9 benefits of enabling any PLM, CAD or CAE software from the cloud

The future of work is changing

As you start to look at what your return to the office will look like, it's important to consider the ratio of how often teams will be expected to go in or not. For those of you who are still working from home after pandemic imposed restrictions, but only intend to go into the office for meetings and to socialise in the future, End User Computing (EUC) environments should be considered as part of your strategy.

What is an End User Computing (EUC) environment?

End User Computing (EUC) environments include both virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) solutions. They are rapidly replacing physical workspaces in companies that are scaling down their offices, as they enable your organisation to quickly and safely deliver applications using a Software as a Service (SaaS) model; supporting bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and choose-your-own-device (CYOD).

This effectively means that you can run any PLM, CAD or CAE software from the cloud to a browser on any device, anywhere. For instance an engineer or designer can take a Chromebook to a client meeting to show a new 3D design, render changes on the fly, and leave the clients with a link to interact with the new design on their own terms with only a smartphone.

What are the benefits of running your PLM, CAD or CAE software from the cloud?

1. Mobility
   Businesses can run their Windows-based CAD and CAE applications, unmodified, from notebooks, Chromebooks, tablets, and smartphones. As a result, these tools can be run onsite and used as a direct reference during construction of a building. Having to rely solely on printed 2-D drawings at the jobsite is a thing of the past.
2. Collaboration
   When applications are run in the cloud, it becomes easy to share with others in the design and implementation team. No downloads or plugins are needed; just a standard browser and a link. There can even be multiple team members interacting on the same application at the same time from several locations.
3. Effective change management
   By connecting all project team members to an electronic design, it is much easier to ensure the plan of record for a project stays accurate throughout its lifecycle. The issue of handwritten exceptions noted on blueprints that never make it back to the original design file is eliminated. When the finished structure includes completely up-to-date models and plans, there can be huge savings down the line when mistakes are avoided during updates, expansions, and maintenance.
4. Transparency
   When designers and engineers can share tools and let their clients interact with them, surprises and call-backs are reduced. With CAD and CAE in the cloud, clients do not need a CAD workstation to interact with the final result, it can be done via any lightweight device.
5. Pay as you go
   Teams can scale up and down all the time. The very nature of cloud-hosted applications enables Software-as-a-Service so you only have to pay for what you use. This means firms do not need to buy CAD workstations for peak times and watch them sit idle otherwise. Cloud-based delivery allows monthly, weekly, and even hourly pricing models.
6. Get real time response on real world networks
   DaaS can deliver 60 frames per second using 3 Mbps of bandwidth, then drop to 10 kbps when
   nothing’s happening. When you need top performance, DaaS can run on powerful servers with dedicated NVIDIA graphics processors.
7. Real-time collaboration with any desktop app
   DaaS brings collaboration to any Windows application. Click ‘Share session’ and send the URL to a colleague to have them join your session from their browser. You’ll both see the same desktop app and can share the mouse and keyboard in real-time.
8. Bring your own files
   DaaS lets you use Dropbox, Box, Google Drive or your own cloud storage as your hard drive. Apps on DaaS access cloud storage over 600 Mbps pipes which is 100x faster than the average upstream connection. Even when you modify a large file, changes are synced in seconds.
9. Bring your own infrastructure
   Agility is empowering the freedom of choice to pivot to the solution that provides the fastest time to value while never being locked in. DaaS partners closely with major cloud service providers like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform to deliver the best user experience locally.

How can my business achieve this?

Now that you've seen the benefits of enabling any PLM, CAD or CAE software from the cloud, let's take a look at the solution that can help you achieve this.

Introducing Nutanix Xi Frame

Nutanix Xi Frame allows organisations to deliver their digital workspace as a service through a fully managed platform. It is a Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution that lets you access your apps on any device and from any location. 

The user interface of Nutanix Xi Frame is streamed from the virtual machine to a standard browser (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) on the end user’s device much like a video. Unlike a one-way video, users can also interact with and control the software.The bandwidth required for this is similar to what is needed to watch a video, but the result is a user experience that feels as if the software is installed locally, even if it is really on the other side of the country.

Freeing PLM, CAD or CAE applications to run anywhere has a profound effect on how these apps can be used in practice:

• Nutanix Xi Frame allowed ANSYS to quickly scale their online education program to offer students worldwide the ability to run ANSYS Student software.
• Autodesk evaluated a number of ways to virtualise their applications and harness the power of the cloud to get early customer feedback. They chose Nutanix Xi Frame because it made it simple to instantly reach customers around the world.
• VU.CITY chose Nutanix Xi Frame to deliver a fully interactive 3D city Platform used to visualise the impact of development schemes and open access to 3D digital city twins.

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For more information on how Nutanix Xi Frame, please visit our webpage. For help with your future workplace strategy, please get in touch with us.