8 Reasons Why Product Companies Move From Oracle Agile to Arena PLM

As Oracle Agile PLM nears its end of life, product companies face a pivotal choice: remain tied to an aging on-premises system or embrace a modern, cloud-native solution. After December 31, 2027, Oracle will terminate Premier Support for Agile PLM—meaning no more essential software updates or security patches. This exposes businesses to heightened cybersecurity risks, compliance gaps, and operational inefficiencies.

To overcome these challenges, many companies are moving to PLM platforms that reduce cost and complexity. Arena by PTC stands out as the preferred alternative, offering a future-ready platform for today’s fast-paced product development environment. Here, we outline eight reasons why organizations are making the switch to Arena.

Why Leading Companies Transition to Arena

Modern cloud-native PLM and QMS solutions like Arena are purpose-built to meet today’s demands for flexibility, scalability, and ease of use. Arena has successfully migrated hundreds of Oracle Agile customers, offering a seamless transition. Here’s what sets Arena apart:

1. Eliminates IT Overhead

Arena is designed to operate entirely in the Cloud, eliminating the complexity of managing servers, firewalls, or VPNs. Automatic updates ensure users always have the latest features and security protections—without downtime. Plus, browser-based access enables global teams to collaborate effortlessly from any location.

2. Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

By removing IT infrastructure and maintenance fees, Arena lowers total cost of ownership (TCO), enabling organizations to redirect funds toward product innovation and revenue growth.

3. Fastest Time to Value (TTV)

Arena’s intuitive, no-code platform is easy to configure, integrate, and adopt, removing the delays of traditional PLM implementations. Companies go live within weeks and start realizing measurable results sooner.

4. Business-Ready Integrations

Using flexible, well-documented integration methods, organizations can easily connect Arena with computer-aided design (CAD), enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution systems (MES), and other enterprise solutions, giving cross-functional teams a single source of truth to efficiently manage design, compliance, and manufacturing processes.

5. Built-in Compliance

Arena connects product development and quality management processes to help companies gain full control and traceability. It also includes software validation services and enterprise-grade security to protect sensitive intellectual property (IP). This is ideal for regulated industries that aim to improve audit-readiness and achieve compliance with standards like FDA, MDR, ISO, ITAR, and EAR.

6. Greater Flexibility and Scalability

Arena accelerates new product development by enabling rapid iteration and quick adaptation to market changes. Advanced capabilities, such as embedded analytics and supply chain intelligence, empower teams to make smarter decisions. Its elastic, multi-tenant architecture ensures scalability and flexibility as your business grows.

7. Seamless Cloud Migration

Leveraging deep expertise in Agile PLM and other legacy systems, Arena’s solution architects follow a proven methodology to ensure a smooth migration and business continuity:

• Assess: Review current Agile PLM data, workflows, and dependencies.
• Map: Align legacy structures with Arena’s schema and best practices.
• Validate: Confirm data integrity, system performance, and user access.
• Train: Equip teams with onboarding resources and support.
• Go Live: Launch confidently with minimal risk.

8. Process Extensions Become Core Capabilities

Arena absorbs many of the most common Oracle Agile PLM process extensions (PXs) as native features. In Agile, PXs often require custom coding, ongoing maintenance, and careful planning to avoid breakage during upgrades. Arena eliminates this burden by offering these capabilities out of the box. This includes automations, analytics, supply chain intelligence, and AI-assisted workflows—all delivered through regular software releases without additional cost or disruption.

The Pitfalls of Sticking With On-Premises PLM

Although companies adopt on-premises solutions like Oracle Agile PLM with the intent of having greater control, the system limitations become increasingly burdensome and expensive over time.

• Infrastructure Complexity: On-premises systems require heavy IT investment—servers, firewalls, VPNs, and ongoing maintenance. Understaffed IT teams often employ a full-time PLM expert to maintain the system, adding cost.
• Security Risks: Without strong IT support, security protocols fall short, exposing intellectual property to breaches. For ITAR/EAR-regulated companies, this creates serious compliance risks.
• Rev-Locking & Exorbitant Upgrade Costs: Custom code and version dependencies trap companies in outdated software. Despite paying high annual support fees, they miss out on new features. Partner-sourced licenses further complicate and inflate upgrade costs.
• Remote Access Challenges: VPNs and firewalls slow down remote access, disrupting workflows for hybrid and global teams.
• Compliance & Operational Setbacks: Rigid systems make it hard to keep up with changing regulations. In industries like aerospace and defense and life sciences, this increases the risk of violations and inefficiencies.