I read two posts this week took me that led me back to the cloud theme. One was NIST’s first try at common cloud definition. I liked its good classification of Characteristics, Delivery and Deployment models. Even if these definitions are still in a preliminary, immature phase, I think it’s good to see how this evolves.
Characteristics:
· On-demand self-services
· Ubiquitous network access
· Location independent resource pooling
· Rapid elasticity
· Pay per use
Delivery Models:
· SaaS – Software as a Service
· PaaS – Platform as a Service
· IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service
Deployment Models:
· Private Cloud
· Community Cloud
· Public Cloud
· Hybrid Cloud
The second post was Dezineforce, which talked about the availability of FEA and CFD packages on demand. It was nice is to see how this offering fits in particular models and uses cloud characteristics and capabilities. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfpu5DL1rf8 .
So, with regards to the question – should PLM establish its own cloud? I think that currently, the answer is probably no. It looks like current infrastructure development will focus on long-term optimization of IT infrastructure. As a result, it will provide new type of platforms that PLM service companies will be able to use. It’s important during the next few years that PLM vendors will be able to recognize the potential need and acceptance of customers to subscribe and get benefits from specific PLM/PDM/CAD/CAE services.
I see two main inflation points: One is to deploy private clouds for very big customers. This is basically the same as having a global Web-based deployment. The second point is to provide CAE-related / calculation and other services that can fit pay-per-use models.
