Your Machines Are Talking.
Proficy Industrial Gateway
Speaks Their Language.
The Proficy Industrial Gateway Server (IGS) helps organize, standardize, and protect the data from your machines.
Six Signs Your Industrial Gateway Is Working Against You
If any of these sound familiar, your connectivity layer is costing you data quality, uptime, and trust — and a better implementation is closer than you think.
Whatever Your Plant Runs,
IGS Connects to It
Rain Engineering has hands-on experience with the protocols your equipment actually uses — not just the ones on the datasheet.
- ControlLogix Ethernet
- CompactLogix
- Micro800 Ethernet
- DF1 Serial / Data Highway+
- Unsolicited Ethernet
- S7 TCP/IP Ethernet
- S7 MPI
- S7-200
- TCP/IP Unsolicited
- Ethernet
- FX / FX Net
- Serial
- CNC Ethernet
- FINS Ethernet
- FINS Serial
- Host Link
- NJ Ethernet
- Process Suite
- EGD (Ethernet Global Data)
- SNP / SNPX
- CCM
- GE Ethernet
- TwinCAT 2 / TwinCAT 3
- CODESYS Ethernet
- ADS/AMS
- Fanuc FOCAS Ethernet
- MTConnect
- CNC machine data
- Modbus TCP/IP
- Modbus RTU
- Modbus ASCII
- Modbus ASCII / RTU over Ethernet
- DX / MW / MX / HR
- Controller / Darwin
- YS100
- HC900 Ethernet
- UDC Ethernet
- UDC Serial
- HART over OPC
- DeltaV via OPC
- BACnet/IP (Premium)
- Building automation
- HVAC / energy meters
- OPC UA Server (modern standard)
- OPC UA Client
- OPC UA Tunneling (replaces DCOM)
- Certificate management
- TLS 1.2+ / Basic256Sha256
- OPC DA (Data Access)
- OPC AE (Alarms & Events)
- OPC HDA (Historical Data Access)
- OPC XML-DA
- MQTT (IoT Gateway plug-in)
- REST / HTTP
- ThingWorx AlwaysOn
- JSON / XML / CSV formatting
- ODBC Client
- SQL Server / Oracle read
- Tag values from DB queries
What is the Proficy Industrial Gateway Server?
IGS is the native connectivity backbone of the Proficy suite — the layer that bridges every shop-floor device to every Proficy application. It’s not just a driver. It’s an industrial-grade communication platform.
Industrial Gateway Server
Without a Specialist
vs
Industrial Gateway Service
With Rain Engineering
| Area | Without a Specialist Partner | ✓ With Rain Engineering |
|---|---|---|
| Tag Strategy | ✗ Problem Cryptic tag names (REG7_CH3_AI) that only one person understands. Unusable in Operations Hub dashboards and Historian queries. |
✓ Solved Structured naming convention defined before a single tag is created: “Site.Area.Equipment.Measurement” — readable by everyone, queryable from anywhere. |
| OPC Security | ✗ Risk OPC Classic / DCOM still running. Open ports, default credentials, no certificate management. A documented OT security vulnerability. |
✓ Solved OPC UA with certificate management, TLS 1.2+, Basic256Sha256 policy. DCOM eliminated. Security posture that passes OT audits. |
| Data Quality | ✗ Problem Historian gaps, flat trend lines, stale values in SCADA screens. Root cause: wrong scan rates, dead band settings, and dropped connections nobody monitors. |
✓ Solved Scan rates and dead bands tuned per device type. Connection health monitoring. Data quality validation before going live. Gaps addressed proactively, not reactively. |
| Device Coverage | ✗ Gap Only the most obvious devices connected. Older PLCs, utility meters, third-party instruments — still dark. Significant production data going to waste. |
✓ Solved Structured device discovery audit identifies every connected and unconnected device. Prioritized roadmap to connect the ones that matter most to your KPIs. |
| IGS vs Kepware | ✗ Confusion No guidance on which Velotic connectivity platform to use. Risk of choosing the wrong one and creating architectural debt. |
✓ Clear Objective assessment of IGS vs Kepware+ for your specific environment, scale, and future plans. Rain Engineering knows both platforms and can execute either path. |
| Documentation | ✗ Risk No documentation. One person holds all the knowledge. If they leave, nobody knows what’s connected, how, or why. |
✓ Solved Complete configuration documentation delivered at project close. Every driver, tag group, security certificate, and connection — documented, version-controlled, and transferable. |
| Long-Term Support | ✗ Reactive Problems discovered when SCADA screens go blank or Historian stops trending. Reactive troubleshooting under production pressure. |
✓ Proactive 2-hour response SLA. Proactive health checks. Certificate rotation management. Driver update assessment. Rain Engineering is the team behind your connectivity — always. |
Four Roles.
