On the SPS 2019 ePlan gave a lot of emphasis on it’s new cloud platform, so let’s take a look.
The cloud platform is accessible from ePlan version 2.9 on. It is accessible, following the menu path:
Utilities > EPLAN ePULSE
A new user should register following a short procedure and the web services become instantly available. The registration is free as well as the use of the basic services. After completing the registration we can login and there it is.
What do we get?
ePlan Data portal Preview
The first thing to mention is the new Data Portal (Beta). It seems more responsive, the user interface was redesigned completely, made more appealing to the eye and more practical too. Unfortunately it is still in the beta phase (at the time of writing of the article), so it cannot be used in production yet, nevertheless it is there and it can be tried. I am sure ePlan will be happy of any feedback.
ePlan eBuild
eBuild is a very interesting library with ready-to-use-templates of different real-life example designs. The basic library is free, so anyone can use it. I see it as a very welcome feature for all newcomers to the ePlan engineering community. The templates are easy to use and can be configured through wizards.
ePlan eView free
The next very useful tool you can try is the eView free. Which is an interesting development to me as it enables to easily share ePlan designs with coworkers through web. It enables to share views off and comments on the projects. Why I state views? Because the system does not share the entire project. That still remains as a whole on the designer’s platform. What is uploaded to the cloud are only the graphical elements of the design (without the underlying database). So… no guys, no free backup. But that also is not really relevant for the purpose of use. What matters is that our coworkers on the field, or by the cabinet producer can easily access the latest version of the project and comment it. Those comments are directly visible in the designer’s project file. To facilitate this process, the system supports two different types of comments and different workflow stages, which are tailored to the needs of engineering projects.
ePlan Information Portal (ex Help)
Last, but not least, the ePlan Help site. In the last two years it had gone through a lot of very welcome upgrades. Now it resides on it’s own domain, eplan.help and it was renamed to ePlan Information Portal. It became better organized, more practical and smartphone/tablet friendly. We have a comprehensive home page, which gives a very god overview over the content of the different sections of the help site and new, more comprehensive, content for beginners.
ePlan on-line platforms and Microsoft Azure
Another very interesting thing I noticed from the very beginning was the Microsoft account login option. That fact made me very curious, so I raised some questions and learned that ePlan uses Microsoft Azure as the cloud platform. This makes a lot of sense as ePlan is already a strong partner of Microsoft.
The MS Azure platform is a powerful environment, this cooperation might lead to some very interesting development in future. The possibility is there.
Last thoughts
I notice that in the last year ePlan made a big step, I would dare calling it a leap towards an on-line presence. The presented concepts on the fair SPS 2019 were very interesting and can be all tried (and used) from the ePlan version 2.9 beta on. Of course, this pivot to the web, is not an easy task, as ePlan is a complex software with a long history and many of features. All of this will have to be eventually ported in a completely new environment, which has it’s own challenges.
The other challenge is the community building. And ePlan had until now a very defensive, I would say “Ivory tower” commercial policy. Almost every feature had a price tag attached to it. The licensing system was until now very rigid and unpractical for the user. In case of a lost license key, also very unforgiving. I am sure that from the ePlan point of view was the best solution, but not so much for most of the users. Community building would require from ePlan a paradigm shift. As building a community requires a fluid give and take with the users that would like to commit their time and effort into it. Everyone has to have a feeling that he or she is gaining something from participating. And here ePlan has still a lot to do, as there are no platforms (freely accessible API/ markets, …) yet where users and other entities could really contribute by themselves and eventually build a thriving ecosystem around the ePlan ePulse platform.
I fully embrace the new development and I am very curious about future developments. I was told that new updates to the eplan ePulse platform come every two weeks and that every feedback is very welcome. So, let’s give it a try.
eplanpreplanning.com 