White Paper

Driving Return on Investment with Engineering Simulation
Software on HPC Infrastructure
Sponsored by: Ansys and Intel
Jaclyn Ludema, Mark Nossokoff and Earl Joseph
April 2023

HYPERION RESEARCH OPINION
Investments in HPC infrastructure have contributed to scientific innovation and global competitivenessacross a wide range of domains. Companies that leverage HPC to support their businesses canrealize significant financial returns. Business returns can be calculated by measuring investments
spent on the HPC resources compared with the projects' financial and innovation returns. The resulting
return on investment (ROI) calculation provides insight into the monetary dynamics of various use
cases of HPC applications.
The purpose of this white paper is to present the findings of a Hyperion Research ROI study, focusedon CAE and EDA engineering simulation projects performed on HPCs, and provide an analysis of thecurrent CAE and EDA market compared to the overall HPC manufacturing sector.
The projects in this study that leveraged HPCs to perform CAE and EDA engineering simulations saw
returns from their HPC investments in terms of revenue, profit, cost savings, and/or innovation. The
projects featured in this study are related to Ansys engineering simulation applications andcharacterized by their area of innovation, industry categorization, innovation category, and cloudutilization, providing additional insight into project ROIs and the types of projects that HPCs benefit.
Key findings of this engineering simulation software ROI study include:

Results continue to indicate substantial returns of investments in HPC in Ansys engineering
simulation applications



On average $151.9 dollars in revenue per dollar of HPC invested was generated

On average $34.9 dollars of profit (or cost savings) per dollar of HPC invested was generated

The average HPC investment per engineering simulation innovation was $7.6 millionThe profit/cost savings ROI ratio for Ansys projects run primarily in the cloud was much higher
than HPC projects run primarily on-premises

April 2023

Hyperion Research #HR4.0023.04.11.2023

SITUATION ANALYSIS
Investing in HPC can be daunting for projects and programs looking to leverage the benefits of HPC
for the first time. The pathway to an excellent HPC return on investments can be obscured by thelarger barriers to entry relative to traditional computing, including large investments into HPC on-premsystems, time spent reserving system resource allocations for a research project, the additional timerequired to convert traditional workloads into HPC workloads, and the potential investments required in
HPC training or hiring HPC expertise.
With support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Hyperion Research created the HPC Return on
Investment (ROI) approach to help provide insight into HPC investments, by examining individual HPC
projects and measuring the amounts spent on the HPC resources compared with the projects' financial
and innovation returns. The ROI study includes:

A macroeconomic model that depicts the way HPC investments result in economic
advancements in the form of ROI in revenue, and profits (and cost savings). It looks at HPC
costs as the input and revenues, profits or cost savings, and job creation as the output.



A Return on Research (ROR) innovation class index that provides a means of measuring andcomparing innovation levels based on two parameters: the importance of each innovation
combined with how many organizations can use the innovation.

New research has expanded the HPC ROI body of work to include 71 additional CAE and EDA
engineering simulation projects related to Ansys engineering simulation application run on HPC. This
report provides ROI data and analysis of these Ansys projects and compares them to the existing
Hyperion Research HPC ROI study, particularly the manufacturing sector.
Note that this research looks at the economic impacts based on the HPC investment compared withthe output of revenue/sales and/or profits and cost savings. It excludes the additional costs ofproduction, sales, etc. that are also required for each project.

Reporting on the ROI Numbers
The results of this study indicate that there are substantial returns on investment in HPC for Ansys
applications:

On average $151.9 in revenue per dollar of HPC invested was generated

On average $34.9 of profit (or cost savings) per dollar of HPC invested was generated

The average HPC investment per engineering simulation innovation was $7.6 million

When comparing the ROIs for projects of this study to the rest of the HPC market, engineering
simulation falls into the manufacturing sector. Ansys HPC projects run primarily on-premises align withthe rest of the HPC manufacturing market, with an average revenue ROI of $224.7 per dollar of HPC
invested, compared to $216.5. and an average Profit/Cost Savings ROI of $29.7 per dollar of HPC
invested, compared to $28.4.
Remarkably, the average profit/cost savings ROI for Ansys HPC projects run primarily in the cloudexceeds that of the overall HPC market, $55.6 per dollar of HPC invested, compared to $47.2. All
projects in this study saw revenue from their projects using HPCs, and only 8% of projects saw less©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

2|Pagerevenue than the investment made into HPC. The table below shows the comparison of numbers
found in this study and the larger HPC market side by side.