Four Sets of Problems.
One Partner.
IGS Services from Rain Engineering
Industrial Gateway Server FAQs — Answered
An industrial gateway server is software that bridges communication between plant-floor devices (PLCs, sensors, drives, CNC machines) and higher-level enterprise systems like Historian, HMI/SCADA, MES, and ERP. It handles protocol translation — converting device-native languages like Modbus, EtherNet/IP, or Siemens S7 into a common standard (typically OPC UA) that every application can read. Without an industrial gateway server, each application would need its own direct driver for every device — creating fragile, unmanageable connectivity that breaks with every firmware update or network change.
Proficy IGS (Industrial Gateway Server) from Velotic is a full-featured connectivity platform that supports hundreds of device protocols including OPC UA, OPC DA, Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Modbus, MQTT, DNP3, IEC 61850, FANUC, and many more. It is the native connectivity layer for the entire Proficy suite — including iFIX, CIMPLICITY, Historian, Plant Applications, and Operations Hub. IGS can run multiple protocols simultaneously from a single instance, and includes built-in cloud agents for MQTT, HTTP/REST, and ThingWorx AlwaysOn connectivity.
Both IGS and Kepware are OPC connectivity platforms, but they serve different use cases. IGS is the native driver for the Proficy suite (iFIX, CIMPLICITY, Historian, Plant Applications) and is optimized for GE Vernova/Velotic environments. Kepware (now PTC KEPServerEX) is a standalone OPC server that excels in multi-vendor environments and non-Proficy architectures. For plants running the full Proficy suite, IGS is typically the right choice. For plants with mixed vendor SCADA or non-Proficy Historian, Kepware may offer advantages. Rain Engineering evaluates your specific device mix, historian setup, and license structure to recommend the right tool — and can implement both.
OPC Classic (DA, HDA, AE) relies on DCOM — a Windows-only, security-prone communication layer that requires complex firewall configuration and open ports that are visible on your OT network. OPC UA replaces DCOM with a secure, platform-independent protocol that supports TLS encryption (Basic256Sha256 by default in IGS 2023+), certificate-based authentication, and firewall-friendly communication. With OT cyberattacks rising significantly year over year, staying on OPC Classic creates audit risk, CISO risk, and real security exposure. Rain Engineering handles the full OPC Classic to OPC UA migration — including certificate management, firewall changes, and zero-downtime cutover planning.
Proficy IGS supports hundreds of device protocols across industries — Allen-Bradley ControlLogix and PLC-5, Siemens S7, Modbus TCP/RTU, DNP3, IEC 61850, FANUC CNC, MQTT, BACnet, SNMP, ABB Totalflow, and many more. It can run multiple protocols simultaneously from a single instance. The 2022 and 2023 releases added additional premium drivers including MQTT, DNP3, IEC 60870-5-104, and IEC 61850. Rain Engineering’s connectivity audit maps your specific device mix and recommends the optimal driver package (Basic, Premium, or SNMP).
Rain Engineering provides 2-hour response support for all Proficy IGS customers. This includes driver troubleshooting, new device onboarding, protocol additions, performance optimization, certificate rotation, and version upgrades. Our support engineers know your specific IGS configuration — not just the product — so troubleshooting is measured in minutes, not hours of ticket escalation. We also offer proactive maintenance schedules to ensure your IGS environment stays current with Velotic releases and security patches.
Start With a Connectivity Audit — See What You’re Missing
Most plants discover at least 3 significant IGS issues in a first-day assessment. Misconfigured drivers, security gaps, devices that were never connected. It’s fast, it’s eye-opening, and it’s where every engagement starts.