sww10 – solidworks in the cloud…my take
February 8, 2010 4 Comments
So the BIG buzz word this week in Anaheim at SolidWorks WORLD 2010 was “cloud”. It caused some cheers, some eye rolls, and even some people mythically taking shots everytime that the word was spoken. But no matter how “cool” it is, the real question is how will it affect the daily user and will it be worth to change over to it. So, by hearing it talked about so much over the last 3 days I have been thinking about the effects it will have on me and you, the users, right? So let’s get started right away with some of bigger areas of it and what the advantages and disadvantages are of each area.
Computer Hardware
I think everyone out there realizes how expensive a “good” CAD station costs just in order to experience all of the benefits of the software. Here is where I think the “cloud” computing has a major advantage over the current setup. The software and hardware that you would need to utilize normally using SolidWorks would now be up in the cloud somewhere. From my understanding (and that is not all that good) you would now be able to effectively run SolidWorks on any computer setup. Maybe you need to work on the secretary’s computer for an afternoon, it shouldn’t matter as long as you have a good internet connection which is my next area of discussion. So as of right now…
Winner: SolidWorks in the Cloud
Internet Bandwidth
So how awesome will your internet service need to be in order to run this SolidWorks in the Cloud service. I can not give any nailed down numbers BUT I would imagine that it would need to be pretty high in order to run it. Now, personally, if the company that I work for would want to switch I would probably have no problems convincing them to up our internet service but what about when I take work home with me on the weekends, do I need it there too now? What about when all 15-30 engineers are running SolidWorks at the same time, what will that do to your internet connection. We, at least the CAD Administrators out there, all know the effect that downloading a new release of SP has on the internet so now what about when we are running huge programs off of it all day? So as of right now…
Winner: SolidWorks on the Desktop
Security
I know that this is a huge factor for many users out there and I was also extremely concerned about it when the announcement was made about cloud computing on Monday. But, since then, after hearing some explanation about this I think I have shifted over to the other side on this topic. Most companies think that their data is so safe with their current setup but it may be easier to actually get into your system than you think if you are running just a normal anti-virus like Norton or McAfee or even AVG. My personal feeling is that the cloud is probably a safer spot for your data than locally on your machine or your server. Along with this, all of your data, backups and everything, are stored off site so in case that natural disaster or fire happens you don’t loose everything you have done for the past 15 years. Now I probably will still need to see some more details but as of right now…
Winner: SolidWorks in the Cloud
Compatibility
What I really want to know is if I want to change over the my designers, do I need to change all of our machines over at 1 time or will I be able to work in the cloud & on the desktop at the same time. I think I would have a really hard time convincing management to just switch everything over but maybe if we did 1 at a time and could notice the benefits there might be a better chance. So as of right now…
Winner: Heck if I know, I need more information
3rd Party Applications
At our company we own 3 or 4 gold level partner solutions. How does cloud computing affect those products? I have some major concerns about how all of these things will work and how nice they will play together. I would imagine that all of this has been thought of before hand, at least I sure hope so. Again this comes back to whether or not I will be able to download my cloud files to a desktop so that I could open them up with my desktop 3rd party application.
Winner: Heck if I know, I need more information
Wrap-up
So there are some of the areas I have been thinking about the last few days. Now I realize there are more topics and concerns out there but this is my main list that I wanted to discuss. Also, keep in mind that I am only talking about SolidWorks in the cloud here, I will discuss PLM/PDM/PDS in the cloud in an upcoming post.
According to SolidWorks Corporation, we will begin to see some of these products released later this year.
Good cad station from Dell Factory outlet less than $1,500.00 good for all but tough FEA = SWX cloud fail
The only safe workstation is the one that never goes on line per NSA and Military standards = SWC Cloud fail
Compatability is what ever others decide and you now have no control = SWX cloud fail
Please consider all the variables now out of your hands before you believe them. Promises are not afterall delivery and caned sales demos are notorious for selling you promise then when you are on board you find it’s not true.
I post a lot about this cloud stuff because I think it is a terrible mistake for everyone involved. Perhaps some day in the future but today there is technically no way this can work reliably and securely for a ton of reasons. I do my bit to try and head off bad technology before some idiot bean counter foists it off on us as their new model to increase their cash flow. But the proof will be in the pudding. I am not sure anything but personal experience of failures will convince cloud fans of their mistake so perhaps you guys just need to slog into the quagmire and find this out.
dave, thanks for your comment. i, like yourself, am just making assumptions as to how this will work. none of us really know right now so the best that we can state is opinions. i am interested to see what the released product is like. a lot of people said the same stuff about all the things that google was doing and every day that is becoming more and more the norm. let’s wait and see what happens before we get all worked up.
Dave,
For what it’s worth, the US military is currently one of the biggest proponents of cloud technology around. The good news for guys like you is that all of this will be launched as another option for customers, not something that’s required.
There any many unanswered questions. How do you do a backup of your data? If you are a contract designer, how do you control who has access to the models? If you have SW cloud, does that mean you can’t run it on your own computer – if so, how do you run it away from the internet? If you come off maintenance, does that mean you can no longer run SW. If you have SW on your machine and drop maintenance, then you can still run the software?