TABLE 1Comparing the Engineering Simulation Application ROI to the HPC Market ROI
Study

Engineering Simulation
ROI

Hyperion ResearchMarket ROI

ROIRevenue per Dollar of
HPC Invested

Profit (or Cost Savings) per
Dollar of HPC Invested

Overall HPC ROI$151.9$34.9

Hybrid on-premises and in the
cloud

$45.7

$26.4

Primarily in the cloud (>90%)

$70.1

$55.6

Primarily on-premises (>90%)$224.7$29.7

HPC Market ROI Study$509.3$47.2

Manufacturing Industry Vertical of
HPC Market ROI Study$216.5$28.4

n = 71
Notes: Engineering simulation projects run primarily on-premises have ROIs comparable to that of the manufacturing vertical in
the Hyperion Research HPC market ROI study (blue and green). Engineering simulation projects that run primarily in the cloudexceed the average profit/cost savings ROI of HPC market (purple).
Source: Hyperion Research, 2023

CHARACTERIZING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS USING HPC ENGINEERING SIMULATIONAPPLICATIONSThis study describes various attributes of the contributing projects and analyzes the types of projects
that find success when utilizing HPC-enabled simulation applications. The attributes most noteworthy
when cross sectioning the ROI numbers are innovation area, industry, innovation category, and cloudutilization.

Innovation Areas
The contributing projects in this study were divided by the types of advancements realized as a resultof running Ansys simulation applications on HPC. These applications on HPC were primarily leveraged
to make better products (40% of projects) and create cost savings (20% of projects). The average
return on investment for these two innovation areas suggests why they are popular areas of focus;©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

3|Pageinnovations to make better products have an average revenue ROI ratio of 292.8, and profit/costsavings ROI ratio of 58.6, while innovations for cost savings have an average revenue ROI ratio of
20.6 and an average profit/cost savings ROI ratio of 21.3.
The data also suggests that innovations intended to open new market segments result in excellent
revenue ROIs, and innovations used to realize a new capability or help society (sustainability e.g.,
reduce carbon footprint, and support net-zero emissions) produce both strong revenue and profit/costsavings ROIs. However, with only one project data point feeding each of these inferences they cannot
be viewed as trends in the market, and in the future finding additional projects in these areas ofinnovation would be beneficial.
The table below presents the average revenue and profit/cost savings ROIs between the different
areas of innovation together with a count of projects in each of the innovation areas.

TABLE 2Categorizing Average Revenue and Profit/Cost Saving ROIs by Area of Innovation
Innovation Area

# of Projects

Average Revenue
ROI Ratio

Average Profit/Cost
Savings ROI Ratio

Helped Us Make Better Products

29

292.8

58.6

Cost Savings

14

20.6

21.3

Created a New Approach

10

15.2

4.5

Major Scientific Breakthrough

8

7.8

1.5

Discovered Something New

5

2.0

2.0

Helped Society - Sustainability

3

20.0

10.0

Opened New Market Segments

1

150.0

1.0

Realize a New Capability

1

42.9

21.4

n = 71
Notes: Making better products and cost savings were the top 2 areas that benefited from using HPC applications.
Source: Hyperion Research, 2023

Industry
Project respondents were asked to categorize their organization into an industry or sector, as well as
the types of returns on investment seen by the project. Combining these two data sets describes the
success of each industry and gives insight into the goal of the projects.

©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

4|Page

The Industrial Equipment Industry stands out as the revenue
ROI leader, with an average of $983.9 of revenue per dollar
invested into HPCs (3 projects total). The Healthcare Industry
is the profit/cost savings ROI leader, with an average of$116.7 of profit/cost savings per dollar invested into HPCs.
Remarkably, all Industries have revenue and profit/costsavings ROIs ratio greater than 1, indicating success ofengineering simulation investments into HPC regardless ofIndustry. When considering that 13% of the projects in thisstudy were pursuing only financial ROI, the rest pursuinginnovation or both, it is notable to see financial returns
exceeding HPC investments for all Industries.
The table below looks at the different types of investments
alongside the financial ROIs for the different industry sectors.

