3DMojo

Earlier this week, we had a successful launch of the overall V6 architecture at DEVCON in Paris. 3DVIA Composer V6R2009 was released as part of this launch. For details about the enhancements in this version, please click here.

Everybody wants to buy software that is "easy to use", but what does that mean? "Ease of use" is a very subjective term, something that often is impossible to define. But yet in every software evaluation I've been involved with over my career, "ease of use" seems to be an important criteria for product acceptance. But ease of use does not guarantee product performance or avoiding the purchase of shelfware.

I believe that it's time to introduce a new concept, and to forget all about "ease of use". We need to start using a category where we can rate a piece of software on its "fun of use". "Fun of use" means that users enjoy working in the software – which inherently means that the user is happy and effective and looks forward to using the product to get their job done. If a piece of software is "fun to use", then it doesn't matter whether the software is "easy" or "complex", because the users will want to learn it, use it, and be productive with it. Fun of use creates a passionate user community. It creates strong product champions. It creates happier, more productive employees.

Fun of use is exactly what 3DVIA Composer delivers. I have heard countless stories of application engineers enjoying the software on their own personal time, because like a good book, 3DVIA Composer is hard to put down. Earlier this week, a prospect that is evaluating 3DVIA Composer told me that their users that are involved in the evaluation are excited, rejuvenated, and wanting to know when they will get the software for production use. And they are bragging to their counterparts about the great new technology they are soon going to be using.

Fun of use is one of the best indicators of the greatness of a product: elegance of design, superiority of performance, and richness of functionality. And 3DVIA Composer is a great product! It's why so many people want to be on the 3DVIA team.

I am pleased to announce that 3DVIA Composer can be seen at the upcoming ENOVIA Customer Conference Europe (ECC Europe), June 3-4 in the Hilton Munich Park, Germany.

Please be sure to stop by the 3DVIA booth at the ENOVIA Customer Conference Europe. Also, on Wednesday, June 4 @ 10:30 pm, stop by the Enterprise Business Process Collaboration track for a 3DVIA Composer presentation and see how you can integrate 3D into your after sales process.

Ryan Foss was a guy with some ideas. He happened to share those ideas with some folks at Right Hemisphere, and now alleges that his ideas were actually stolen by them. He blogged about this on April 30, and you can read his story here.

It goes to show that you always need to watch your back, create contracts, look at the fine print,  and always beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. This is especially true when implementing a new software system.

In their efforts to build a system that reuses 3D CAD and PLM data for the downstream user, Right Hemisphere has embedded the requirement for a server-based product. One that is necessary if you want the slightest chance of seeing any of the proposed benefits of their product. One that manages its own workflow, searching, and processing. One that must be connected to your other servers in a complex array of SQL and API scripting. One that is expensive and difficult to implement in a global environment. And, dare I say, one that is illogical.

Companies have heavily invested in PLM and ERP systems, data replication and redundancy, vaulting and revisioning, workflows, approvals, and many other IT systems. But then Right Hemisphere comes along, in their sheep's clothing, and talks about simplifying things for the non-engineers and gaining all sorts of wonderful benefits. But the wolf underneath is asking for these companies to invest in another disconnected set of servers and add even more complexity to their systems.

It just doesn't make sense. Any improvement you want to make in your downstream infrastructure should not require massive process changes, and should make use of existing systems. They say that logic is governed in the left hemisphere of the brain, something that seems to be missing with Right Hemisphere.

So don't be bitten by the wolf. 3DVIA Composer does not need a complex server solution to give you incredible productivity gains. Just ask our customers. And if you want to integrate the system into your existing environment, it can be done extremely quickly and can be setup to do exactly what you want it to do.

Go with the product that has the full brain working. Go with 3DVIA Composer.

I am pleased to announce that 3DVIA Composer can be seen at the upcoming ENOVIA Americas Customer Conference, May 6-9 in the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Please be sure to stop buy the Dassault Systèmes booth at the ENOVIA Americas Customer Conference. Also, on Tuesday, May 6 @ 2:30 pm, stop by the Solutions Theater for a 3DVIA Composer presentation.