Networking various aspects of a facility can make communication easier and information flow quickly. More and more use is made of the OPC gateway connectivity between seemingly isolated processes. Without impeding the desired process control segregation; the information between multiple systems can share a common IT connection thereby allowing for total information access / management. DCS, PLC and HMI equipment have become increasingly versatile and are continuously expanding capabilities relative to networking. Networking your control system makes data retrieval seems trivial and it is an excellent way to keep your system running in synch.