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

Social PLM and Mobile Dribbling

Social PLM and Mobile Dribbling
Oleg
Oleg
6 May, 2014 | 2 min for reading

Once “social” was a hot topic for PLM developer and analysts. In my view, the hype went down. Ask PLM people about social applications and be prepared for very neutral response. I asked myself – why so? Social applications can improve the way people communicate and should bring value. Nevertheless, social revolution in PLM is kinda “postponed”. You might be interested – will social apps back, when and how?

My attention was caught by WSJ.D article – Data Point: Social Networking Is Moving on From the Desktop. These numbers made me think about potential benefits  between “social” and “mobile” in PLM.

social-network-mobile-social

Similar to social apps, the popularity of mobile PLM application is not skyrocketing too. Once excited about the ability to run “everything from iPad”, users got back to their desktops, CAD workstations, BOM Excels and browser applications.  Did PLM vendors miss the point of mobile? I asked about that two years ago here. The confusion between “mobile web” and “native app” is probably only part of the problem. When world is going to be even more distributed than today, the efficiency of mobile PLM applications and intuitiveness of how mobile app can present the data becomes absolutely critical. However, mobile app will be used only if it is easier and brings additional value. The best example is taking picture during the presentation and sharing it via Twitters and/or Facebook.

Now I want to get back to social PLM option. I just read about new feature – you can tweet to Amazon to put a specific article or item in your shopping cart. Navigate here to read more. There is nothing very special here. It is all about efficiency. Imagine you found something you want to buy at the time you browse your twitter stream in the morning. To stay in the same environment and put an article to the Amazon shopping cart is all about efficiency. So, here is my guess. Social PLM can reinvent itself via mobile option.

What is my conclusion? The efficient interaction is very important when out of the office and not connected to your well-organized desktop. So, specially designed “social PLM” function can be very demanded on mobile devices. However, the fine tuning of functionality and mobile experience is a key. Efficient user interaction combined together with valuable scenario. This is a key for mobile PLM and social PLM to be successful. Without these two elements, customers will keep walking from social and mobile links to desktop. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

photo source – WSJ-D article

Recent Posts

Also on BeyondPLM

4 6
12 April, 2018

SAP is changing their business model. Engineering.com article – First of its Kind: New SAP Pricing Model is Based on...

21 August, 2013

Product customization is one of the trends that changing the manufacturing landscape these days. Mass production was a mainstream for...

3 January, 2019

Holiday season is almost done and now is the time to get back and focus on business. And as we...

8 December, 2019

It has been more than a month since PTC acquired Onshape. Such a big event triggered many conversations about the...

21 May, 2020

PLM marketing and strategy these days are shifting towards everything “digital”. The number of “digital” articles is growing. While selling...

7 May, 2015

Product cost is the top priority for every manufacturing organization in the world. It can be large OEM or small...

15 December, 2008

The benefits of search solution are obvious. It helps you to find what do you need. Over the past decade...

11 April, 2018

Amazon will compete CAD and PLM vendors by expanding their in downstream value chain. Are you laughing? You might be...

6 December, 2019

Everyone needs data. But nobody wants to manage it. I’ve learned it for many years of working with the engineering...

Blogroll

To the top