Streamline processes and reduce costs with cloud-based PLM

Should your PLM installation be on premise or in the cloud? That’s a question many food manufacturers are asking as they face changes whether managing site-specific or globally distributed product development processes.

While PLM has traditionally been installed on premise, many manufacturers are learning that the cloud provides greater control and helps streamline business processes.

Cost advantages of PLM cloud adoption

Cloud-based solutions save money since initial investment costs are lower. While it might take weeks to source, build, and install servers to implement an on-premises PLM solution, deployment in the cloud is immediately accessible..

Compared to an on-premises model, which requires a higher upfront perpetual licensing fee, cloud-based PLM solutions save money over time. Since the cost of cloud PLM is based on usage over time, budget can be allocated to other enterprise growth or marketing needs. The costs of immediate investment in PLM are flattened, and therefore it is easier to move forward.

Support costs for cloud PLM are also lower. Managed by the cloud provider or a private service, IT staff can focus on business objectives, not maintenance.

Cloud flexibility bolsters responsiveness

In this uncertain business climate, flexibility and agility are more important than ever to weather market volatility and contain costs.

There are times when manufacturers need more contractors for a project, necessitating more licenses. Other projects may require more servers, which can involve complex and costly IT infrastructure updates. The cloud solutions scale up or down easily in response to project demands, with businesses only paying for the additional services as needed. Once demands reduce, services can be scaled back.

Responding to marketplace changes also requires having the latest software updates. With a cloud-based PLM solution, the cloud provider handles all activities around the global roll-out of updates and versioning and can also more efficiently handle wholesale application upgrades.

Real-time collaboration becomes effortless in the cloud

Cloud PLM, and its capacity for quickly adding new users throughout the globe, facilitates real-time collaboration, drawing together remote team members to access, view, and share information across a highly secure platform. In effect, this breaks down silos, giving insights into each stage of the product lifecycle and significantly fosters improved innovation.

The cloud also enhances collaboration by improving the user experience, particularly in cases where the company’s internal infrastructure has performance issues. By comparison, on-premises solutions may require IT teams to handle certain tasks, slowing down productivity.

Cloud PLM provides the competitive advantage

By lowering costs, simplifying IT, and streamlining business processes and teamwork, cloud-based PLM solutions give manufacturers more resources to respond to new business challenges. In this way, the cloud enables manufacturers to optimize the way they do business.