Oracle is a database engine run by most of PLM implementations in the world for many years. It is one of the best examples of vendor lock-in and the way to hook enterprise company to a costly maintenance contract and service. But it seems like Oracle is changing. Tech-Cruch article explains how cloud technologies and competition are forcing Oracle to play according to different set of rules.
The main focus of the company has clearly shifted to the cloud, but that is only part of the journey. The other is an attitude shift. Amit Zavery, senior vice president for cloud platform and middleware products at Oracle seems to sense this. When he described new offerings like the AI development tools and a new blockchain service announced this week at Oracle OpenWorld, he spoke of customer choice and of giving them the tools and technologies they want to use in the way they want to use them. That sounds very much like a company making the shift toward the customer, but after years of working in an entirely different way, it’s a hard transformation to make. The market has demanded a kinder, gentler Oracle and it is trying to deliver. It remains to be seen if it can succeed.
For many years, high-end PLM lived by the rule very much similar to Oracle. Initial enterprise sales was followed by expensive service and maintenance contracts. To escape from already implemented PLM system is hard to impossible. Top mind-share PLM vendors such as Dassault, Siemens PLM and PTC are selling enterprise PLM contract with maintenance and service not different from Oracle did.
However, PLM vendors are starting to soft their positions. Dassault cloud 3DEXPERIENCE and Siemens Teamcenter PLM on the cloud are not publishing cloud subscription prices. However, PTC PLM cloud does. Navigate to the following page to get some information. PTC is asking for email, address and phone number to give you price information. So, I will respect a PLM cloud pricing secrecy and will not publish it. You can do it by your self. You can get some some impression about the scale of deals. Check PTC PLM cloud data sheet. Since you can get prices and can see saving and payback, you can get an impression about economics of the implementation deal.
What is my conclusion? I share the conclusion made by TechCrunch in the article about Oracle. A new environment is forcing enterprise PLM companies to change their attitude and to come with more customer friendlier business models and prices. Still cloud PLM is an expensive project. A la carte cloud PLM services are still complex and not cheap. The lower entry to cloud PLM world cost is about 80-120$ per user /month and then it can only grow with the complexity of projects and services. A demand for kinder and gentler cloud PLM service is here. Just my thoughts…
Best, Oleg
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Disclaimer: I’m co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM developing cloud based bill of materials and inventory management tool for manufacturing companies, hardware startups and supply chain. My opinion can be unintentionally biased.
