The digital transformation process for the automotive industry has been rapidly sped up by cloud computing technologies and AI tools since the start of the global pandemic in 2020. Even though cloud migration for the sector started off only as a temporary solution to keep businesses up and running remotely for a certain period of time, the trend of moving automotive software and other essential applications to the cloud is currently taking over the whole industry, including small firms, manufacturers and software vendors across the whole field. The advantages of cloud computing technologies have been readily accepted and a lot of companies now are looking to leverage the cloud and maximize their productivity in all subsectors of the automotive industry in 2022.
The start of the digital transformation for the automotive sector
Without a doubt, the cloud has helped plenty of companies so far to make the most of their value chain thanks to its advanced capabilities, cost-efficiency, and great flexibility. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have been particularly important for the sector’s transformation journey by stepping up and making the move to change their static legacy models to more advanced and agile cloud-based ones. By deploying their systems and core applications to the cloud, manufacturers could achieve faster collaboration, more autonomous operations, and seamless integration along their whole value chain.
This revelation followed a shift in operational models in the automotive industry, which created a whole new market for software developers, engineers, and merchants to explore and leverage as conjoining businesses within the sector. The transformation now is moving swiftly throughout the whole industry, pushing the manufacturers entirely towards developing cloud-native architecture, software-defined vehicles, enhanced customer experience, and more effective mobility services altogether.
How cloud adoption benefits the automotive sector?
Helps to eliminate the complex operations
Complexity in the operations is characteristic for the entire automotive sector. Whether we consider the work of an engineer, designer, or manufacturer, the day-to-day processes involve a high level of expertise, powered by tools and applications that enable these process implementations. The traditional automotive architecture used by specialists normally has a wide range of technical features that facilitate the use of analytics tools, engineering software, and hardware in specialized facilities. This entire setup requires very robust and scalable computing power from in-house servers, which can deliver the required horsepower on-demand during design or production.
What makes the cloud a better alternative than the legacy on-premise infrastructure is the simplicity of the usage model and the unlimited amount of computing resources that the automotive unit can have access to whenever needed. Depending on the type of cloud use, the automotive sector can reap the benefits of a much simpler infrastructure model that would enable them to overcome the unnecessary complexity of integrating systems on the front end with the back end.
The cloud endorses collaboration
Similar to other sectors, the cloud promotes faster and better cooperation in the automotive industry. Since communication between manufacturers, engineers, and third-party collaborators is absolutely key, having a reliable and safe technology where information can be shared and stored is of primary importance. This is why automotive companies today tend to choose cloud-hosted software solutions for their basic collaboration tools and exchange of information safely from any corner of the world. The nature of the work in the automotive sector requires the collective effort not only of company members internally but also of outside businesses, contractors, consultants, and third-party companies that require limited access to the shared resources. This is why cloud solutions like DaaS and SaaS are a great alternative for deploying collaboration software to all entities in the sector, without overcomplicating the existing hardware setup of the company and making room for security gaps in the multi-lateral collaboration process.
Enhanced security
Speaking of security, we must mention the enhanced data protection features of the cloud and the importance of rigid systems in the automotive sector. Cybercrimes are becoming more widespread in the virtual world across all sectors, regardless of the nature of the work or the security systems in place. The automotive sector has been subjected a lot more to cyber threats since the start of the global pandemic and increased systems protection is required to make sure that manufacturers, engineers, distributors, and all third parties involved are using an equally safe virtual working space. Cloud desktop solutions that deploy automotive software are highly secured against cyber attacks and monitored by cybersecurity specialists round the clock at the data centers of the cloud provider. This way, everyone involved in the manufacturing, design, and management can feel safe to share and operate on the cloud, without the security concerns that always exist with the traditional legacy infrastructure.
Final words
The automotive industry is moving gradually towards adopting cloud-hosted solutions, applications, services, and infrastructure, allowing them to have more seamless integration of their complex operations across the whole value chain. More is yet to come, but one thing is clear, the cloud is promising big overheads, a faster track to innovation, and better collaboration in the digital transformation era of this day.