Siemens PLM Software Uses Web to Speed Updates, FastSoft to Speed Downloads
Gas prices and shipping costs continue to rise. Clearing customs at international borders keeps taking longer and longer. Both trends impact the distribution of up-to-date software releases by global technology leaders like Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services.
For more than twenty years, Siemens PLM Software customers have been able to download the latest upgrades or patches for the company’s entire suite of PLM software applications, as they became available. More than 51,000 customers worldwide are transitioning from requesting DVD shipments to Internet-based distribution from the Siemens PLM Software Cypress, California location.
The one challenge is: During the past twenty years, file sizes have grown at a much faster pace than Internet access speeds could economically accommodate. Growing overall traffic volumes also threatened to compromise the value and benefits of Web-based distribution.
“We are now pushing out about 2 Terabytes of data per week per site,” says Ruben Kreimer, VP of Customer Support at Siemens PLM Software. “That’s over 17 Terabytes per month and rising. With downloads being initiated all over the world, we very quickly began looking for ways to inexpensively accelerate the transfer process.”
The Siemens PLM Software Customer Support team sought to improve the process by evaluating a variety of centralized and distributed alternatives that would speed downloads without compromising security or adding significant cost. The solutions considered ranged from building regional data centers or vastly increasing its bandwidth capacity to “WAN acceleration” approaches, and third-party Content Delivery Network (CDN) services.
A fourth option, the FastSoft E Series, won out in the end by combining the best of centralized distribution and Internet acceleration.
Centralized Acceleration Delivers Savings, Simplicity & Speed
Siemens PLM Software first ruled out the idea of distributing the upgrade process amongst regional data centers as this approach would mean steep initial and ongoing costs. Regionalization would have added speed, and kept the company from having to relinquish data to a third party, but involved massive costs compared with other approaches.
From there the team evaluated the other approaches in terms of speed, cost, security and ongoing investment. FastSoft delivered the simplest, most compelling mix:
Transparent to customers: Siemens PLM Software contemplated popular WAN and file acceleration solutions that speed transfer across the Internet “cloud.” These distributed approaches would have required hardware and/or software to be installed and maintained on the receiving end. Since Siemens PLM Software has no control over customer sites, the FastSoft E Series was the obvious choice, with only one device needed at the data center to accelerate downloads anywhere in the world.
Avoiding the middleman: The team also evaluated outsourcing distribution to a leading global CDN provider. Subscribing to CDN service would significantly improve throughput but would entail paying monthly fees. The FastSoft E Series delivered better performance numbers, minimizing latency to international customers with a one-time investment. Centralizing distribution with FastSoft also negated the need to place sensitive content at a third party location.
Staying “Centered” Pays Off
While keeping version control centralized, and avoiding investments in facilities, bandwidth and subscription service fees, Siemens PLM Software has realized significant reductions in transfer times. Some international customers are downloading files up to 3x faster.
The company has also contained operating costs by being able to continue servicing customers from Cypress with its existing bandwidth capacity. Prior to engaging FastSoft, Siemens PLM Software doubled the center’s bandwidth to 2 T3s or 90 Mbps and would have had to look at further upgrades to accommodate volume growth. Instead, a single FastSoft device is accelerating the current traffic volume and can support growth for the foreseeable future.
“We’ve greatly simplified and accelerated the update process for our user base with minimal expense and upheaval to our own network,” says Mr. Kreimer. “We’ve accomplished more doing much less than we would have been required to do with competing solutions. The E Series and the FastSoft team have made sure the process was, and remains, as simple as it could possibly be. It’s an ideal solution for any application where you don’t have control over the endpoints.”