Flexible hierarchical model for monitoring distributed industrial control systems

This disclosure describes an apparatus and method for monitoring distributed industrial control systems using a flexible hierarchical model. A method includes providing (302) a plurality of hierarchically-organized industrial control devices (106, 114, 122, 130, 138) in an industrial control network (200). The method includes executing (304), by each of a plurality of the industrial control devices (106, 114, 122, 130, 138), a publisher application (204) or a subscriber application (206) that is associated with a hierarchical level of the industrial control network (200). The method includes associating (306) each publisher application (204) or subscriber application (206) with an application hierarchy property that identifies the associated hierarchical level in the industrial control network (200). The method includes executing a process (308), by one of the industrial control devices (106, 114, 122, 130, 138) according to the application hierarchy properties.