Cloud-native PCB design: a new era of agility, security, and scale
In this episode of the Printed Circuit Podcast, guest host Matthew Walsh — stepping in while Steph Chavez attends PCB West — welcomes Adam Cabler, Chief Cloud Architect at Siemens Electronic Board Systems, to explore a game-changing evolution in electronics design: the shift to cloud-native, AWS-powered PCB tools. Together, they unpack how Siemens blossomed in the cloud space from accelerated collaboration and compute scalability to IT simplicity and enterprise-grade security.
The rise of cloud collaboration
For decades, PCB design has been tied to desktop software, siloed workflows, and hardware limitations. That’s changing fast. As Cabler noted, the motivation to go cloud-native PCB design wasn’t just about modernization — it was about unlocking team velocity.
“We wanted to give our customers the same level of cloud-accelerated development that the software world saw with GitHub,” Cabler said.
Now, engineers can visualize and annotate massive multi-layer boards right in a web browser: no downloads, no lag, and no performance drop. With AWS compute infrastructure, Siemens offloads pre-processing from the user’s machine, enabling smooth design markup without throttling local resources.
Shifting towards global sync
For IT teams, the shift is equally transformative. Gone are the day of manual software installations and ticket queues.
“As soon as users buy the software, they get access to it — plus every update after that. No IT involvement is needed,” said Cabler.
This instant-access model minimizes downtime, reduces support overhead, and ensures that engineers always work with the latest toolsets all without waiting on local deployments.
In a post-pandemic world where teams span time zones and continents, real-time PCB collaboration is mission-critical. With AWS-enabled tenants, Siemens delivers techniques like intelligent content caching and global data replication.
Teams can commit revisions and instantly view them worldwide. And thanks to pre-processed visualizations, collaborators can review and annotate designs in-browser without any syncing delays.
“It’s the same way software engineers share source code. You finish a revision, check it in, and your team has it — instantly,” Cabler said.
Security built in, not bolted on
Security remains a top concern for teams handling sensitive design IP. Siemens addresses this head-on by following ISO 27001 and SOC 2 standards, conducting regular threat modeling, and leveraging AWS’s Well-Architected Framework.
“All data is encrypted — at rest and in flight — and protected with role-based access control,” Cabler emphasized.
Whether it’s an administrator adjusting a board or a reviewer offering comments, permissions are tightly scoped to maintain design integrity and safeguard IP.
The cloud doesn’t just improve access; it fundamentally enhances performance. Complex simulation methods like Monte Carlo and parametric sweep are notoriously time-intensive on local machines. With dynamic scaling, Siemens can parallelize workloads across AWS infrastructure, drastically reducing turnaround time.
“You hit run, and what would take hours locally can now be completed in minutes,” said Cabler.
One company already benefiting from Siemens’ cloud ecosystem is UK-based Nextbase, a leading dashcam manufacturer. Using PADS Professional with Connect Cloud, they streamlined collaboration with component suppliers and flagged BOM risks early—dramatically reducing time to market.
“We’ve seen a lot of positive feedback around spotting availability issues early. That alone makes a huge impact,” Cabler said.
What’s next: Design intelligence and AI on the horizon
Looking forward, Siemens is investing heavily in cloud-native design intelligence. Upcoming capabilities will enhance component visibility, power decision-making, and unify data between desktop and cloud environments in real time.
AI and ML are also on the roadmap, with assistive features like predictive error detection, contextual recommendations, and workflow automation already arriving in the latest Xpedition releases.
“It’s all about giving engineers the right information at the right time,” said Cabler. “Start by understanding your users’ pain points. Leverage AWS’s expertise. Embrace modern patterns like microservices. But most importantly — build security and compliance in day one. Don’t save it for the end.”
Cloud technologies are reshaping the design lifecycle—from simulation and visualization to collaboration and compliance. With Siemens and AWS leading the way, engineering teams can innovate faster, collaborate globally, and build with confidence.
As host Matt Walsh put it: “It’s exciting to hear how our AWS partnership is delivering real, tangible benefits to customers—this isn’t theory. It’s already transforming modern PCB design.”
Learn more expert advice on PCB Design and listen to the Printed Circuit Podcast.
