Create 2 new client install kits: PI System Client & PI For Excel

This suggestion requires PI AF Client to be broken up into its component programs (https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/41021968-replace-pi-af-client-with-pi-af-sdk-in-install-kit) and requires the PI Interface Configuration Utility to be removed from the PI System Management Tools install kit (https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/40282513-remove-the-pi-interface-configuration-utility-pi). This suggestion can be thought of as a revised version of the all-in-1 PI Client install kit: https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/34744585-all-in-1-pi-client-install-kit

This suggestion is also more of a short-term solution. In the long term, PI System Management Tools and PI System Explorer should be made into web apps, while PI Builder and PI DataLink should go in the Office Store. The suggestions for these are linked below: https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/31691464-pi-system-management-tools-smt-as-a-web-applicat https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/31691545-pi-system-explorer-pse-pi-af-web https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/35429458-microsoft-store-for-business-with-pi-client-tools

I want to touch on some of the reasoning behind how we package (bundle). All these tools are reliant on the data access layer under the hood, for example AF SDK. As such, they are really clients from that perspective. They also have version dependencies on the SDK. Let's look at an example, PI System Explorer is nothing more than a shell on top of the AF SDK. As such, it is a client and must be bundled and shipped with the AF SDK as there is a version dependency for specific features. While we work very hard to support backwards compatibility, realistically for the best user experience, it has to be shipped (bundled) with the companion version of the AF SDK. This is the same with PI Builder. PI System Management tool requires PI SDK, AF SDK and other internal only components under the hood. Therefore, there are similar restrictions. We provide an AFClient setup kit because we have 3rd party developers/partners that develop against the AF SDK. Therefore it's necessary to have a separate AFClient setup kit. This and what I've already describe above are the reasons why the AFClient kit includes PI System Explorer and PI Builder. As to SMT bundling with ICU, it's more of a convenience for end users with some specific use cases. In SMT, you can configure certain interface points that under the hood require %OSI% in the Module Database. %OSI% modules are typically created when you configure interfaces with ICU. Thus, the decision was made long ago to bundle ICU with SMT. We don't bundle PI DataLink with PI Builder because we sell PI DataLink as a separate product and for those who don't use AF or if they are not licensed for AF, it may not make sense to bundle PI Builder with PI DataLink. As to confusion with which tool to do what, I would agree that's an area that we can improve on. As tools evolve, sometimes overlaps occur but we do try very hard to differentiate them. For example, PI Builder was designed to be a configuration tool so it doesn't really retrieve data in mass like PI DataLink. On thing that we can do is to start deprecating legacy products. Having said all that, we can always re-examine whether there are better ways to rebundle.

Hi Stephen, I understand what you're saying about keeping PI AF SDK, PI System Explorer, and PI Builder all together so then backwards and forwards compatibility are not an issue if one is updated but not the other. My suggestion relies heavily on the idea of being able to separate PI System Explorer and PI Builder from each other. I feel that it at least needs to be made clearer which programs PI AF Client contains so that the user knows which install kit to grab to get PI System Explorer, PI Builder, or even PI AF SDK, and so that if they already ran another install kit that contains PI AF Client, then they don't need to run the PI AF Client install kit unless their installed version is out of date.