It is always interesting to take a look and see what posts drove the most attention of my readers in the past. So, I’m following this tradition. Here is a short recap of beyondplm top stories for 2012. It was a year with lots of transformation and changes. So, I wasn’t surprised to see PLM Perfect Storm 2012 on the top of the list. The second topic actually surprised me a bit. I thought, technology is something people are less interested these days. Nevertheless, the discussion around the post What is the future of PLM databases? drove lots of readers’ attention. Autodesk PLM 360 was a new product introduced by Autodesk in the beginning of 2012. So, readers interest in this topic was almost expected. Complexity is another topic which drives lots of attention these days in PLM industry. PLM and the death of complexity article confirms that. Another “logical” choice was an article about SolidWorks mobile app for iPad. Please find below list of posts and brief conclusions.
It is an interesting time to be in the PLM market these days. As I wrote in my recent blog –SolidWorks community and opportunity for PLM, there is a significant opportunity to deliver PLM solution to the white space market these days. Gartner’s PLM market dynamics slide is highlighting the same opportunity. It is clearly a perfect storm. Large PLM companies have a lot of money to play the future PLM game. They have a lot to win as well as to lose, in case something will go wrong. Who will take the best “stormy seat” in this game? An interesting question to ask.
What is the future of PLM databases?
The complexity of product lifecycle problems brings the need of new concepts in data modeling and data management. One of the main questions – how to break the boundary of a single database? This is a key question, in my view. It will solve the problem of logical scalability and provide a platform for future information discovery.
My first take on Autodesk PLM 360 system and technology
I have a positive impression about PLM 360. It is stable, and I could perform my research experiments as well as some customization and development work. The overall maturity of the system even higher than I would expect from the system developed from scratch (as it was mentioned by Randal Newton in his article) – Autodesk PLM 360 is the first PLM product written from scratch for contemporary cloud technology. Autodesk is betting it will be a hit with companies of all sizes. At the same time, I didn’t find special novelty in the data-management paradigm. Also, I didn’t find any confirmation about flexibility and scalability of the system going beyond traditional PLM solutions (in the case systems like Enovia, Aras, etc. will be hosted on the cloud). The concepts of integration of PLM 360 are not clear and provide a concern with regards how PLM 360 can be embedded into overall company IT strategy. With all that, I found my user experience quite enjoyable, and I liked how PLM 360 performed tasks.
PLM and the death of complexity
The death of the complexity is here. PLM and other software vendors in the manufacturing and engineering space need to take a note. The user experience will not be set by enterprise monsters. New generation of people will not tolerate the complex PLM software. This is a time to rest the expectations.
First Look of 3DS SolidWorks e-Drawings for iPad
Later is better than never. I think, many of SolidWorks users will appreciate e-Drawing iPad app. I’m going to experiment how easy to use e-Drawing as a viewer on my iPad in addition to other mobile apps I already have from Autodesk and other vendors.
Thank you for your commitment to Beyond PLM blog in 2012. I’m looking forward to keep blogging in 2013.
Best, Oleg
Disclaimer: In 2012, the company I co-founded (Inforbix) was acquired by Autodesk Inc. For the moment, I’m responsible for product development of Autodesk PLM360 and other Autodesk PLM/PDM product and technologies.
Image courtesy of [stuart miles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
