Cloud 7 min
5 ways to find out whether a TMS is 100% cloud native
A TMS can look like cloud without actually being it. With these five questions you can see through ‘wannabe’ solutions and make a genuinely future-proof choice.
Do not be misled by wannabes
Are you looking for a new TMS and want to make a future-proof choice? Then of course you go for the cloud. But beware: do not be misled by ‘wannabes’. A TMS can look like cloud without actually being it. Whereas a 100 percent native cloud solution is precisely what makes your IT landscape fully connected and ready for the future. Which questions should you ask to see through this? We are happy to help you in this article.
Question 1: Is the TMS a web application?
An important first question to ask is: is the TMS a web application? And we will give it away up front: if you get a very complex answer to this question, the chances are high that you are dealing with a wannabe. A TMS in the cloud simply runs as a web application in your browser. Do you need more than a browser and have to install a plug-in, for example? Or log in through a cloud desktop or remote environment to an application that simply runs on premise at your supplier? Then it fails the test: this TMS is not 100 percent cloud native.
Question 2: How are performance and scalability handled?
That brings us straight to the second question. If you log in to an on-premise application through a cloud desktop environment, you are in effect still working with ten people on a single PC. This has a considerable impact on your performance and often makes your TMS hugely slow. Exactly what you want to avoid. What is more, that is decidedly not how cloud works. With a real TMS in the cloud you do not have to worry about performance and scalability. Neither do you, and, if the platform does its job reasonably well, neither does your supplier. A cloud platform has ‘infinite’ capacity and automatically scales up and down by itself based on the number of requests. A slow TMS? Red flag.
Question 3: How long does implementation take?
So a cloud solution is built to scale. On top of that, platforms like this (TMS or not) are often very intuitive to use. In principle you can therefore be up and running in a few hours. Accounts and users are added in no time, and finding your way around an application is fairly easy because the workflows are set up as logically as possible. That said, the adoption of your new TMS does of course come into play. If the way of working in your transport company suddenly changes after twenty years, it takes a little time to get all your colleagues on board. But the golden rule: do you have to wait months for an implementation to start, with all kinds of complicated things being installed and implemented? Then the chances are high that this is not a pure cloud solution.
Question 4: Are integrations and customisation possible?
Naturally you are looking for a TMS where all the important functionalities are ready to use. But you also have your own unique processes and arrangements with clients, which call for connections and integrations. Thanks to APIs, a cloud solution is often well able to integrate with other solutions and environments. That flexibility also often lets you add components yourself, whether with no-code, low-code or other building blocks. Do integrations with clients, on-board computers or other systems, for example, cost loads of time and money? Or is the answer simply ‘no, that is not possible’? Is adding customisation an absolute no-go because it affects maintenance, for instance? Then think long and hard. With our OpenTMS, integrations are included and cost both you and us as little time and money as possible, thanks to our open structure.
Question 5: How do you handle maintenance and updates?
We can be brief about that: maintaining and updating a TMS in the cloud lies entirely with your supplier and simply ‘comes with it’. A cloud platform is, after all, constantly kept up to date. And although you should barely notice any of this, your supplier should still be fully transparent about it. That way you know exactly where you stand and good security of your TMS is guaranteed.
Bonus question: does the cloud platform really belong to your supplier?
Every software supplier of course has the option of buying in a cloud platform from a third party. While this does not necessarily have to be a recipe for disaster, you do deserve to know. It does mean something, after all. For example, that third party then handles the maintenance and further development instead of your supplier. As a customer you then have less influence over this, because you have no direct contact with the developer. You should also ask carefully what this means for the management of your data if it is shared with a third party as well.
Conclusion: go for a 100% native cloud TMS
A 100% native cloud TMS is, in our view, the only good choice if you want to build a future-proof and connected IT landscape within your transport organisation or department. We of course also understand that it is a technical search and that the truth is hard to pin down. But making the right choice really does matter for the future of your business. So by all means ask these questions and keep probing until the answer feels right and you are sure of your case. Good luck. And if you really cannot work it out? Then we know of a powerful TMS in the cloud.
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