Big…and getting bigger
Well, if you're looking for a slightly different point-of-view on the UGS acquisition by Siemens, you've certainly come to the right place.
At first, we were in wonderment that this combination would envision adding more "stuff" into the PLM infrastructure. I mean you can almost hear the buttons bursting. Still, that seems to be the fundamental logic of the acquisition: big, getting bigger. That surely works for the investors, but for users...whoa, this thing is gonna be really big.
But there's no mention in the press release of what we call the "PLM last mile". What we mean by that is: how does all this integration in engineering and manufacturing look and feel to end users in sales, marketing, product documentation and other departments? They don't want their bellies to swell just to get an illustration done.
So, that's the huge missing hole in mega-mergers like this one. PLM still lives with a back-end infatuation that has little to do with real end-user productivity.
Still, we wish UGS well, especially our favorite UGS blogger, Chris Kelley.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Alex - thanks for the well wishes. It’ll be a fun ride over the next few months. I think the focus on infrastructure is a natural course in the evolution of IT applications as they become more and more enterprise focused. It happened with ERP and CRM and now its happening with PLM.
I agree with you though however that PLM is different from the other enterprise IT apps because for it to actually deliver return it has to reach the users and get them involved. ERP can wring out costs without a user doing anything. CRM can manage customer calls with very little user interaction. For great products to come out the other end PLM has to give users the freedom to innovate. It also has to have the infrastructure on the back end to make sure those innovations can be made better through collaboration with others and actually get made so it can see the light of day.
So, agree that users are important. Infrastructure is important too. If you can get both right (which I think we have a good a chance as anyone) then great things can happen.
PS - sorry about the Patriots. I have a long post sitting in drafts right now responding to your points on the publication of JT that I will have to remove my predictions for the game from…just got too busy with all the acquisition stuff to get it done before they all came true.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Chris, I had gotten over the Patriot’s loss…until you reopened the wound! (Just kidding.)
I look forward to continuing the discussion about JT when you get a chance.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:36 am
[...] She goes on to further speculate that high-end PLM has become a commodity. I wouldn’t say that…but I would agree that the high-market has become totally saturated. [...]