{"id":89401,"date":"2025-06-10T14:47:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T20:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/?p=89401"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T00:46:08","slug":"what-is-cloud-pdm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/what-is-cloud-pdm\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Cloud PDM?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How is Product Data Stored and Accessed in the Cloud?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When talking to anyone current with Product Data Management technology, mention \u201cthe cloud,\u201d and you\u2019ll soon be discussing software-as-service (SaaS). SaaS is synonymous with cloud-computing and \u201cthe cloud,\u201d despite its inherently hazy connotation, is just a network of servers geographically near you, but not on-premises, which can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3DEXPERIENCE Platform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the context of the industry standard CAD software (SOLIDWORKS), that SaaS platform is 3DEXPERIENCE. It\u2019s incredibly powerful, extensible, and seamlessly integrated with SOLIDWORKS, but, for a subset of organizations, 3DEXPERIENCE is not a viable solution. This could be due to data migration constraints, licensing requirements, or custom configuration needs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Cloud-Hosted Solutions for SOLIDWORKS Data Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You may suspect that falling into one of those categories is an automatic disqualification from managing your SOLIDWORKS data in the cloud, but you\u2019d be wrong. Traditional \u201cdesktop\u201d data management solutions, as well as web clients, are connecting happily to cloud-hosted environments every day for many satisfied customers. We can help you do this too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Four Reasons why data management in the cloud is important:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Unlock Global Talent:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It may have taken a global pandemic to prove the concept, but a transglobal remote workforce is not only feasible, it\u2019s hugely successful. Many organizations were already testing the work-from-home waters before the word quarantine entered our daily lexicon. Many of them noticed measurable upticks in productivity from their telecommuters in dress shirts and sweatpants. The post-pandemic climate has driven some back-to-the-office policies, but offices without walls still significantly increase organizations\u2019 access to the talent pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Centralized Data Access:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A decentralized workforce can thrive using asynchronous collaboration, vital for sharing information on-the-go, across time zones, and amid competing priorities. But a decentralized workforce also means decentralized data access. To facilitate that, physical servers must be synchronized to bridge the geographical divide or users will suffer performance issues and potential data loss. Another (better) option is to rid yourself of these servers altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Virtualizing Physical Servers in the Cloud:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Physical servers are subject to recurring obsolescence, maintenance, and redundancy but, like your home office, they can be virtualized in the cloud. On premises, these assets lose value but offloading disaster recovery, upgrade cycles, and data security responsibilities to a cloud-hosting service is a great solution. Capacity once reserved for those efforts can then be reallocated to higher value and more satisfying tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Closing the Gap between IT and PDM Administration: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PDM Administration Services are available at GSC, but it has been incumbent on our customers to supply the IT support needed for the PDM back-end. The schism between PDM administration and IT support can be difficult to bridge. IT is rarely the benefactor or subject matter expert when the topic is managing engineering data, and, as such, admin duties are typically better handled by those closer to product development. It is, however, commonplace that no one on the product development team has the skillset, access rights, or time to administrate PDM\u2019s infrastructure. Add to that, IT often does not communicate or understand how infrastructure changes will impact PDM downstream. Dodging the pitfalls of this tenuous relationship requires a high and, regrettably, rare level of coordination. GSC can and will help bridge that gap, but, what if we could just close the gap instead? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What’s the Solution?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

GSC offers a SOLIDWORKS PDM cloud-hosting solution powered by EpiGrid<\/a>, a SOLIDWORKS-certified solution partner, to host your \u201cdesktop\u201d PDM environment on their cloud platform, This method makes the value added by cloud-hosting easily attainable by those fully vested in desktop data management. By subscribing, virtual computing and storage hardware resources are provided along with upgrades, maintenance, backups, and data security. Your PDM environment, whether preconfigured or custom, will be architected in accordance with best practices so users and admins can rest assured that PDM will be as performant, stable, and secure as possible, while remaining accessible to your entire remote workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Learn More About PDM and Epigrid<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How is Product Data Stored and Accessed in the Cloud? When talking to anyone current with Product Data Management technology, mention \u201cthe cloud,\u201d and you\u2019ll soon be discussing software-as-service (SaaS).…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":89403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[480,33,23,32],"tags":[],"topic":[859,861],"class_list":["post-89401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3dexperience","category-data-management","category-software-features","category-solidworks","topic-data-management-automation","topic-solidworks-software"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Cloud PDM? - GSC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read our post - What is Cloud PDM?. 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