Cogent products work together to support real-time data connectivity in Windows, Linux, and QNX. They can be dynamically integrated as a group of modules where each module connects to any other module(s) as needed. New modules can be added and existing modules reconfigured or modified, all during run-time. Data in any module of the system can be collected and redistributed to any other module via the Cascade DataHub and Cascade Connect. Communication with field devices is provided by one of several Cogent Device Drivers. Historical records of unlimited size can be maintained and queried with the Cascade Historian, and ASCII text files can be logged with the Cascade TextLogger.

Custom programs written in C or C++ can interface with the system, using the Cogent C API or the DataHub APIs for C++, Java, and .NET. In addition, Cogent's own dynamically-typed object-oriented programming language, Gamma, is fully compatible with all modules. User interfaces can be created in Gamma, which supports Photon in QNX and GTK in Linux.