It’s been called “a tower of babel.”

When data exists in various silos across an enterprise, it becomes extremely difficult for companies to make data-driven decisions given that stakeholders are not operating off of the same information.

In order to overcome this obstacle, modern businesses are moving toward a single source of truth (SSOT) when it comes to leveraging data. A SSOT aggregates data from many systems within an organization to a data warehouse or some other repository, centralizing information. A SSOT eliminates redundancies, maintains versions and eliminates some of the communication chaos and misinterpretation that companies face. In this regard, the cloud is the preferred mode of establishing a SSOT environment.

PLM systems are a SSOT for product data

Increasingly, product lifecycle management (PLM) software has evolved to become the SSOT and master record for product data. The SSOT has even extended beyond product development. Manufacturers now rely on the SSOT to realize production challenges, apply budget and time constraints, and capitalize on product development opportunities.

Because PLM systems provide the standard of history for all product information, they also serve as the hub for marketing-oriented systems like PIM, CRM, and ERP. Further, using PLM to automate the collection, storage, use, and dissemination of product data to other systems is paramount to a manufacturer’s ability to accurately respond to consumer trends and manage real-time product portfolio analysis.

PLM SSOT meets the needs of a distributed workforce

The increasingly global nature of food production means companies have offices and plants located around the world. Here, distributed teams and the organization as a whole benefit from a PLM SSOT. Regardless of their technical skills, all workers can be visible and have visibility into processes, empowering them to make efficient decisions. As a result, distributed teams are able to hit the ground running on product development and production objectives.

Cloud is the best pathway to a SSOT

Cloud-based PLM solutions create a SSOT from a secure cloud environment that is inherently more cost efficient and accessible than an on-premise option.

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Regardless of location, departments can utilize a cloud-based SSOT to collaborate and access information relating to new product research and the product development that follows. A cloud-based PLM SSOT solution and the Service level Agreement (SLA) that accompanies it will provide guarantees for maximum uptime, response time, performance and security. This protects users from disruptions they may face with a SSOT environment that is on premise (i.e. on an internal company server).

Cloud-based subscriptions are generally more cost-attractive than an on premises solution and require minimal maintenance and upkeep, all the while scaling to meet the demands of the customer. A cloud-based SSOT environment can be setup without any on-site hardware or software, and users can be added or dropped as needed. Having fast and secure access to the latest information also enables much improved collaboration with external partners.

The cloud is a modern solution for modern PLM

In summary, there is now a strong case to be made to adopting cloud solutions as the basis of a SSOT environment. It has become increasingly clear that on-premise solutions are costly to deploy and maintain, vulnerable to security threats and expensive to scale, as well as requiring additional services and effort to support a distributed workforce.

For these reasons, a cloud-based SSOT is without question the best way forward for a company and all its stakeholders.