Empowering Teams with Unlimited Access to Operations Software

Posted: July 28, 2021

When it comes to industrial software, not all ‘unlimited’ commercial models are created equal.

Industrial automation software has become an integral part of business operations.  The broad nature of the Operations space is not black-and-white, but is a “gray” area, made up of many teams requiring cross-functional capabilities that cover an array of operating “time zones”. This can range from the millisecond requirements of the plant floor automation layer to the minute, hour, or even day long requirements that drive enterprise business systems. 

In recent years, HMI and SCADA software vendors have introduced unlimited pricing models to capture market share to lure customers with tight budgets.  While these may seem attractive on the onset, it quickly becomes apparent after the signing the purchase order that these licensing options are far from flexible or unlimited. These unlimited models may be novel to the industry, but they fail to satisfy the business issues faced by today’s enterprises; issues such as balancing productivity and efficiency, estimating software needs or adjusting to changing needs of varying operational teams etc. 

The problem with unlimited models is that they do not consider the changing needs of business. For the plant manager making purchasing decisions the process is easy for low-cost software; buy one copy for each employee that needs to use the software. The situation becomes more complicated with larger companies where the business needs vary between groups. As market conditions change, so do the needs of teams and the technology they want to access.

Avoid the pitfalls of misleading ‘unlimited’ claims

Asking yourself (and your staff) the following basic questions may help you uncover the risks and reduce your exposure to many of the pitfalls.

• What does ‘unlimited’ really mean?
• Is the software usage limited only to a specific machine/ server?
• Is the software usage deployment restricted to on-premise?
• Are there any cloud entitlements and if so, does the unlimited model apply?

Every software license has physical constraints, even those that claim to be unlimited IO, users etc. Misunderstanding the limits of what was promoted as ‘unlimited’ diminishes the value proposition and can be expensive as well embarrassing when justifying the additional expense.

Beyond Unlimited IO and Tags Hype; a New Value Proposition

The new AVEVA Flex subscription, AVEVA Operations Control, represents the next step in making our robust portfolio available through subscription in a simplified way. This will   provide value to our customers with the software they need to drive improved decision-making.

AVEVA’s Edge to Enterprise strategy is about empowering organizations of any size with unlimited scalability and flexibility.

AVEVA Operations Control is ideal for organizations seeking long-term value from AVEVA’s leading technology rather than the cheapest software, overlooking the total cost of ownership across the lifecycle.

This is a disruptive commercial model that offers unparalleled flexibility and simplicity as it unlocks the entire AVEVA Operations Portfolio!  AVEVA Operations Control is a game changing approach to acquiring, owning, and maintaining industrial software without incurring unforeseen or incremental licensing costs based on varying operational or personnel turnover changes.

Empower your operations with unlimited and unrestricted use of our broad operations portfolio.

For more information on AVEVA Operations Control, click below: