FactoryTalk operations and maintenance software is the part of Rockwell Automation’s portfolio used to run and maintain plants, as opposed to designing control programs. Rockwell Automation sells it in two subscription bundles. FactoryTalk OperationSuite contains FactoryTalk Batch, Historian SE, Linx Gateway, Metrics, Transaction Manager, View SE, View ME and ThinManager. FactoryTalk MaintenanceSuite contains FactoryTalk AssetCentre.[1] FactoryTalk Optix, a cloud-enabled HMI and IIoT platform, is available through FactoryTalk Hub.[3] Most of these products use the SCSA’s Capacity-Based Use. Capacity is “a specific authorized size criteria” on the Activation Certificate or Order Form, such as equipment, I/O, session, tag, screen or processor counts.[9] Add-on functions use Capability Use, which requires a right for each Feature.[9] The common contract is described in Rockwell Automation licensing.
Editions
FactoryTalk View. The family has two editions. FactoryTalk View Site Edition (SE) runs distributed or single-station HMI. FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ME) runs machine-level HMI on PanelView Plus terminals or a PC with ME Station.[2] From V13 in April 2022 the SE offering was simplified:[2]
| FactoryTalk View item | Contents (vendor description) |
|---|---|
| SE Server bundle, Small / Medium / Large | Unlimited display server with 5, 10 or 25 clients, plus unlimited FactoryTalk ViewPoint web clients |
| SE Station | Single station, unlimited displays, unlimited ViewPoint web clients |
| SE Station Lite | Single station, 25 displays, unlimited ViewPoint web clients |
| SE Client add-on | Read/write or read-only client |
| SE Redundant Server | For redundant applications |
| ME Station | 15, 30, 75, 250 or 500 displays |
| View Studio Enterprise / Machine Edition | Design environment; Enterprise builds SE or ME applications, Machine Edition builds ME only |
FactoryTalk Optix. FactoryTalk Optix Studio comes in two options: Standard, which is free, and Pro, which is a paid subscription.[3] Standard provides editing tools with no activation or entitlement required. Studio Pro requires a subscription based on a user entitlement.[3] Runtime entitlements come in feature-token packages. They are sold as a subscription or as perpetual with maintenance, and some target devices include one.[3]
FactoryTalk Historian SE. Tiered server packages are sold at 250 tags (Starter), 500 tags (with Productivity Clients), 1,000 tags (Standard), 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 tags. There are also 1,000-tag and 500-tag add-ons.[4] Examples are recorded as SKUs Historian SE Starter - 250 tags and Historian SE Standard - 1,000 tags.
FactoryTalk AssetCentre. The base package includes the server and 10 assets enabled by the server licence. The standard package adds 100 assets, Disaster Recovery for Rockwell Automation and, with subscription only, Asset Inventory. Microsoft SQL Server is required and must be licensed separately.[5] Catalog numbers are printed per support level. For example, the standard package with 8x5 support is 9515M-FTACT11 (perpetual) or 9515C-FTACT11 (subscription).[5]
ThinManager. ThinManager is sold under V-FLEX volume licensing, either as a single connection licence or in bulk with volume discounts. It is also available by annual subscription, and redundancy licences are available.[6]
Metrics
| Product | Catalog row | Counting unit (vendor description) |
|---|---|---|
| FactoryTalk View SE | FactoryTalk View SE client | Clients in the server bundle (5, 10, 25) plus add-on read/write or read-only clients[2] |
| FactoryTalk View ME Station, SE Station Lite | FactoryTalk View display | Displays (ME: 15 to 500; SE Station Lite: 25)[2] |
| FactoryTalk Optix Runtime | FactoryTalk Optix feature token | Tokens per package: XS 5, S 8, M 11, L 15, XL 21[3] |
| FactoryTalk Historian SE | Historian SE tag | Tags; data point-limited server licence[4] |
| FactoryTalk AssetCentre | AssetCentre asset | Physical devices managed[5] |
| FactoryTalk AssetCentre capabilities | Capability Use | One right per capability, for example Disaster Recovery for Siemens TIA Portal[5] |
| Historian SE Vision, DataLink | Named Use | Named users; Vision maximum 20 per server; DataLink in packs of 5 named users[4] |
Counting / floors
FactoryTalk View (April 2022). SE server bundles include unlimited displays, so displays no longer need to be counted for SE servers.[2] From V11, FactoryTalk ViewPoint licences are not needed because unlimited web clients are included. From V13, web clients need no activation at all.[2] Clients beyond the bundle quantity are add-ons.[2] ME Station products on the software portal have volume pricing. SE products no longer have volume pricing.[2] Catalog proof: FactoryTalk View SE server bundles include unlimited displays and web clients.
FactoryTalk Optix (January 2026). Feature tokens work as a unit of currency and build up as features are configured. Some features cost zero tokens. FactoryTalk Optix Runtime checks that the tokens of all activated features stay within the purchased entitlement. Entitlements can be upgraded at any time, and an unlimited option exists.[3] An application runs full-featured for 2 hours without an entitlement. Devices that are not activated run in demo mode and stop running Optix applications after 2 hours. The Emulator on the development computer needs no runtime entitlement.[3] Some target devices come with an entitlement included: Embedded Edge Compute Module 1756-CMEE1Y1 with XS (5 tokens), OptixPanel Compact with S (8), and OptixPanel Standard with M (11). ASEM 6300 industrial PCs have no included entitlement and can be upgraded to XL (21 tokens).[3] Catalog proof: FactoryTalk Optix Runtime checks activated features against the token limit.
