Software-defined automation: the force awakens

An industrial rebellion is underway. For decades, automation has been dominated by large vendors offering rigid, hardware-centric systems – the "galactic empire" of the factory floor. Users were locked into inflexible systems with proprietary controllers and closed architectures.

But, now, a new power is rising: software-defined automation (SDA).

Invisible yet powerful, SDA is "the force" that can connect machines, people and data in new ways – freeing companies to update and control production through software rather than rewiring hardware.

Traditional automation architecture follows a familiar pattern: each machine on a production line has its own dedicated programmable logic controller (PLC) and human-machine interface (HMI), connected via industrial fieldbuses. That architecture has barely changed in decades. The legacy fieldbus communication protocols gave way to modern industrial Ethernet standards (e.g., Profinet, EtherNet/IP, or EtherCat), but vendor-locked logic and hardware largely remained. Then, COVID-19 emerged, leading to widespread impacts, including semiconductor shortages and severe lead-time disruptions.

Today, the limitations of hardware-centric systems – which have long dominated automation, like Star Wars' galactic empire – have become a liability. The significant weaknesses of vendor-bound hardware are clearly exposed. So, what comes next?

According to a 2023 analysis by McKinsey, industrial automation is approaching a tipping point. Disruption is accelerating as digital technologies are increasingly adopted by mainstream industry, and leading manufacturers are already demonstrating measurable performance improvements.

McKinsey warns that the industry is now faced with a decisive moment: organizations must either choose to embrace emerging, software-defined architectures or risk being left behind in an increasingly agile and competitive landscape. This is where SDA comes in. Think of it like "the force": an invisible phenomenon that connects everything in an industrial system, and is exceptionally powerful when applied correctly.

SDA works by separating industrial control logic from the physical machines. Instead of relying on fixed PLCs on the factory floor, it moves control to software platforms running on servers, thin clients, or even in the cloud. Standardized software modules then coordinate the machines, making the whole system far more flexible.

This shift brings numerous advantages, combining faster adaptations with greater flexibility while reducing dependence on proprietary hardware.

Furthermore, SDA enhances transparency and data availability, supports improved maintenance with lower downtime, and enables faster commissioning. Its scalability ranges from individual machines to entire global plants, reducing total lifecycle costs and enabling more modern development processes.

The SDA approach lets manufacturers reconfigure production systems rapidly and at lower costs, integrate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, edge computing and digital twins without replacing hardware, and scale operations through software platforms.

Big players like Schneider Electric or Siemens have described this transition as "inevitable", underscoring how SDA is fast becoming the foundation for the next era of industrial automation.

How does SDA translate into practice? Let’s think back to traditional automation architecture. The first step towards moving the "brain" of an operation from hardware to software is to implement a plant cloud that hosts an industrial automation platform.

This process eliminates industrial PCs and replaces them with thin clients – computers that use resources based inside a central server rather than a hard drive. Level 2 (supervisory level) and level 3 (operations level) applications are fully virtualized, and virtual PCs are run in containers, which package applications and everything needed to run them, into a standardized unit. This decouples the logic from the machinery by moving control from hardware-specific controllers to more open software platforms. As a result, production lines can be updated overnight, new technologies are easily integrated and global scaling is simplified.

The SDA "rebellion" against outdated industrial practices will rely on the union between creativity, technology and human ingenuity. By bringing IT-style methods such as virtualization and containerized applications to the factory floor, SDA gives these engineers better tools, reducing complexity and freeing them from the constraints of rigid hardware.

This shift also helps bridge the global shortage of automation talent. Traditional OT systems require years of specialized training, but SDA makes automation more accessible to a broader range of engineers and software specialists. It allows new generations – including those with IT or cloud backgrounds – to contribute without learning decades of vendor-specific hardware.

This isn’t a pipe dream, and the prerequisites are already in place. They include high-bandwidth industrial networks to handle data flow between virtualized systems, virtual industrial software that enables control applications to run independently of specific hardware, and virtual PLCs that can execute logic in containers or cloud environments.

Together, these components allow automation to become truly software-centric, scalable and interoperable. "The force" of SDA is already awakening. The tools exist. The strategy exists. SDA is part of a bigger journey towards truly smart operations, resilient supply chains and sustainability – and the future of industry may well belong to those ready to wield this power.