Kenesto revamp: does it change cloud PLM game?

It has been more than two years since I was reviewing Kenesto – an outfit founded by Mike Payne with the a strong vision to simplify process management. Navigate to the following article PLM, Kenesto and process experience to refresh your memories.

Steve Bodnar of Kenesto put comments on my blog about Google Drive and 3rd party apps with hints about some Kenesto functionality around file synchronization and cloud data management. It was a good alert that Kenesto is preparing some refresh. The following Kenesto press release caught my attention yesterday – Kenesto Extends Engineering Collaboration with New Vaulting and State-of-the-art Desktop File Synchronization. I found it interesting, since it moved Kenesto from process management cloud tool into something bigger – data management and vaulting. Back in 2012, I thought, that ability to handle engineering data is a big differentiation between traditional PLM system and cloud process management tool like Kenesto. The following passage from Kenesto press release can give a short description of the shift Kenesto made – it moved into data and file management space.

Kenesto today announced the full availability of its latest innovations – file vaulting and a pioneering file synchronization service – to enable mainstream design and engineering firms to more easily and effectively collaborate and manage their data. Kenesto’s latest capabilities also work well in conjunction with such design tools as Creo®, SolidEdge®, SolidWorks®, and Spaceclaim® for manufacturing customers and also Revit® for AEC customers, to enable file management and sharing across design workflows. This is all done while also ensuring proper handling of updates to component and assembly models connected to items and bills-of-material, for example.

I made a trip into Kenesto website. It presents a broad range of solutions – engineering design management, change management, procurement and supplier collaboration, program and project management. These are traditional PLM suspects. However, some of solutions are clearly outside of typical PLM domain – management of marketing program, PR and advertising, idea management.

Kenesto features are covering wide range of capabilities – projects, dashboard, reporting, document management, vaulting, web viewing, workflow and task management. My special attention caught  Enterprise-class File Synchronization. This is an interesting feature and it made me think about cloud PDM functionality and cloud file sharing. My blog- Cloud PDM ban lifted. What next? speaks about growing interest of PLM and other vendors to apply cloud technologies to PDM – space that traditionally tried to avoid cloud-touch. So, Kenesto just joined the cloud of cloud PDM vendors and I need to add Kenesto in the list of companies open for cloud PDM competition.

What is my conclusion? It looks like Kenesto decided to change the trajectory of Kenesto technologies and moved from process and workflow management to a full scope of product data management and lifecycle solutions. I guess Kenesto prefers not to use traditional PDM, PLM buzzwords. However, Engineering Data Management (EDM) acronym made me feel a bit nostalgia… At the same time, cloud sync and in-browser office files editing tools can provide an interesting differentiation in cloud-era. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Disclaimer: Kenesto didn’t sponsor and didn’t influence content of this blog post.