Feb
22
What’s Your Reason for Not Using SaaS PLM?
Filed Under (Industry Observation) by Kurt Chen (see bio)
 

Without a doubt, software-as-a-service (SaaS) as a software delivery model has become a hot topic in the enterprise software field and has gained some noticeable shares in sectors such as customer relationship management (CRM). On the other hand, the product lifecycle management (PLM) industry has seen increasing awareness of SaaS. Oleg Shilovitsky, the most active PLM blogger, has talked about SaaS and cloud computing in some of his recent blog posts on Daily PLM Think Tank Blog. Mark Burhop form Siemens PLM Software also initiated a discussion on cloud computing in a recent blog post. However, SaaS remains as a limited option for PLM users as I see it.If someone is looking for SaaS PLM solutions, he/she will find that there are very few options—Arena and PLM+, which serve users in the engineering world, and a few more solutions (e.g., Yunique PLM and Zweave) which focus on fashion, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and so on. I can’t confirm that the above mentioned solutions all meet the SaaS definition considering that some may argue that SaaS has to be multi-tenant. However, these solutions are the closest to SaaS PLM even if some of them may not yet be multi-tenant.Will SaaS Be a Strong Delivery Model for PLM? Yes in the future, but not at the moment. In his blog post, Mark Burhop mentioned some concerns about PLM when delivered through the SaaS model:

  • Security: As a user, can I trust those who store my product data (my core intellectual property)?
  • Efficiency: Will it be efficient enough to transfer product data (often document-based, and sometimes quite heavy in terms of document volume) through the Internet?

Besides the above two reasons, I also found integration another factor that keeps PLM away from SaaS. As a matter of fact, PLM is the bridge between product design and many other endeavors that a company conducts. This means that a PLM system needs to integrate with both design tools (such as computer-aided design [CAD] systems) and other enterprise systems (such as enterprise resource planning [ERP]) in order to fully achieve the benefits of adopting PLM. Although technological advancements have been made to build better connections between PLM and CAD, and PLM and ERP-like systems, integration remains one of the biggest challenges in the on-premise PLM world, and it will remain a challenge for PLM delivered through the SaaS model.In addition, SaaS PLM functionality is not as comprehensive as major on-premise PLM suites for large organizations. Today’s SaaS PLM offerings are mainly competing with on-premise PLM solutions aiming at the small and medium business (SMB) market.

So, what’s your opinion toward SaaS PLM? If you think that SaaS is not an option for your PLM initiative, what’s the biggest concern you have?
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Comments

Oleg Shilovitsky on 22 February, 2010 at 4:34 pm #

Kurt, interesting poll. I’m looking forward to results. Best, Oleg


Kurt Chen on 23 February, 2010 at 11:51 am #

Thanks Oleg, let’s wait for the result. Best, Kurt


Guy Alroy on 24 February, 2010 at 12:01 pm #

Hi Kurt, I join the interest to see the results. I believe that the technology is out there to address the technical challanges you are raising. An interesting point we were looking into when working on plmplus was the amount of SMB customers who postponed PLM initiatives even after looking at the SaaS options. I believe this is going to change over the next couple of years.


Kurt Chen on 25 February, 2010 at 10:08 am #

Hi Guy, thanks for pointing out the reluctance that SMB users have while thinking of PLM. It’s definitely an interesting topic worth deeper digging. I appreciate if I can be informed when you have more findings about what keeps SMBs away from PLM. Best, Kurt


Samantha on 16 March, 2010 at 5:03 pm #

Don’t forget about Datastay! We offer PLM and a variety of other applications on-demand.

Please feel free to check out our website to learn more http://www.datastay.com


SaaS on 24 March, 2010 at 3:07 am #

Thanks for this post. Software as a Service (SaaS) is based on a simple model that allows the delivery of an application via a subscription model over the Internet. In the SaaS model, the customer does not take ownership of the software but rather ’subscribes’ to a comprehensive solution that is delivered remotely over the Internet. No infrastructure investments, no maintenance costs! SaaS @Pegasys expertise of working with software product companies, Pegasys now has a range of best practices and solution accelerators on SaaS to bring all these under a single roof. It has team of skilled architects and engineers who are experts at SaaS implementation, development, deployment and maintenance. Thanking You. SaaS


Custom Software on 4 April, 2011 at 11:25 am #

I really don’t think that the data transfer is a problem, an I think that it is in the best interest of the provider to make sure that data is secure. I think it is just a matter of getting good software that works in the cloud. And that is just a matter of time. Thanks for the post.


Oleg Shilovitsky on 11 April, 2011 at 4:05 am #

Custom Software, so… What are the requirements? “security” very often used as a “red herring”. What, in your view need to be done to satisfy security requirements? Tnx, Oleg


SaaS on 19 May, 2011 at 10:35 am #

I think SaaS is growing and will touch every aspect of life in the future. Automation is faster with less mistakes. The security issue will always be there to a point but anything made by a human will be breakable by humans. Thanks for the post.


EddieE on 11 December, 2011 at 10:58 pm #

I’ve had some bad experience with SaaS for PLM. It seems like a great idea, but I think there are a few points anyone should take a careful look at before doing it. If Kurt is interested in my experiences, please feel free to contact me directly


Oleg Shilovitsky on 11 December, 2011 at 11:14 pm #

Eddie, can you, please, share what was your bad experience? Best, Oleg


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