1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: distributing a common data structure that models an industrial organization across at least two system devices residing, respectively, on a first tier of the industrial organization and a second tier of the industrial organization, wherein the common data structure models the industrial organization in terms of hierarchical organizational tiers, including the first tier and the second tier, and respective nodes representing the at least two system devices; and sharing data collection and storage functionality between an embedded historian component residing on an industrial device of the first tier of the industrial organization and a middle tier historian component residing on a device of the second tier of the industrial organization using the common data structure, wherein the sharing comprises exchanging a network message between the industrial device and the device of the second tier that initiates at least one of collection and storage of first data from the first tier of the industrial organization by the middle tier historian component or collection and storage of second data from the second tier of the industrial organization by the embedded historian component.