Use Case: Transforming Engineering Excellence with Nebula Cloud

Digital Transformation Enterprise SaaS Centre of Excellence Nebula Cloud

About the Customer

A leading Japanese engineering and consulting firm with offices in Japan, India, and the APAC regions, this company excels in various sectors including infrastructure, energy, water resources, and environmental management. They specialize in innovative and sustainable solutions across transportation and urban development, renewable energy projects, power transmission, irrigation systems, water supply and sanitation, sustainability consulting, and disaster management.

Problem Statement

The customer sought a cost-efficient and effective engineering and design center of excellence for CAD, CAM, BIM, and 3D rendering of engineering projects. They also needed to optimize software licensing costs across their design and development centers in India and the APAC regions. Currently, they use multiple software products like AutoCAD 2023, Revit, Stadd Pro, Bentley Stadd Pro, Bentley WaterGEMS, Bentley SewerGEMS, and PTV Vissim professional software from major providers like Bentley, Autodesk, Trimble, and Dassault Systems.

Solution

With 100 design engineers working from two offices in India (Delhi and Mumbai), the customer opted for Nebula Cloud's Civil and Structural Engineering Workbench under the BYOL (Bring Your Own License) model. This solution enabled their teams to collaboratively work on design and engineering projects while reducing costs by over 40%.

Nebula Cloud proposed its ready-to-use Civil and Structural Engineering Workbench, preconfigured with Windows 10 Pro, AutoCAD 2023, Revit, Stadd Pro, Bentley Stadd Pro, Bentley WaterGEMS, Bentley SewerGEMS, and PTV Vissim professional software under the BYOL model. The workbench offered the flexibility of CPU and GPU configurations on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) hourly basis.

How It Works

Scenario 1: Shift-Based Usage

Design engineers often work in shifts, in different time zones, and sometimes on different projects, meaning they do not require active software licenses 24/7. Typically, each engineer uses the software for 10-20 hours per week depending on the nature of the project. Using Nebula Cloud Workbench, a design engineer in Delhi can create a cloud workstation, activate the preconfigured software using existing licenses under BYOL, complete their tasks, and then deactivate and terminate the virtual machine. The same license can be used by a different team member in Mumbai or other locations without needing access to a physical workstation. This efficient use of resources significantly reduces software licensing costs.

Scenario 2: Collaborative Projects

For collaborative projects spanning different locations, such as Delhi, Mumbai, or other APAC regions, the workbench can be reused. Once a design engineer in Delhi completes their work and the workbench is in a stopped state, a design engineer in Mumbai can then use the same cloud workstation and software license. This flexibility allows multiple engineers to work on the same projects across different locations, ensuring seamless collaboration and optimal resource utilization.

Scenario 3: Flexible Scaling for Project Peaks

Problem: Engineering projects often experience peaks and troughs in workload. During peak times, the need for additional workstations and software licenses increases, leading to higher costs.

Solution: Nebula Cloud’s flexible scaling allows the customer to quickly provision additional cloud workstations as needed during peak project periods. These workstations are equipped with necessary CAD, CAM, BIM, and 3D rendering software. By using BYOL, the customer can scale up resources from the pool of software licenses from other locations during high demand and scale down when the workload decreases, ensuring cost efficiency.

Outcome: This approach enables the customer to handle project peaks without the need for permanent investments in additional hardware and licenses, resulting in significant cost savings and operational flexibility.

Scenario 4: Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Problem: Natural disasters or technical failures can disrupt the operations of physical workstations, leading to project delays and financial losses.

Solution: Nebula Cloud offers a robust disaster recovery solution. By maintaining cloud-based backups of critical project data and virtual workstations, the customer can quickly recover and resume operations from any location with internet access. This ensures business continuity and minimizes downtime during unforeseen events.

Outcome: The customer benefits from enhanced resilience against disruptions, ensuring that projects stay on track and financial impacts are minimized.

Scenario 5: Training and Onboarding of New Engineers

Problem: Onboarding new engineers and providing them with the necessary tools and training can be time-consuming and costly, especially when high-end workstations and multiple software licenses are required.

Solution: Nebula Cloud provides virtual training environments that new engineers can access from any location. These environments come preconfigured with the necessary software and datasets for training purposes. This setup allows new hires to start working immediately without waiting for physical workstations or additional licenses.

Outcome: The customer experiences faster onboarding times and reduced costs associated with training new engineers, leading to increased productivity and efficiency.

Scenario 6: Remote Work and Global Collaboration

Problem: Engineering firms with offices across different regions face challenges in ensuring consistent access to high-performance workstations and software for remote and globally distributed teams.

Solution: Nebula Cloud enables remote work and global collaboration by providing secure, high-performance cloud workstations accessible from anywhere. Engineers in Japan, India, and other APAC regions can collaborate on the same projects in real-time using the same cloud resources and software licenses.

Outcome: This solution supports seamless collaboration across global teams, enhances productivity, and reduces the need for physical office infrastructure, resulting in substantial cost savings.

Scenario 7: Optimizing Resource Allocation and Usage

Problem: Inefficient resource allocation can lead to underutilized workstations and software licenses, increasing operational costs.

Solution: Nebula Cloud’s analytics and monitoring tools provide insights into resource usage, helping the customer to optimize the allocation of virtual workstations and software licenses. By analyzing usage patterns, the customer can ensure that resources are allocated based on actual needs and avoid unnecessary expenditures.

Outcome: The customer achieves better resource utilization, leading to cost savings and improved operational efficiency.

Key Features of Nebula Cloud Workbench for CAD, CAM, BIM, GIS and PLM

• Real-time Collaboration: Work simultaneously with team members, provide feedback, and make changes in real-time, regardless of location.

• High-Performance Computing: Leverage the power of cloud-based computing resources to accelerate simulations, analyses, and rendering tasks.

• Secure Data Storage: Protect your valuable design data with robust security measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular backups.

• Scalability and Flexibility: Scale resources up or down based on project requirements and seamlessly integrate with various design software and file formats.

• Advanced Visualization: Generate photorealistic renderings and conduct virtual prototyping to visualize and validate designs before physical production.

• Cost-Effective Solution: Pay only for the resources you use, eliminating the need for extensive infrastructure investments and expensive software licenses.

Summary of Benefits

• Cost Savings: Over 40% reduction in costs through optimized resource utilization and PAYG pricing.

• Flexibility: Scalable solutions to handle project peaks and accommodate remote work.

• Business Continuity: Robust disaster recovery and quick recovery from disruptions.

• Efficient Onboarding: Faster onboarding and training of new engineers.

• Global Collaboration: Enhanced collaboration across global offices.

• Resource Optimization: Better allocation and usage of resources.

Learn More

Discover how Nebula Cloud can bring value and savings to your engineering and design projects. Sign up for a free trial at https://nebulacloud.ai or write to support@nebulacloud.in for a demo.