Data interface control at the European Southern Observatory

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) manages numerous telescopes which use various types of instruments and readout detectors. The data flow process at ESO's observatories involves several steps: telescope setup, data acquisition (science, calibration and test), pipeline processing, quality control, archivisation, distribution of data to the users. Well defined interfaces are vital for the smooth operation of such complex structures. Also, the future expansion of ESO operations - such as development of new observatories (e.g. ALMA) and supporting the Virtual Observatory (VO) - will make maintenance of data interfaces even more critical. In this paper we present the overview of the current status of the Data Interface Control process at ESO and discuss the future expansion plans.