PLM In The Azure Box?

PLM In The Azure Box?

If you listened to the news stream from Microsoft Worldwide Partner conference last week, you probably had a chance to get some information about future Microsoft Cloud Strategy.My attention was caught by the following announcement related to Microsoft Azure Appliance.

Microsoft has announced that it will sell Azure appliances to its considerably larger customers. A select few technology giants, along with online shopping portal eBay, have bought Microsoft-specified, pre-configured “cloud-in-a-box” appliances designed to let them run Microsoft’s Platform as a Service (PaaS)offering from their own premises.

If you are not familiar with what is Microsoft Azure, take a look on the following video.

The announcement about Azure Appliance seems to me interesting. The Microsoft’s strategy reminded me some old PDM slogans: In-A-Box. I think, future Azure Appliance can become a silver bullet for today’s PLM vendors looking how to make a complex PLM platform delivery to their big OEM customers. I can see the following key advantages of this solution for customers, PLM vendors and Microsoft:

1. It solves the problem of cloud services, security and privacy.

2. It provides complete platform delivery and cut cost and complexity of installation and configuration.

3. It presents interests of Microsoft and major PLM players to make their enterprise level deliveries.

What is the reaction of PLM vendors? One announcement from Siemens PLM already came from Microsoft WPC. It would be very interesting to see on the reaction of other PLM players as well as a customer’s reaction.

Where is my conclusion? Microsoft Azure Appliance was probably a missing link in the overall Microsoft Cloud Strategies. It will allow to enterprise software providers catch up on cloud world and stay in the comfort zone of Microsoft’s infrastructure. So, life is good? Almost… Large enterprise OEMs have a tendency to make a significant customization and adjustments to PLM solutions. How all these things will be delivered in the Azure-box? A good question…

Best, Oleg

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  • Michael Atlas

    The idea of “maintaining private cloud” looks much better from security, privacy and access audit point of view.
    I’d wait for concurrent Google solution 🙂

  • beyondplm

    Michael, Thanks for commenting! Google has GSA already several years. I never heard Google is planning something similar to Azure in-a-box. In my view, it will contradict some of the Google’s architecture principles. However, it will depend, also on the success of Azure, in my view. The issue of security, privacy and access cannot be taken absolutely. This issue is relational. Those companies that really troubled with security (like military and defense) just cut physical connections of their internal networks and not allowing to get “smart phones” inside of the company to prevent Wi-fi tethering. Best, Oleg

  • Michael Atlas

    Of course this issue is relational. As everything it is a function of luck, risk and potential profit.
    As usual, the devil in the details of the ability to assess the risk:)

  • beyondplm

    BTW, I never heard about Google’s plan to have their boxes out of Google’s data centers. Do you?

  • Michael Atlas

    I can not remember something exact right now, just rumors …

  • Avinash Durge

    so microsoft is allowing any application to be on Azure? I attended couple of sessions on Azure and I think they only support .NET based application.

  • beyondplm

    Avinash, For my best knowledge, there are some limitations. However, you can utilize non .NET code according to what MS is writing – http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/windowsazure/. Best, Oleg

  • Vladislav Skoupski

    I think that “remote PLM” is not suitable for many enterprises because of reason remote data storage.

  • Vladislav Skoupski

    А тут по-русски можно комментарии оставлять?

  • beyondplm

    Vladislav, thank you for this comment! Do you see a problem of “remote data storage” as a security problem? Just to note, in the context of this specific Azure-in-a-box, MS is planning to put appliances in a diverse set of data centers. Large companies can utilize their own or separate data centers for these purposes. Do you see any problem with such a type of a solution? What other concerns do you see because of remote data storage?

  • beyondplm

    This blog is in English. In general, you can comment in Russian. However, I will try to translate and repost in English. Thank you, Oleg

  • Vladislav Skoupski

    Oleg, No, personally I don’t see security problem in remote data storage. But many people who making decision in some big and old Russian enterprizes can do. They are not so modern 🙂

    Maybe if data center will be not remote it will be better.

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