PLM software is finally moving to the cloud. The business disruption due to the pandemic has accelerated cloud adoption for enterprise applications like PLM to fuel digital transformation.
Per the IDC Market Analysis perspective for 2020, “Cloud deployments will accelerate for engineering applications considerably for cPDM, CAD, CAE, and other engineering applications. Less so for CAM, although the move to the cloud will occur here as well. Engineering applications in the cloud were growing at 18% CAGR pre-COVID-19; expected to grow at double of this rate starting 1H2021, sooner for cPDM (2H2020) as manufacturers focus on rapid communication collaboration for customers, products, services & resiliency “.
All major PLM software technology providers are ramping up solutions on the cloud in an organic and inorganic manner. PTC acquired OnShape and Arena to accelerate collaborative design, data management, and deploy product lifecycle process transformation and orchestration to cloud deployment models.
The benefits of operating on the cloud are:
- On-demand scalability and agility of IT services and infrastructure
- Improved performance and reliability
- Business continuity
- Mobility of workforce and enabling a hybrid working model
- Conversion of CAPEX to OPEX with a pay-per-use model
- Reduction in the total cost of ownership
However, the organizations find themselves struggling at key decision points of:
- Functional adequacy of cloud PLM
- Licensing models offered by PLM software providers
- Deployment options in the cloud
- Geographic and network requirements
- Data, IP security, and regulatory compliance
- Return on investment
It is very common to have enterprise systems deployed on more than one hyperscaler platform due to business and technology considerations. PLM technology providers and system integrators must carefully define the roadmap and blueprint SaaS/PaaS (single-tenant/multi-tenant) or managed services cloud deployment models considering the challenges of:
- Heterogeneous, best-of-the-breed enterprise application landscape
- Multi-cloud integration between multi-vendor SaaS/PaaS applications
- Security and data protection during storage, movement of data in the cloud
- Avoiding data lock-in scenarios
- Improved SLAs from an on-premise setup
Through its 1PLMCloud solutions, HCL has enabled multi-cloud application transformations for its customers using microservices integration architectures. It delivers up to 20% improvements in PLM performance and change management cycles with supplier collaboration. The customers can experience up to 30% reduction in infrastructure and maintenance costs with unique business model benefits offered by HCL.
As remote working is the new normal, IT departments must expedite the transformation of their CAD and PLM platforms as more scalable, available, and reliable over a network. The leading hyperscalers are deploying newer services with high-end graphics processing capabilities. Organizations must evaluate the fitment of these services to fulfill their requirements and accelerate their digital transformation journeys.
Be sure to catch more insight on the future of CAD and PLM in Episode Two of LiveWorx 2021: The Limited series, sponsored by HCL.
