Interface abstraction handles changes or extensions within one domain (OT/IT) without any modifications then being needed in the other. So a new IT application could be integrated into the overall solution without having to change the OPC UA interface at the OT end. Nor do IT applications need to be adjusted to match changes made on the production side – just as long as the OPC UA interface implemented in the middleware is kept unmodified. This means that IT applications and platforms to deploy can be chosen to exploit the short innovation cycles in IT while also reducing the effort for integration. Within OT, changes can be made without having to go back to the IT integration drawing board. Data aggregation permits data from multiple sources to be consolidated on a single OPC UA server. Because IT applications now only need to access this one server, this simplifies and streamlines the underlying communication infrastructure. Another key benefit is the time saved in configuring systems, since a separate configuration is no longer needed for each OPC-UA data source and each OPC-UA client.