It was that time of year again, time to prove it at the ProveIt! Conference. I'll be honest, when we attended the premier of the conference last year, I was sceptic. Would this event be different from others and really focus on actually solving customer problems. I was proven wrong to doubt it. And this year it had already doubled in size, there was a definite buzz and excitement. ProveIt! is a User Community led event that we have enjoyed being a part of for the 2nd time this year. A lot of people are talking about the conversations they had at the event. My personal favorite line is from Dylan DuFresne: "The kind of stuff that only happens when people actually trust each other enough to be real." 

While Software Toolbox has been best known for connectivity solutions, we reintroduced ourselves at ProveIt! as a Full Stack Industrial AI company. Why bring AI expertise into a connectivity company? Glad you asked. Because Software Toolbox is undergoing a major transformation and is evolving to deliver connectivity + data platforms + AI readiness services + AI agents all at once. And because Industrial AI is no longer experimental. It is becoming a competitive differentiator. Yet many initiatives stall. Not because the value is unclear, but because the foundation is missing. In industrial environments, AI depends on trusted connectivity, real time data, and infrastructure that performs reliably at the factory and at the edge.

Industrial AI is no longer experimental. It is becoming a competitive differentiator. Yet many initiatives stall, not because the value is unclear, but because the foundation is missing. In industrial environments, AI depends on trusted connectivity, real time data, and infrastructure that performs reliably at the factory and at the edge.

Software Toolbox attends a wide variety of customer and networking events throughout the year. Each one gives us valuable opportunities to connect with our customers, exchange ideas with peers, and gather feedback that helps us improve what we do. Some stand out because of the conversations they spark, the insights they deliver, or the energy they generate within the community. OT SCADA CON was one of those connection sparking events. In this blog, I will share some of the key takeaways I brought home from the experience.

OT SCADA CON: Fast-Paced Learning, Real-World Insights

OT SCADA CON is a unique, community-driven conference organized by the Automation Ladies and their volunteers, bringing together professionals from across the industrial automation space. While the name highlights Operational Technology (OT) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), the event essentially covers everything in the world of SCADA and beyond. Launched just last year, the conference has already doubled in size.  

Welcome to the launch of Software Toolbox’s Summer of IoT blog series for 2025.

In the coming posts, we’ll explore how our solutions support the evolving world of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and more importantly, how they can help you advance your Industry 4.0 and digital transformation goals with practical, proven tools. We begin the series by exploring Unified Namespace (UNS), what it means, why it matters, and how Software Toolbox makes it practical for real-world industrial environments.

Unified Namespace, Real Results: Lessons and Tools that Deliver

In today’s fast-evolving industrial landscape, seamless connectivity and data integration are critical for operational success. At Software Toolbox, our solutions are designed to empower businesses by enabling UNS connectivity, bridging the gap between diverse systems and helping with efficiency, interoperability, and scalability.

Personally, as a presenter and attendee of ProveIt! 2025 and an attendee of 4.0 Solutions’ Edge Integration to UNS Workshop, I have had a lot of exposure to the topic of UNS this year. In this blog post, I will share not only what I have learned surrounding the topic, but how Software Toolbox’s solutions fit into the picture.

On June 26, 2025, Software Toolbox hosted a live panel discussion that brought together three industry subject matter experts. They explored how organizations can unify data across legacy and modern systems, securely, efficiently, and without unnecessary disruption. In addition, they discussed in depth what it really takes to create a common data framework that’s not just effective, but scalable and future ready.

From Silos to Insights: What You Need to Know

This blog highlights the key takeaways, where the panel unpacked seven critical areas to focus on when closing data gaps across operations. You’ll discover the most common challenges companies face, why aligning technology with business goals is essential, and how open, standards-based solutions can bridge the gap between old and new, without the high costs and disruption of rip-and-replace approaches.

There is nothing like talking to each other in person and establishing that individual connection

Do you get tons of invitations to various events and wonder “Why should I go? Is this worth my time? What’s in it for me?” Industry events are more than just get togethers of a bunch of salespeople; they’re opportunities to explore innovation, solve challenges, and connect with experts who understand the challenges you are facing. We bring actual technical experts who understand you and want to help you find the right solutions. Meet and engage with our team that you may have already emailed or had virtual meetings with – but this time in person! 

For various reasons, many organizations still have one or more disconnects between the PLCs and other control devices closest to the ultimate process and the upstream systems responsible for coordinating efforts across the enterprise. In an ideal world, all data exchange between all systems in an enterprise would be automated for the greatest efficiency.

In this post (based on the article "Removing five critical media gaps" by our partner company, inray Industriesoftware GmbH), we will discuss five of the most common gaps where an organization's ERP system may still be disconnected from underlying processes and data sources. And we'll discuss how OPC Router provides the ability to eliminate those unnecessary gaps.

Cogent DataHub is known for its extensive connectivity to OPC DA, OPC UA, OPC A&E, Databases, Excel, ODBC, DDE, Linux, Modbus.  The latest Version 10 release expands connectivity to include a wide range of common external historian solutions for historizing industrial data and integrating historized data with other systems.

In this blog post, we'll highlight some specific key details about which historians are supported and how other DataHub functionality works with those historians to provide flexible options.