Mobile PLM gold-rush. Did vendors miss the point?

by Oleg on April 6, 2012 · 17 comments

One year ago, I posted – PLM and Post-PC era. It is interesting to read back and think about the same topics again. Mobile revolution. We are living in this now. Our personal life became much more mobile in the last 2-3 years. Post-PC era and revolution made by table computers changed the way we consume data and use it in our everyday life. CAD/PLM companies are on the run to create “mobile” and “tablet” applications for everything. However, I want to stop for a moment and think. Are we on the right track? Do we need to make “everything mobile” and “everything tablet”. At the end of the day, I didn’t stop using my laptop since I started to use my iPad.

I’ve been reading CIO magazine yesterday. The article Why Mobile CRM are slow to take off? by David Taber caught my attention. Have a read and make you own conclusion. To me, it makes a lot of sense. The following reasons are why the enterprise mobile apps for CRM are not taking off quickly. Here is my favorite passage:

The Comprehensiveness Thing. Here’s a fine how-de-do: In the paragraphs above, I said the dedicated mobile CRM apps are too complicated for a small device. And now I’m going to say that the dedicated mobile CRM apps aren’t capable enough when used on a phone. If you need to look up something in the CRM, you’re likely to also need to look up something else or take some action in a related Enterprise app. Whether it’s accounting (Refund issued?), or ERP (inventory available to promise?), or an external logistics app (where is that FedEx tracking number?), users need to check systems that are outside the immediate purview of a CRM. So you’ll either need to have a hell of a lot of integration points (which would take a lot of custom coding inside some dedicated CRM mobile app) or you’ll need access to an internal portal. This all points to the need to use a multi-tabbed browser for access to multiple systems. So in most cases, the browser trumps dedicated CRM mobile apps.

This “comprehensiveness thing is very resonating with my thought about PLM and mobile. Most of the CAD/PLM vendors today create mobile and table applications that “kind-of identical” to their regular products. Windchill Mobile, TeamCenter Mobile, etc.

When it absolutely great that software can converge to mobile and tablet platforms, in my view it raises a concern – why people will move from large screens and comfortable keyboard to smaller tablet real estate. I think, a better idea for mobile and tablets is to think about applications that can be used to perform a specific task. I want to have ECO mobile app on my iPhone to make an approval when I’m on go. Alternatively, I can review my tasks list before working day or in the airport. Sales person or maintenance technician may have an app that can search for a particular drawing or visualization.

What is my conclusion? I think, vendors did miss the point in the overall mobile gold rush. To make “all tablet” won’t work for product development software. To stop and think about a specific productivity apps that can solve a particular problem is the right way to go. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

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Tagged as: CAD, iPad, Mobile, PLM, PTC, Siemens PLM, Tablet, Vendors

  • Craig Rode

    I think you've got this exactly right.  In a way, the traditional PLM vendors are caught in the classic “Innovator's Dilemma”.  Needing to continue to build on their legacy code bases to meet the yet unmet needs of their existing customers, they cannot afford the resources to build, from the ground up, applications that take advantage of cloud/device capabilities and solve different problems in different ways.  Yet, their sales and marketing teams, reacting to the changing environment (including all their customers walking around with iPads) have to show *something* to give the impression that they're not being left behind.  So, they take applications that were created for on premise client/server architectures, strip off what they can, put them on tablets, and call it good.

  • MarcL

    well put Craig

  • beyondplm

    Craig, I like the way you explained that. However, to create something from scratch is very hard. Do you think CAD/PLM companies are ready to do so these days? Another problem that can be introduced here is a change CAD/PLM companies need to do in their revenue model. What is you take?

  • Craig_Rode

    Yes Oleg, it is very hard. Especially if a company already has a product in the market that's consuming all their development resources and could be cannabilized by a new offering.  Lots of technical issues, but even more internal issues.  The revenue model is a perfect example, the margins on new products could be lower than the older ones which creates internal conflicts, as Christensen describes in his book.  To those of you reading, I can't express how important it is to read “The Innovator's Dilemma” for a thorough treatment of the problems of introducing disruptive technology.

  • http://twitter.com/FloydInnovation Simon Floyd

    Actually, Oleg, I agree with you.  I think there's a lot of reasons why we've not yet seen the value in these types of apps but as Craig pointed out, its the strategy and approach that's to blame.  When the goal is to ride the perception of an innovation wave or dare I say, implied cool factor, then of course the application is going to miss the mark.  To test this theory I've spent considerable time with businesses understanding how they work and how it can be improved, and yes the topic of mobility always surfaces but beyond having tried, tested or piloted a tablet, slate, etc. device, there's very little actual implementation.  From what I can garner, its the fact that no compelling process or scenario has been addressed that couldn't be accomplished with something existing or the form factor and app combination did not uniquely solve a problem.  Its not to say that this won't happen in the future – it will, but we're in the early stages of understanding the relevancy, especially in the Enterprise, where security, manageability, and robustness are requirements, and ROI in time, productivity, etc. must be proven.

  • beyondplm

    Simon, thanks for your insight! What I found interesting is that mobile changes my behaviors. And this is not only about if I cannot accomplish something without mobile. It is about to change a way people are doing business. It is also about how form-factor influences our behaviors. I found myself spending an additional time over the devices that I didn't use before – smartphone, tablet. It comes as a convenient stuff first. Later, I'm getting addicted. So, maybe mobile will go that way? Just my thoughts… Best, Oleg

  • Nfatima

    very insightful article. Another good reference for agile PLM users PLM solutions for mobile devices provided by http://www.plmflex.com.

  • info@mobilepdm.com

    Spot On Craig !! this kind of innovation can come easier  from free minded people outside traditional organizations and this is the beautifull story of mobilePDM 
    please download your copy on itunes !
    http://itunes.apple.com/app/mo…
    and it is compatible with eDrawing for iPad as well 

  • beyondplm

    Thanks for sharing the link!

  • beyondplm

    Craig, thanks for mentioning Innovator's dilemma. Mobile is “disruptive”. However, I don't think engineering and manufacturing industry developed their own “iPhone” to disrupt current status-quo. Just my opinion… Oleg

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