A blog by Oleg Shilovitsky
Information & Comments about Engineering and Manufacturing Software

Gartner, PLM Social Networking and Technological Enablers

Gartner, PLM Social Networking and Technological Enablers
Oleg
Oleg
24 January, 2012 | 3 min for reading

I want to talk about a social-networking topic again. I was reading Gartner Top Vertical Industry Prediction for 2012 and Beyond. Spend some time reading the short summary provided by Gartner. Navigate here if you want to get a full report. Gartner emphasized significantly the value of social networking. Read this passage:

Cloud computing and social media will continue to provide industries with new avenues for effective customer communication and engagement, facilitating increased revenue and sustainable interaction with key customers…

One of the predictions related to “social networking” and PLM caught my attention.

By 2014, the five largest PLM software providers will make social networking an integral part of their solution.

So, who are these companies? In my view, top 5 are Dassault Systems, Oracle, PTC, SAP, and Siemens PLM. The question is if we need to include Autodesk in this list. After the announcement about Nexus 360 – a new cloud based PLM, we probably need to counter Autodesk at least in the list of pretenders.

PLM vendors and Social Networking platform

The companies I mentioned above already spent significant efforts in implementation social networking and social platforms. Dassault Systems development 3DSwYm platform. I wrote about it multiple times. You can start here. Oracle presented few research and development projects in this space as well. The one I noted was Oracle Web Center. PTC made significant effort to develop social platform development capabilities called Windchill Social Link. During my last visit to PTC, I had a chance to speak recently with David Blair, VP of social product development. Navigate here to read more. SAP development product called SAP StreamWork. I probably less familiar with what Siemens PLM is doing. However, TeamCenter Community product is clearly focused on some sort of social networking and collaboration. You can read more here – Siemens augment social product development.

Social Platforms and Technological Enablers

I found a question of what technology PLM vendors are using to implement social networking and social collaboration quite fascinating. From user perspective the functionality provided in these platforms can be considered as very similar. Some of the vendors – Dassault, SAP, Oracle development their own platforms. PTC and Siemens PLM are relying on Microsoft SharePoint as a technological platform. In that context, I’ve read the following interesting article – 5 myths about SharePoint as a Enterprise Social Platform. Have a read and make your conclusion. The following passage was one of my favorites:

When SharePoint 2010 arrived in the marketplace, the platform included new social capabilities to improve productivity and collaboration. However, as the consumer social web exploded, it became clear that the 2010 platform only provided the basic building blocks of social computing.

What is my conclusion? A little more than two years ago, I asked a question – How many social platforms we need for enterprise? In my view, this question is still valid. The run of all PLM vendors towards developing social platforms will re-create one of the existing problem in enterprise software – silos and fragmentation. I’d expect customers to ask questions about what platform to use in case more than one vendor involved and how to integrate social platform capabilities coming from multiple providers. So, what do we have – an old problem with a new face?. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Image credit Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Recent Posts

Also on BeyondPLM

4 6
1 May, 2018

Yesterday, I shared my thoughts about Aras PLM replacement strategy. Check this link for more information. Today, I want to share...

7 February, 2018

Digital transformation of the past decade introduced us to a new concept – online communities. The idea of having community...

21 July, 2009

Loud prompt – Microsoft is releasing Office 2010 version, which will include free Office 2010 browser version. Take a look...

4 March, 2010

It will be an understatement to say that economy trends certainly can influence everything in our life. One of the...

9 May, 2016

I was catching up on news during the weekend. One of the articles in Boston Globes caught my attention –...

18 June, 2013

Data is a fascinating topic these days. The amount of data is growing and it raises lots of concerns on...

29 March, 2016

Cloud is a big buzzword these days and all PLM vendors are trying to use to their own advantage. Last...

10 September, 2013

Few weeks ago, I posted Dassault IFWE and PLM Cloud Switch. It was a time for Dassault System to announce...

12 February, 2023

Learning is hard. The world around us is changing and the same is happening with the process of learning. The...

Blogroll

To the top