As world is buzzing about Aras PLM, I thought it is a great time to come and check what is in latest Aras Innovator architecture and technical stuff. My starting point was my blog from 2011 showing a slide from ACE 2011 and Aras technical and platform vision and roadmap. Check the blog here and this is a slide:

So, almost 7 years later, I wanted to come and find out what are Aras platform components. My starting point was beautiful Aras marketing video showing platform vision and components.

I like the video. It gives a lot of Aras vision and advantages compared to other PLM platforms. However, it didn’t give me any technical information about Aras architecture stack and supported platforms.

My next stop was Aras deployment options page on Aras website. It says Aras can be installed on premise (corp data center), private and public cloud. Same solutions? Sounds very promising, but still lack of details about what OS, databases and other components and resources are required.

I’ve got more lucky on Aras documentation page. And this is a direct link to Aras latest specification of supported platforms. Guide also provides recommendation for single server, multiple servers and distributed servers deployment.

In a nutshell this is a summary:

1- Browsers – IE, Edge, Chrome, Firefox.

2- Server – Windows Server.

3- Database – Microsoft SQL Server.

Another place where you can find information about Aras stack is Aras performance and benchmarking report This is great document also showing what Aras is capable to  do and also outlining technical stack.

Aras provide lot of information about API including REST API, but I didn’t find a good resources. Few absent pages on Aras community site and I gave up.

What is my conclusion? Aras Innovator version 11 is flexible platform.  It is Windows / .NET based architecture supporting distributed deployment,  running on top of Microsoft SQL Server and supporting all popular browsers. However, I think Aras only partially implemented their vision for platform independence by supporting multiple browsers. With IE failing down to single digit market share, I guess it was a matter of survival.  How Microsoft / SQL platform will be limiting future Aras development? My hunch Windows Server and Microsoft SQL server are for sure in the top 3 list of popular platforms. But these are good questions to ask as Aras is heading towards more competition with large PLM installations. On the side of supporting small manufacturing businesses, a question about Windows platform cost for cloud deployment will be another one to get answer on. I’m planning to attend ACE 2019 and will be able to share about Aras technology and plans. These are all my thoughts so far…

Best, Oleg

Disclaimer: I’m co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM developing cloud based bill of materials and inventory management tool for manufacturing companies, hardware startups and supply chain. My opinion can be unintentionally biased

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