Terminals eyeing the cloud

The finding is both an opportunity and a challenge for Navis, which does not have a long history with Cloud-based applications. While the Octopi TOS, which Navis acquired, has always been on the cloud, the first terminal operator to run N4 on the cloud was Finland’s Steveco, at its Vuosaari Harbour (Helsinki) and Mussalo (Kotka) terminals in 2017.

Since then large Navis users, notably ICTSI, have been pushing Navis to move aspects of N4 to cloud-based services, and Navis is now nudging others to get onboard. Its survey leads in this direction. Navis said that “Recent reports note that industry adoption of SaaS is expected to increase to 67% within the next five years and these findings are echoed by Navis’ survey, which found that market interest in cloud solutions has raised nearly 40% compared to last year (54% in 2019 vs. 93% in 2020), with 79% of respondents having an existing timeline to move or considering moving to the cloud.

The survey was called “Understanding Your Terminal Strategy with Cloud-based Technologies” and results were gathered from 79 Navis customers. “Navis customers are among those actively exploring their options and mapping future strategies that include the cloud:

• 60% of those with a timeline would consider moving their TOS to the cloud within four years – 23% are looking at a shorter window of 1-2 years
• 93% are interested in exploring more about Navis’ N4 SaaS solution and 62% have already taken active steps, reporting at least some familiarity with the offering", Navis said.

“Cloud-based solutions and SaaS offerings are gaining momentum in the shipping industry. Traditionally looked at as costly and timely undertakings, terminals are opening their eyes to the possibilities these solutions can optimize their operations and save them time and money,” added Andy Barrons, Chief Strategy Officer at Navis. “Solutions like Navis N4 SaaS provide our customers with the complete package to not only streamline day-to-day operations utilizing the cloud, but lay the groundwork for continuous terminal innovation moving forward. As we saw in our survey, terminals are beginning to explore the many benefits that a SaaS solution provides, and we’re excited to partner with our customers as they make this important transition.”.”

Navis is touting the benefits of cloud-based software, including “increased cost savings, greater stability and reliability, ease of upgrades, as well as transitioning TOS monitoring and management to a managed service provider.” For Navis, converting customers to cloud-based applications is important to its strategy of transitioning its revenue base from ‘traditional’ license fees to a recurring revenue model with subscription and transaction-based fees.