1. A method of delivering data using a device communicatively coupled to a communications network of a process plant, the method comprising: collecting, at the device, data corresponding to at least one of the process plant or a process controlled by physical equipment disposed in the process plant, the data including data that is at least one of generated by or received at the device, and the device being one of a field device or a controller; storing, using a schema included in a schema corresponding to a common format used by a unitary, logical data storage area of a process control big data appliance corresponding to the process plant, the collected data in a cache of the device; and causing at least a portion of the stored, collected data to be transmitted for storage at the unitary, logical data storage area, the unitary, logical data storage area being configured to store, using the common format corresponding to the schema in which the schema used to store the collected data in the cache of the device is included, multiple types of data from a set of types of data corresponding to at least one of the process plant or the process controlled by the process plant.