“Getting faster results allowed us
to iterate to a better blade design
faster. A fan design has infinite
blade characteristics so being
able to run as many as possible inas little time as possible helps
tremendously in attaining a good
blade design. Ansys Fluent
combined with HPC packages
helped us iterate to a new blade
design in previously impossible
time.” – Industrial Equipment

TABLE 3
Types of ROIs and Average Financial ROIs Divided by Industry Classification
Financial
ROI OnlyInnovation
Only

Both
Financial &Innovation

Average
Revenue ROI
Ratio

Average
Profit/Cost Savings
ROI Ratio

Aerospace

2

6

7

26.3

2.7

Automotive & Ground Transportation

3

5

7

17.7

4.2

Consumer Products

1

1

2

120.9

73.3

Energy

2

0

2

329.5

57.8

Healthcare

0

4

5

126.3

116.7

High Tech

1

2

8

163.0

43.0

Industrial Equipment

0

0

3

983.9

37.5

Materials & Chemical Processing

0

2

2

42.9

21.4

Other

0

3

3

21.1

11.2

Total

9

23

39

151.9

34.9

Industryn = 71
Note: All Industries evaluated in this study saw return on investments using engineering simulation HPC applications.
Source: Hyperion Research, 2023

©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

5|PageInnovation Categories
The innovation categories separate the projects of this study into two categories, basic research andapplied research, in an effort to understand where in a projects' timeline investing in HPCs is the mostbeneficial, and where returns are more likely to exist. Basic research includes major discoveries andpioneering breakthroughs, implying that HPC is being leveraged to find new solutions, while appliedresearch includes incremental innovations and process improvements, which means at minimum a
proof of concept has been discovered prior to the project and HPCs are being leveraged for
optimization.
Applied research has an average revenue ROI ratio of 179.6, and a profit/cost savings ROI of 42.1, far
exceeding the ROIs of basic research (32.1 and 3.9 respectively). For the purposes of innovation
category analysis, a breakout of the numbers used to build an ROI paints a much more dynamic
picture. The table below shows the project count, sum and average breakdowns of HPC investments,
revenue, and profit/cost savings of applied research projects and basic research projects.

TABLE 4HPC Investments, Total Revenue, and Profit/Cost Savings of Research Categories
Applied Research, Including
Incremental Innovations andProcess Improvements

Basic Research, Including
Major Discoveries andPioneering Breakthroughs

Total# of HPC Investments

55

16

71

Sum of HPC Investment ($M)

338

200

538

Average HPC Investment ($M)

6.2

13

8

# of Total Revenue/Sales

39

9

48

Sum of Total Revenue/Sales ($M)

5,756

1,312

7,068

Average Total Revenue/Sales ($M)

148

146

147

# of Profit/Cost Savings

39

9

48

Sum of Profit/Cost Savings ($M)

2,603

278

2,881

Average Profit/Cost Savings ($M)

67

31

60

Note: Average total revenue/sales of applied and basic research is similar, but profit for applied research is more than double.
The HPC investment for applied research is less than half that of basic research, but more than 3 times more frequently pursued
amongst survey respondents.
Source: Hyperion Research, 2023

©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

6|Page

The average total revenue/sales of applied and basic research are similar ($148M and $146M),
however the average HPC investment required for basic research is more than double that of appliedresearch. Logically this makes sense, as pioneering and discovery projects often require more trialand-error work, which in the case of HPCs would mean more compute time and resources invested
into the project.
Applied research stands out above basic research in terms of popularity and profit/cost savings
revenue. Applied research is pursued three times more than basic research within this study. The
average profit of applied research projects is $67M, more than double that of basic research ($31M).

Cloud Utilization
Characterizing the study's projects based on where their
The average profit/cost saving
HPCs were run, in the cloud, on-premises, or a hybrid of the
ROI ratio for projects run in thetwo is pertinent to the recent HPC market trend of growing
cloud popularity. There are many reasons organizations arecloud is 55.6, compared to 29.7
choosing to utilize HPC in the cloud, including access to thefor on-premises run projects.
latest and greatest GPUs and accelerators, ease of use,less overhead costs, and scalability. Based on the projects
in this study, organizations using HPC engineering simulation applications in the cloud can add
profit/cost savings ROI to the list.
The first table below compares the average financial ROIs split by the three different cloud and onpremises configurations utilized by the projects in this study. The second table looks at the average
profit/cost savings ROIs for applied and basic research projects, broken down by the three different
cloud and on-premises configurations.

