More than 80% of new software is being developed for the cloud1. In Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), IT Vendors provide, or plan to provide cloud-based offerings for all or part of their portfolio. Dramatic growth in cloud-based solutions is being driven by numerous benefits in cloud computing:

Improved employee mobility and collaboration, in addition to more flexible licensing models are clear benefits for PLM Openness.
IT Customers who use cloud based offerings also need to consider potential challenges for certain aspects of openness (Interoperability, Extensibility, etc.). These may arise due to various reasons, including:

The objective of this white paper is to provide CPO members with a guide to those aspects of openness discussed in CPO version 1.4 which may be impacted when using cloud-based solutions compared with traditional on-premise installations. IT Customers and Service Providers can then seek more detailed elaboration from IT Vendors for their specific solutions.