This is a question of conditions, not superiority. Data that must not leave the company, or production that must continue through a network outage, points on-premise. No operations staff, or several sites to consolidate, points to cloud.
This is a question of conditions, not superiority. Data that must not leave the company, or production that must continue through a network outage, points on-premise. No operations staff, or several sites to consolidate, points to cloud.
Side by side
The same criteria applied to both.
Criterion
On-Premise
Cloud
Where data sits
Internal servers — it does not leave
External data centre
During a network outage
Floor systems keep running
Unusable while the connection is down
Initial cost
Up-front investment in servers and licences
Little up front, often usage-based
Operations burden
You manage servers, backups and patching
Largely handled by the provider
Multiple sites
Needs per-site design and linking
Comparatively easy to consolidate
Scaling
Adding capacity takes time
Comparatively quick to expand
Which one fits
The answer changes with conditions.
On-premise fits when
Customer contracts or regulation restrict data leaving the company
Production must continue through a network outage
Process conditions and drawings are core assets requiring control
You have the people and environment to run servers
Cloud fits when
There is no in-house capability to manage servers
Data from several sites has to be viewed together
You want to limit up-front investment and grow in steps
The use case — analytics and reporting — is unrelated to production continuity
Using both
The arrangement growing in manufacturing is execution on site, analytics in the cloud. Functions that must not stop — work orders, results — stay on the floor, while cross-site analysis and reporting sit in the cloud.
This requires being able to choose what is exported: aggregates or de-identified data rather than the full raw set.
The on-premise glossary entry sets out the criteria in more detail.
Quick Answers
On-premise vs cloud — frequently asked
Questions that come up during comparison.
Does on-premise rule out remote support?
No. A remote access path aligned with your security policy is provided, typically logged and opened only when needed.
Is cloud less secure?
On technical measures alone, cloud is often stronger. The real question is whether contracts and regulation permit external storage.
Can we move later?
Yes, if portability is considered at design time. Data structures and integrations must not bind tightly to one environment.
Can AI features run on site?
Yes. U-Bot can be configured so internal documents never leave the company.
Sources and standards
Terms and procedures on this page follow the public standards and official sources below. Figures are as of each source's publication date.