TABLE 5
Financial ROIs for Cloud and On-Premises Distributions
HPC Application Run Location# of Sites

Average Revenue
ROI Ratio

Average Profit or Cost
Savings ROI Ratio

Primarily on-premises (>90% of runtime)

42

224.7

29.7

Primarily in the Cloud (>90% of runtime)

14

70.1

55.6

Hybrid On-premises and Cloud

15

45.7

26.4

n = 71
Note: 59% of HPC application software was run on-premises, the remaining 41% was evenly split between cloud and hybrid
cloud runs.
Source: Hyperion Research, 2023

©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

7|PageTABLE 6
Profit ROIs for Applied and Basic Research
Average Profit ROI Ratio Applied
Research, including incremental
innovations and process
improvements

Average Profit ROI Ratio Basic
Research, including major
discoveries and pioneering
breakthroughs

Primarily on-premises (>90% of runtime)

34.4

2.9

Primarily in the Cloud (>90% of runtime)

84.0

5.8

Hybrid On-premises and Cloud

29.3

N/A

HPC Application Run Locationn = 71
Note: Only one project in this study was considered basic research and took place on a hybrid on-premises and Cloud HPC
system, therefore an average ROI could not be calculated.
Source: Hyperion Research, 2023

Twice as many basic research projects in this study are primarily run on-premises as in the cloud,however the profit/cost savings ROI ratio of basic research projects run in the cloud is double that of
the on-premises projects (5.8 vs. 2.9). Utilizing the cloud to run HPC engineering simulations can bebeneficial to profit/cost savings, particularly to applied research projects. The profit/cost savings ROI
ratio for applied research innovation run on cloud is 84.0, eclipsing on-premises (34.4) and hybrid
configurations (29.3).

Market Motivators for Using HPC Engineering Simulation Products andServices
Based on the projects in this study, the two key motivators for using HPC engineering simulation
products and services are quick turnaround times and larger model capabilities.
Users are benefitting from the speed of HPC applications, which enables rapid prototyping of
consumer products:•

Faster solve times allow for more design scrutiny, design tweaking, and improvement.

•

HPC resources allow users to iterate at a much faster pace and perform optimization aroundsimulated product designs.

•

The ability to perform multiple simulations in parallel with different operating conditions allows
users to quickly find the most likely optimal configuration.

•

Utilization of HPC resources helps in processing large amounts of data and performing more
complex calculations at high speeds.

©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

8|Page•

By utilizing HPC, they are able to build larger, more complex models that are more reflective of
actual geometries and operating scenarios, which in turn delivered more accurate solutions inshorter times.

•

HPC resources helped run computationally expensive meshes required for the multi-phasemulti-physics simulation.

Multiple project users report that HPC-enabled simulation applications help to improve the productivity
and the quality of the products:
“Out antenna systems operate over an extremely wide frequency bandwidth. HPC makes
possible the solution of computationally large problems within a practical timeframe.” -- Clyde
Callewaert, Senior Engineer, Herrick Technology Laboratories, Defense"Our HPC resources allowed us to run many advanced fluid dynamics simulations on various
designs for the inhaler. Ansys fluent allows us to significantly optimize the design of our inhaler
based drug delivery products Insilico while simultaneously reducing our prototype and testing
costs." -- Scientific Computing Engineer from a leading Pharmaceutical Company

“Jet in crossflow has a range of operating parameters over which the dynamics need to bestudied. Current HPC capabilities and Ansys capabilities to use them have greatly enabledrunning many parallel simulation cases, each parallelized for an overall quick turnaroundtime.” -- Senior Research Engineer, Georgia Tech, Aerospace“HPC resources allow us to iterate at a much faster pace and perform optimization around ourdesigns. We are able to perform multiple simulations in parallel with different operating
conditions and quickly find the most likely optimal configuration.” -- Computational Fluid
Dynamics scientist from a leading Fusion Energy Company

FUTURE OUTLOOKHPC continues to be a demonstrated enabler of innovation across a wide range of important sectorsthat can drive significant returns on investments. Leveraging HPC infrastructure can provide
substantial cost savings, considerable profits, and meaningful revenues for a wide range ofbusinesses. Companies that are deploying engineering simulation software on HPC infrastructure toenable their engineers to create new innovative products are no exception.
Manufacturers that utilize engineering simulation software as a key part of their development process
should continue to take note of the substantial business opportunities afforded by investments in HPC.
Key to this is collaborating with ecosystem partners that understand both the domain area of theengineering that's occurring and the systems on which the software is being run.
Ansys is an example of a provider of engineering simulation software that understands the importanceof supporting their customers' business need of driving returns on their investments. By providing a
range of innovative engineering simulation software across a diverse set of domain areas andsupporting both on-premises and cloud-based deployments, Ansys demonstrates the capabilities
required to support engineers advancing innovation and generating returns for their organizations.

©2023 Hyperion Research#HR4.0023.04.11.2023

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Hyperion Research provides data-driven research, analysis and recommendations for technologies,
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(high performance data analysis). Hyperion Research provides thought leadership and practicalguidance for users, vendors and other members of the HPC community by focusing on key market andtechnology trends across government, industry, commerce, and academia.

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