CAD Software for Product Design: 4 Benefits of a Cloud-Native System

Whether you’re developing a mushroom-picking robot or improving the look and sound of speaker systems, CAD software is the digital playground where creativity knows no bounds.

However, traditional desktop CAD software is quickly becoming a relic of the past. Cloud-native CAD platforms like PTC’s Onshape are not just the future – they’re the now. These powerful tools are transforming how products are conceived, developed, and brought to market, offering unparalleled advantages that leave their desktop counterparts in the dust.

But what makes cloud-native CAD the clear choice for forward-thinking designers and engineers? Is it the ability to scale your resources instantly as your team grows? The ironclad security that keeps your designs safe from prying eyes? The potential for significant cost savings? Or perhaps it's the rock-solid reliability that ensures your team can work without interruption, anytime and anywhere?

4 Key Benefits of Cloud-Native CAD for Product Design

While traditional desktop-based CAD tools have been the industry standard for decades, cloud-native CAD systems are rapidly gaining popularity due to their numerous advantages. Onshape, the only agile CAD system with built-in PDM, offers a fully cloud-native CAD platform that’s changing how teams approach product design.

Cloud tools provide an immediate impact on a product design team’s scalability, security, profitability, and reliability. Cloud technology provides the necessary resources and scalability, allowing businesses to benefit from the flexibility and cost-efficiency of cloud applications.

With a cloud-native CAD system, product design teams can see an immediate impact on: 

1. Scalability

2. Security

3. Profitability; and

4. Reliability
   
   

1. Scalability of Cloud-Native CAD

As companies grow, the need for more employees, contractors, and the software solutions required to support them grows too. Cloud technology, by the very nature of not having to install software, enables rapid deployment with instant provisioning and de-provisioning of users from a central administrative console. New users can be up and running within minutes, compared to hours or days with on-premise solutions. This enables project managers to reallocate engineering resources quickly to ensure that projects are finished on time. When a contractor’s term expires or a project is completed, users can be de-provisioned in seconds and their access to company data revoked instantly.

The elastic nature of the cloud enables cloud service providers to allocate more computing and storage resources based on global demand. As workloads increase and more users are added, more resources can be added on-the-fly. This is all taken care of automatically. With “unlimited” storage and compute power, IT teams don’t need to worry about managing and maintaining their own servers, networks and storage.

2. Security of Cloud-Native CAD

Sending sensitive data over email or by any other medium is a potential security risk. This includes employees’ laptops or any remote computer that needs to download data in order to work with it. Once data has been transmitted outside of the company firewall, there is no way to know where it is or who has it. An unknown number of uncontrolled copies can sit on servers and computer hard drives in an unknown number of locations. This may be acceptable if those locations are known to be within a trusted network, but that cannot be guaranteed. Uncontrolled copies can also lead to incorrect versions of data being used to make business decisions or to manufacture components, amounting to millions of dollars in scrap and rework every year.

The cloud delivers the software application and associated data together from the cloud. No data is transmitted or downloaded locally to any user’s computer. All data processing operations are carried out remotely and the results are displayed on the end user’s device. Even when sharing design data with others, there is no actual transmission of data. This keeps sensitive IP secure at all times. Cloud applications are secured by strong cryptographic cipher suites, encrypted storage, single sign-on (SSO), two-factor authentication (2FA) and other security measures that go way beyond what most companies are able to implement (or afford) on their own.

3. Profitability of Cloud-Native CAD

The cloud software delivery model eliminates many IT overheads. Equipment such as workstations, dedicated servers (as well as the installation and maintenance of server rooms with adequate cooling, fire protection, and physical security), network infrastructure, firewalls, VPN, storage, backups, and disaster recovery plans are no longer needed – and utility costs are greatly reduced. Software maintenance such as downloads, installs, upgrades, service packs, license codes, and all the troubleshooting and downtime that goes along with those activities are a thing of the past.

Cloud software licensing is based on an annual subscription model, shifting the cost from high capital expenditure to low operating expenditure, lowering the total cost of ownership and reducing financial risk. This frees up IT capital for other investments and improves strategic planning and visibility.

4. Reliability of Cloud-Native CAD

Cloud reliability is often raised as a concern, as an outage could mean that important software and services are unavailable and a business may not be able to operate while that key service is offline. Unlike desktop software that may crash and lose or corrupt data, SaaS platforms are built to withstand system failures. Data is saved automatically and replicated across multiple geographic regions, and redundant servers are queued ready to take over should a failure occur. Often a user will not even notice that there was a problem as these failover systems automatically take over in a matter of milliseconds.

A true cloud-native platform will never have any planned outages or downtime, and software updates are applied automatically every few weeks requiring no IT intervention.

Many companies already use cloud-native software for business-critical areas such as accounting, sales, cybersecurity, and human resources. Product design teams are now finding the same efficiency and productivity benefits when managing their designs in the cloud as well.

Onshape: CAD Software for Product Design 

CAD software is a mission-critical tool in the product design process, enabling teams to bring their ideas to life with precision and efficiency. The shift towards cloud-native platforms like PTC’s Onshape is opening up new possibilities for collaboration, innovation, and scalability. Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, choosing the right CAD software can significantly impact your product development process, helping you create better products faster and more efficiently.

While both traditional desktop solutions and established cloud-native platforms have their strengths, the best choice will depend on your specific needs, budget, and long-term goals. With the right CAD tool, you can streamline your design process, reduce costs, and accelerate product development in ways that drive innovation and business growth.