On-premise warehouse management systems are installed on customer-owned infrastructure within your data center or facilities. While cloud-based WMS has become the dominant deployment model, on-premise installations remain the right choice for organizations with specific security, customization, or regulatory requirements.
When On-Premise Makes Sense
- Data sovereignty: Some industries and regions require data to remain within specific geographic boundaries
- Security requirements: Organizations with stringent security policies may prefer complete control over infrastructure
- Heavy customization: Highly modified systems may be easier to manage on-premise
- Legacy integration: Complex integrations with on-premise ERP or other systems may favor local deployment
- Connectivity limitations: Remote facilities with unreliable internet may require local processing
On-Premise Considerations
Infrastructure Investment
On-premise deployment requires servers, storage, networking, and data center space. These capital expenditures add to total cost of ownership beyond software licensing. IT staff must manage and maintain infrastructure.
Upgrade Responsibility
Organizations manage their own upgrade cycles. While this provides control over timing, it also creates risk of falling behind on versions, missing security patches, and accumulating technical debt.
Longer Implementation
Infrastructure provisioning adds time to implementation projects. On-premise deployments typically take longer than equivalent cloud implementations.
Hybrid Approaches
Many vendors now offer hybrid options combining on-premise warehouse execution with cloud-based analytics, planning, or management functions. This provides operational resilience while enabling cloud benefits for less latency-sensitive functions.
Compare with cloud alternatives or request quotes from vendors offering on-premise options.