Application service provider (ASP) featuring software which enables, monitors and reports on factory automation, uploads factory usage and performance data, provides statistical analysis and produces notifications and reports; platform as a service (PAAS) and software as a service (SAAS) services featuring computer software platforms which configure and operate factory automation systems, enable, monitor and report on factory performance and usage data, resource allocation and status, performance analysis, process validation and management, system monetization data collection and acquisition, quality management, system maintenance, and communication to both industrial controls and business operations systems; providing a website featuring resources, namely, non-downloadable software which configures and operates factory automation systems, enables, monitors and reports on factory performance and usage data, system resource allocation and status, performance analysis, process validation and management, system monetization data collection and acquisition, quality management, system maintenance, and communication to both industrial controls and business operations systems; all of the foregoing featuring industrial controls and monitors for visualizing analytic data, performance indicators, alarms, logs and predictive data to support the simulation of future process behaviors under a variety of scenarios