How to supercharge CAD productivity using the cloud

If your company has a turnover of computer infrastructure every couple years, or if some users are farther away from the big files they need in the data center compared to others, that can be problematic to your CAD designers and affect productivity.

One solution to the expense of replacing workstations is to think cloud-first – where your specialized GPU (graphics processing unit) workstations and large design files are tightly coupled in a cloud region closest to your users. As Brad Peterson, VP of Marketing at Workspot, explained during his Digital Agility Summit 2022 breakout session, by placing your workstation design resources in the cloud, you can seamlessly run all your applications to improve your productivity and transform your business.

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If you need a partner to guide you through a successful digital transformation, contact the experts of Applied Software today.

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Workspot, a turnkey, enterprise-ready platform, enables the use of cloud desktops and cloud workstations so your company can simplify operations and have global, on-demand productivity. The platform eliminates the cost, complexity and performance challenges of virtual desktops. Workspot Client forms the connection into the cloud giving access to the workstations and establishing a secure connection.

Users can connect into the cloud desktop or workstation and run all their applications in the cloud. All the data is secured and virtualized in the cloud. In addition, end users can access that data from any location using any device they want.

With virtualized workstations and real-time data collaboration, your company can hire the talent you need, whether they live in a remote location or in a different part of the world. They can be productive in a way that was never before achievable.

For maximum productivity, Peterson advised keeping three things tightly coupled:

• End user
• Applications
• Data

When your operating system, applications and data are in the cloud, not only are they fast, but you can choose cloud regions to work from that are closer in proximity. Manipulating files has always involved some degree of latency (lag). Distance adds to that latency. But when you are closer to the cloud region where those files reside, the latency is decreased. Peterson said, even though the whole thing is running in the cloud, “it feels like it’s running locally.”

During his breakout session, he demonstrated fast access to CAD designs, including rapidly rotating views around an Autodesk Revit model. When users are connected into the power of the cloud, there aren’t issues with slow VPN connections, bandwidth or outdated computer hardware. As Peterson put it, “A virtual cloud workstation is ‘evergreen’.”

This technology was not possible ten years ago. Peterson explained that cloud storage providers like Azure have built underlying data centers with super high-speed capabilities and expanded their cloud regions dramatically. Azure has over 60 regions around the world; Google has 24. Workspot is an abstraction layer on top of these networks. He added, “As the cloud continues to upgrade with better drives and CPUs and networking capabilities, you can continue to have one of the fastest browser-based user experiences out there.”

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