Part 8.1 of IEC 61850 Standard specifies a method of exchanging data with or without time-critical restrictions through a network. This method allows specifying MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) services and protocols to operate over OSI model layers and compatible with TCP/IP communication profiles. MMS allows using centralized and distributed architectures and includes data exchange, both for the status of control operations and real-time notifications.

There are several services specified in part 7.2 of IEC 61850 Standard that are intentionally mapped to protocols and communication profiles that do not use ISO 9506 Standard (MMS), such as the protocol of the application layer, specific to client-server messages, due to information with time-critical restrictions.