BY BEN AMES, SENIOR EDITOR
CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS
Technology
CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING HAS SWEPT
through the logistics and supply chain landscape in
recent years, with businesses in every corner of the
market embracing this software delivery model. What
that basically means is that these companies are opting
to “rent” software that’s hosted on computer servers
in remote locations, rather than buying it and running
it on site. Users access their programs and databases
via an Internet connection, while the cloud provider—either the software vendor or a third-party cloud
services company—takes care of maintenance, patches,
and upgrades.
As for what makes the cloud model so appealing, it’s
largely a matter of economics. The cost advantages are
significant. For one thing, because an outside company
hosts the application on its servers, the user avoids the
expense of hardware needed to run the program. For
another, since the software is usually “rented,” the user
avoids a hefty upfront expenditure on licensing fees.
Furthermore, because the software provider assumes
responsibility for upgrades, the user avoids the costs of
software updates and maintenance.
The result has been runaway growth in cloud-based
versions of many common supply chain-related applications, including transportation management systems
(TMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions,
and labor management systems (LMS). But one sector of the market has lagged behind the others in the
march to the cloud: warehouse management systems
(WMS).
CONCERNS INCLUDE LATENCY, SECURITY
The sluggish uptake of cloud-based WMS can be traced
to a number of factors, not least of which is customers’
wariness about letting an activity they see as critical to
their operation out of their sight. Concerns about the
technology play into it as well—concerns that touch on
many aspects of the systems’ operation.
For starters, there’s the matter of basic Internet connectivity. As every computer user knows, Internet connections sometimes go down. Although a few minutes
of downtime might sound like a minor inconvenience,
in the warehouse business, where time is money and
every second counts, that could be a major hit.
Another concern is the so-called latency issue—that
is, the potential for delay caused by a hiccup in computer response time. For an operation with high-speed
automated systems that process thousands of items per
hour, this could create enormous headaches.
“Some [of our] customers are running WMS in
500-millisecond delay in the response from the WMS,
response times; you need milliseconds instead of sec-back around and recirculate.”
WMS came late to the cloud computing game. But experts say warehouses are
starting to embrace this software model, with smaller DCs leading the way.
A “cloudier”
future for
warehousing
software?