Historian SE (April 2022). Tag licensing is additive. Activations can be used on one server or split across several Historian SE servers. For new deployments the maximum server size is 60,000 tags, and 10% of the total tags may come from any data source.[4] The guide defines a Rockwell Data Source as a Rockwell Automation device, or data shown on a Rockwell Automation HMI as part of a FactoryTalk System.[4] Two 5,000-tag licences can run one 10,000-tag server or a high-availability collective with 5,000 tags on each member.[4] For SE to SE replication, the target server needs a licence count at least equal to the sum of the tag licensing on each source server.[4] Catalog proof: Historian SE tag licensing is additive and can be split across servers; SE to SE target server needs the sum of source tag licences.
Historian SE data access. Data access components, whether bought as the Advanced Server add-on or separately as OLEDB or OPC, require client licensing for third-party applications. That licensing is an Unlimited User CAL sized to the server’s tag count, from 250-tag to 50,000-tag servers. Rockwell Automation client applications such as FactoryTalk View, FactoryTalk VantagePoint, FactoryTalk Analytics DataView and ThingWorx do not require the CAL.[4] Connecting a third-party BI or MES tool to Historian SE therefore creates a separate CAL requirement. Catalog proof: Third-party data access to Historian SE needs an Unlimited User CAL sized to the server.
AssetCentre (April 2026). Asset capacity is the number of physical devices the software manages. Files and folders in the archive do not count.[5] In the guide’s first example, 60 Logix controllers, 30 PowerFlex drives and 30 PanelView Plus 7 terminals need 90 assets, not 120. The drives are configured as I/O devices inside the controller projects and are covered by the controller backup.[5] Assets are added in increments of 100 (100 Asset Add On) or 25 (25 Asset Add-On). Agent Groups, which account for geographic or network segmentation, are added in increments of 4.[5] Catalog proof: AssetCentre asset capacity counts managed physical devices, not files.
Precedence on shared activation servers. FactoryTalk Linx and FactoryTalk Transaction Manager check out activations in order of precedence. A higher-precedence activation is consumed first unless the options file excludes it.[10] Catalog proof: Activations can be reserved or excluded per host via the options file.
No pooling. The SCSA’s ban on pooling connections or rerouting information to reduce required licences applies to HMI clients, historian interfaces and OPC gateways as to any other Software.[9] Catalog proof: Pooling connections or rerouting to reduce licences is prohibited.
Virtualization & partitioning
A Client is a Device that runs, accesses or uses the Software on a Server, directly or indirectly. A Device includes virtual environments.[9] On these definitions, FactoryTalk View SE clients delivered through Remote Desktop sessions or ThinManager-managed thin clients are still Clients that access the Software. The retrieved ordering guides publish no rule that treats a terminal-server session differently. A FactoryTalk Optix Runtime Target Computer can be an ASEM 6300 industrial computer or any PC or virtual machine running Windows or Linux. The Runtime entitlement is activated on the target device.[3] Historian SE collectives (high availability) are sized per member. The guide’s examples let a customer choose between one larger server and a collective with half the tags on each member.[4] ThinManager offers separate redundancy licences at a lower cost per licence.[6] Catalog proof: Device includes physical and virtual environments.
Cloud / BYOL
FactoryTalk Optix and FactoryTalk Remote Access entitlements are bought on the commerce portal, allocated to a FactoryTalk Hub organization and then assigned to users or devices.[3] Optix can run in containers, and the application technique describes deploying Optix Studio applications as a container solution.[3] The retrieved guides say nothing about running View SE, Historian SE or AssetCentre servers on public-cloud infrastructure. The SCSA’s general Device rules and its ban on application service provider hosting apply.[9]
Programs
- Software subscription and Perpetual with Maintenance. All FactoryTalk View products can be bought either way.[2] So can Historian SE packages, which come with self, 8x5 or 24x7 support.[4] AssetCentre 9515C catalog numbers are subscriptions that include 8x5 support. 9515M numbers are perpetual, with support included in the first year and optional after that.[5] Rockwell Automation describes the FactoryTalk View subscription as having lower upfront costs with maintenance included in the annual cost. Perpetual with Maintenance has a higher upfront cost and a lower annual maintenance cost.[2]
- ThinManager V-FLEX. V-FLEX licensing can be used across facilities and domains. Subscription is available with either FactoryTalk Activation or ThinManager Activation.[6] Under ThinManager Activation, permanent Product Licenses are added to a customer-created Master License. That Master License is activated with the ThinManager Installation ID and downloaded as a licence file. A free 30-day demo code is available for sizing and testing.[8] Catalog proof: ThinManager V-FLEX licences can be used across facilities and domains.
- ThinManager Software Maintenance. Formerly Platform Maintenance, this plan gives one year of technical support and version upgrades while it is current. It also provides step-in pricing, where past purchase quantities count toward V-FLEX volume discounts, and eligibility for ownership and location transfers. It is separate from TechConnect.[7]
Out of scope
- FactoryTalk Batch, Metrics, Transaction Manager, Linx Gateway and VantagePoint EMI packaging, which the retrieved guides do not cover.
- Historian ME (controller-module historian) hardware licensing.
- PanelView terminal firmware and the FactoryTalk ViewPoint capability built into PanelView Plus 7.
- Microsoft SQL Server and Windows licensing needed by AssetCentre, Historian and View servers.
- Prices. The retrieved documents give none.