A cloud-based remote industrial automation site operation system leverages a wide array of configuration and operational data generated by industrial assets of an industrial enterprise to facilitate remote control of automation systems from a cloud platform. Status and operational data generated by industrial assets on the plant floor is migrated to the cloud platform where the remote site operation system resides. The system performs substantially real-time control functions for one or more plant-side automation systems from the cloud platform based on the collected data and one or more control programs that execute on the cloud platform. In this way, the cloud-based services can allow geographically diverse industrial systems to be collectively controlled using a centralized, cloud-based virtual controller. The system can also provide control backup services, allowing control to be switched from a local controller to the cloud-based control in the event of a failure at the local controller.