Is PLM on-demand an opportunity or a slightly unsatisfactory middle ground?

PLM on-demand has been on the radar for a few years now, but what are the benefits and is it really a satisfactory PLM solution?

In broad terms, on-demand solutions refer to PLM as a ‘software-as-a-service’ (SaaS) application, often on a pay-as-you-go basis. The overriding benefit of this option is a minimal cost to entry and ongoing service based primarily on capacity. It reduces the danger of buying that end-to-end solution only to find you’re not needing its full feature list. In addition, on-demand services tend to offer inclusive upgrades and maintenance.

Sounds great. You basically get what you pay for.

But what are the catches? Is there a downside? Well, one issue occasionally mentioned is that the plethora of new and smaller companies now able to dip their toes in the proverbial PLM pool, don’t have a hell of a lot of PLM experience. This makes selecting the right on-demand solution from the ever growing number of options a rather challenging undertaking. Well, you say, surely this is the case whether they are going on-demand or for a full throttle PLM solution? Perhaps, but the nature of on-demand means quite often the buyer is presented with a huge array of options and varying functionality.

Personally, I don’t think this argument really washes. On-demand PLM has been an important part in the growth of PLM over the last couple of years. And the continued success of companies like Arena Solutions suggests there is clearly a market for it (and Arena keep it pretty simple too by having a single piece of software). Companies may not always get it absolutely right first time, but on-demand gives them an opportunity to implement PLM without breaking the bank and develop the tools that are right for them over time.

So what effect has this had on the PLM market?

Well, as previously mentioned, it has given smaller companies the opportunity to take advantage of PLM without the considerable up-front investment. This has benefited the PLM community as a whole because it has given rise to a new type of PLM customer. Once the domain of tier 1 manufacturers, traditionally aerospace and automotive, now PLM has been adopted by a much broader variety of industries, notably CPG, apparel and pharmaceuticals. The adoption by SMEs has also been accelerated by the rapidity with which an on-demand solution can deliver an ROI – such tangible results make it a much more attractive proposition than full PLM integrations where often an ROI is only seen after several years (forgive the vast generalisation - I accept that it very much depends on the nature of the product / company etc).

I also think it would be reasonable to say that on-demand PLM to a degree pioneered web based PLM functionality. Perhaps this is just as much indicative of where IT and software are moving as much as anything, but on-demand suites have rarely required the large on-site installations of a full and more ‘traditional’ PLM implementation. Online seems an inherently sensible way of delivering enterprise software and sharing information - the only reservation being security of intellectual property.

I asked ‘Is PLM on-demand an opportunity or a slightly unsatisfactory middle ground?’ Unquestionably, it is an opportunity, not just to SMEs adopting these solutions but to the PLM industry as a whole. It has broadened the accessibility of PLM, but most importantly has increased awareness of PLM as a strategic tool –unquestionably benefiting all PLM solution providers, on-demand or not.

It would be great to get some feedback of successful on-demand implementations...