Digital transformation
SaaS as the future of digitalization
Customers increasingly expect intelligent, networked and integrated products. As a result, these products and the processes for their development and manufacture are becoming increasingly complex. Product and production complexity is becoming an integral part of the way companies function and collaborate - between departments as well as with customers, suppliers and partners.
Due to increased market volatility and the ever faster pace of change and innovation, companies often have to react immediately to changes in market conditions. They need to track market data to recognize changes early and ultimately respond quickly with the right actions. These actions require real-time tracking and can include ramping up or down activities, shifting resources and taking risks.
The next step into the future and to overcome these challenges is digital transformation and the networking of cloud technologies to turn this complexity into a competitive advantage. This is especially true for small and medium-sized companies that need to adapt quickly and have flexible solutions to meet the ever-growing demands of their customers. Large enterprises benefit from cloud-based solutions to break down silos within the organization and become more agile, reducing time to market and increasing effectiveness.
The pandemic has accelerated the implementation of more remote and distributed supply chains and remote workers and users. These distributed users need cloud-enabled and connected tools to access and flexibly use these tools within an organization and across the supply chain. A software-as-a-sevice (SaaS) solution provides availability, scalability and flexibility to make standardized tools available to distributed users. The as-a-service model is the natural next step from a business perspective.
Domain technologies or digital threads are seamlessly linked to realize these workflows. The aim is to create a true digital representation of the processes. SaaS technology and cloud functions create connections and ensure a smooth transition between the areas in which information is used to optimize the product or process.
On-premises or cloud
The advantages of a cloud-based architecture over an on-premises architecture are enormous. It's easy to state these benefits, but it's even harder for a company to actually make the investment and change the way products are designed and developed. In an increasingly digital future, investing in cloud computing software will not only be the better option, but will also strengthen competitiveness.
The typical on-premises architecture is characterized by an application-centric rather than a data-centric view of the world. Even with a PLM system that runs on a server or in a local data center, every user has application-centric access to the technology. In the best case scenario, this means that they have an application installed on their desktop that they use to retrieve data, process it and then send it back. However, such an application-centric view is often combined with data islands. This unintended isolation leads to massive data management problems as data is locked up in locally installed applications. In a cloud architecture, users work in a data-centric environment. The "single source of truth" lies in centrally managed data. Each user accesses it via a browser window and works with a range of tools that view the data from a specific perspective.
In the cloud, networking is more inherent and natural than on-premise work, which is more about working in files. Unstructured databases, as used in cloud computing software, are the goal. But that's not all. Manufacturing companies can store the data structure and files in a cloud-based system with access management to enable controlled data access in a "single source of truth" mode without fundamentally changing the data architecture. You can have several different domains with different schemas that all interact and collaborate with each other. Overall, deploying file-based data in the cloud with the right access management greatly simplifies data management.
Sharing data
What about data sharing within the supply chain? On-premise data centers look similar to the cloud, but there are issues with outside access because the data is isolated and behind a firewall. A company needs to consider how much access it wants to grant and how this affects the development of the product. The main problem, however, is that the data has to be transferred from one computer on site to another. The different users may not belong to the same trust circles, which affects the project and leads to costly redesigns. With access management in the cloud, users can be added or removed as needed, intellectual property is better managed, data doesn't migrate anywhere and activity can be tracked.
The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a remote workforce. It is important to support both remote workers and a workforce that is increasingly made up of project-based employees. This means that a variety of teams are performing the same or similar functions on a project, which makes working on a consistent form of data a challenge. Moving from one on-premises application to another can be a huge burden. Even if the data access issue is resolved, manipulation of the data conversion is required. A product development team and a tool development team working together may use similar development tools, but there will be some confusion. A team of industrial engineers and simulation analysts can complicate the whole process.
Open ecosystems in the cloud
There are some communities that fit naturally into the process of their product lifecycle. For example, in a single team, there is a group that naturally works together and uses the same tools and connected technologies. Broadening the perspective, there are different teams, perhaps different functional teams, within the same organization. Again, this is a different working group for whom collaboration can be a challenge. An even broader perspective looks at the entire supply chain and collaboration within it. How can an entire ecosystem work together productively and efficiently?
The answer lies in facilitating communication, collaboration and participation in these communities through better connected, collaborative technology such as the cloud. Organizations interact as part of a larger ecosystem. They need to collaborate with their suppliers, retailers, manufacturers and others. This is why an open ecosystem is critical - it bridges the gap between communities and opens up opportunities for companies to tap into insights, recognition, help and opportunities to collaborate on development. This open ecosystem creates a powerful industrial network effect that is only possible when digital transformation is embraced. A SaaS platform and cloud-based delivery technology offers flexible benefits in areas where collaboration would otherwise be nearly impossible.
Many industries are broadening their perspectives. The automotive industry, for example, is no longer just building cars, but is evolving into a mobility company. Companies are rethinking by creating a flexible product roadmap and securing core technologies that enable autonomous driving. Legacy automakers are transitioning to more robust, flexible, open and integrated solutions. Cloud-based technologies are cutting development time by almost half as teams can collaborate more efficiently and suppliers are part of an open ecosystem that uses a single source of truth.
Tosh Tambe, VP of Business Transformation and SaaS Strategy, Siemens Digital Industries Software
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