. He even has no chance to articulate his needs – like I want an OPC based product, fulfilling the following standard subset – as nobody will tell him that these subsets exit and which implications they have.
I don't necessarily disagree with the quote aboveI figured I should clarify from my perspective what the vision is for OPC with respect to end-user expectations of interoperability.
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My vision for OPC from an end-user perspective is plug-n-play. If we even remotely require end users to have to read the OPC specifications or use the OPC Compliance tools to evaluate OPC than we have really missed the goal of secure reliable interoperability. I really want OPC to be the equivalent of USB for automation. What end user wants to know the intricate details and understand the protocol for USB? Most if not all end users that use products that support USB, just expect the USB ports to work they would never want to access and read the specification for how USB works?
Therefore to make OPC be plug-n-play in automation like USB is for consumer, we rely on vendors building quality products and certifying said products.
We do have end users that directly use the OPC Technology, where they are building OPC Applications programmatically. But even the majority of them use products from the OPC Foundation Member companies as the framework (toolkits), shielding the end user from the intricate details of the OPC technology.
Currently over 25% of the members of the OPC Foundation are end users, and many end users make up the OPC Foundation Compliance Program.
My personal goal and the goal of the dedicated staff and the volunteers of the OPC Foundation is to provide the best leading edge technology and specifications. The complexity of some of the problems we are doing with OPC UA is providing an OPC UA Stack and reference implementation that the vendors can count on and directly incorporate into their products. The OPC Foundation and its members have the responsibility and financial burden of developing, supporting and maintaining the "standard" components.
Our passion is to make sure products built on the technology are of the highest quality. Become a member of the OPC Foundation and live and breathe the passion of some of these dedicated volunteers. Our whole lives is about developing technology that is adopted and provides the functionality that the end users want, including high performance and quality. I am often quoted about we are in the business of developing specifications that are adopted universally. I am not interested in developing specifications that are not worth the paper they are printed on...
Thanks for listening to my ramblings....