An onsite server-based WMS requires a server room, air conditioning, fire suppression system and an expensive server and accompanying hardware, UPS, generator, etc., which represent a significant hardware investment, which is mostly not required for a Cloud based WMS.

Furthermore, an onsite server requires a WMS server license, a Database license and end user licenses, all of which require a large initial capital investment. Cloud based solutions have a significantly lower initial licensing cost.

Having a server room, physical server, etc requires highly skilled IT resources for maintenance, as well as requiring external staff for maintenance of air conditioning units, fire suppression systems, electrical safety checks, UPS systems, backup generators, etc.

Cloud based WMS’s do not require hardware maintenance by the client and therefore do not generate these expenses.

Given that server hardware and software upgrades are not required and the client can use an up-to-date WMS indefinitely, the total cost of ownership of a Cloud based solution is likely to be favorable over a onsite server based equivalent, further supported by its scalable nature.

Having a Cloud based WMS solution allows employees to access reports and real-time information from anywhere on any type of device. Therefore operational information can be easily accessed from a tablet in the company head office without having to have a secure VPN network connection to the onsite server.

The cost of a highly robust on-site IT infrastructure is high and investing in backup generators, backup operating servers, backup database server and other backup systems to enable a high level of Business Continuity is not efficient nor practical for most businesses. As Cloud based WMS’s are hosted on server farms within large scale Data Centers, the investment into Business Continuity infrastructure is feasible and the responsibility of the supplier. Therefore, Cloud based WMS solutions are more robust while outsourcing the responsibility and cost of Business Continuity to a 3rd Party.

On-site Server based solutions are hosted on a local server that has a limited amount of resources. Typically for on-site solutions a server is selected that can host the software today and is capable to support estimated growth, plus more resource intensive software updates that may be installed in the future. This results in initially having unused server resources and ultimately having a limit to how much the server can support, therefore limiting the company’s growth without having to make another hardware related investment.

Cloud based WMS solutions are hosted on Data Center server farms and have virtually unlimited resources. The main benefit being that the WMS client only pays for the resources they use, but has the ability to significantly increase their WMS capabilities to support any level of growth.

As a Cloud based WMS is maintained by the supplier and no updates, maintenance or backups require to be made, less in-house IT resources are required, therefore reducing the ongoing cost of the system.

Server based WMS solutions require maintenance and updates, that require resources to carry out this task. Most logistic businesses have limited resources and therefore updates and maintenance tasks are frequently delayed or ignored. For Cloud based WMS solutions the responsibility of maintenance and updates lies with the software provider and therefore requires no effort by the end user or the business utilizing the WMS. All updates and maintenance tasks are performed in the background without the user involvement or knowledge.

Server based WMS’s typically experience a limited amount of maintenance and the older the systems get, the less maintenance and updates are caried out, which results in a security vulnerability. This is especially true for systems that have been partially or fully developed in house, as custom developments are typically only penetrations tested upon their initial implementation. When updates are made and issues occur, custom developments are patched together to get the system to work, without much concern about safety or security. With Cloud based WMS’s it is the responsibility of the software provider to ensure security risks are taken care of and appropriately mitigated. Cloud based WMS solutions typically utilized the newest, most up to date and sophisticated security tools and protocols, therefore ensuring the clients data is secure and their operation continues to run smoothly.

A typical server on-site based WMS has a life cycle of approximately 10 years, after which a major upgrade to a new version is required. This upgrade can be very expensive and may require new licenses, servers, implementation time and resources, in-warehouse hardware, etc. A Cloud based WMS is regularly updated and all users upgrade at the same time as and when the web-based software is upgraded. This change is more frequent, and the responsibility of the WMS provided and has little to no impact on the end user, as well as little to no financial impact (no large scale investment needed as with the server based solution).

Typical server based WMS’s require a special server room that has a UPS, air conditioning, sophisticated fire suppression system and other requirements that have a high initial investment cost as well as require frequent maintenance, increasing the total cost of ownership.

With more technology entering the warehouse, such as Artificial Intelligence, IoT, machine learning, etc. standalone server-based WMS’s are likely to become obsolete faster in the future. Cloud based WMS’s offer API’s and are continuously updated to allow integration with these new technologies, therefore making them future safe and compatible.