How to Select PLM in 2024 Without Being Confused by Marketing

Marketing can be a lot of fun. In marketing we don’t lie—we just strategically rearrange the truth! In marketing, it’s all about framing the picture so that your product looks like a masterpiece and everyone else’s is still a sketch. Those strategies are becoming extremely obvious when it comes features comparison or strategy comparison. How to compare features when the goal of product lifecycle management (PLM), document management and supply chain management solutions is to support the same processes to manage entire lifecycle – engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, sales. There are many marketing strategies used by vendors starting from inventing fancy names and pinpoint existence of specific features no one else has. A well qualified marketing manager with a good domain knowledge and help of competitive intelligence team should always know how to create a comparison table when your product will get all “green checkboxes” and competitors will get red marks of disadvantage.

The only problem is that such a fancy comparison table won’t help you to make the right decision. It is pretty obvious that every vendor that market his ‘advantages’ will always find how to make the first column with “my PLM” greener than everyone else.

Selecting a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system in 2024 is more challenging than ever. Large PLM vendors are accelerating their SaaS and cloud products and also performing multiple acquisitions of smaller companies to close their functional gaps. Smaller PLM vendors are getting more mature and provides substantial differentiation using technological and customer focus work. The market is flooded with options, each offering a unique mix of features and capabilities. Coupled with aggressive marketing tactics, the decision-making process can become overwhelming.

How to navigate through the bunch of competitive charts like I put on the picture above. To navigate this landscape and choose the right PLM solution for your organization, it’s crucial to cut through the noise and focus on what truly matters. In my article today, I share my thoughts about what you can do to help your organizations to make the right decision.

Understand Your Business Needs

Before diving into the PLM market, take the time to clearly define your business needs. What are the specific pain points in your current product lifecycle processes? Where are the inefficiencies, and what goals do you want to achieve with a new PLM system? A clear understanding of your requirements will help you filter out solutions that don’t align with your objectives. Here are some key considerations:

• Product Complexity: Do you manage complex products that require extensive collaboration and data management?
• Industry-Specific Requirements: Does your industry have specific regulatory or compliance needs that a PLM system must address?
• Scalability: Will the PLM system be able to grow with your business, accommodating more products, users, or processes as needed?

Prioritize Functionality Over Buzzwords

Marketing materials are often filled with buzzwords like “cloud-native,” “AI-driven,” or “next-gen.” While these technologies can be valuable, it’s important to prioritize the specific functionalities that will benefit your business the most. Those are important criteria to take into account:

• Core PLM Features: Focus on the core features of PLM, such as BOM management, document control, change management, and product data management.
• Customization and Flexibility: Ensure the PLM system can be tailored to your unique processes and workflows. Be afraid of “simple” solutions with slick experience that you cannot change later.
• Integration Capabilities: Check how well the PLM integrates with your existing systems, such as CAD, ERP, or MES.

Evaluate the Vendor’s Track Record

A vendor’s history and experience can provide valuable insights into how well their PLM solution will serve your needs. Look beyond the flashy presentations and delve into the vendor’s track record in your industry or similar businesses.

While “buying from IBM” stigma is still around, here some ideas how to check the vendor:

• Customer References: Ask for customer references, particularly those in your industry, and understand their experiences with the vendor and the PLM system. These days platforms like G2 can be used to compare reviews about products. Combined with customers stories that can give you an idea.
• Longevity and Stability: Consider the vendor’s stability and how long they have been providing PLM solutions. This can be a sign of their reliability and long-term support potential. One of the approaches is to check websites like Crunchbase, which especially useful when comparing new and startup companies.
• Product Development Roadmap and Capabilities: Understand the vendor’s future plans for the PLM system. Will they continue to innovate and add features that are relevant to your business? The best way here is to check what information each vendor has online. This online world can be really an eye opener. If you only see polished market charts and absence of product demos, it means the product is stagnant and nothing is happening there. When you see releases are coming all the time, you can see the dynamic of new development. When you you see Youtube with 1000s of videos, followers and rich content, it tells you a lot about one product and a few videos on another side with a few followers. The online world gives you all answers, you just need to open your eyes and look

Don’t Be Swayed by the Sales Pitch Alone

A polished sales pitch can make any product sound like the perfect solution, but it’s crucial to look beyond the presentation. Make sure you get a hands-on experience with the product. Here is a few ways that can help you to go beyond Sales:

• Trials: Request a trial period where you can test the PLM system with real data. This will give you a better understanding of the user experience and the system’s capabilities. Check those products that gives you an automatic trial instead of suggesting a ‘controlled’ demo by a vendor. You want to see products and how they perform in a wild.
• Demo Use Case Scenarios: Ask the vendor to walk through specific use case scenarios relevant to your business. This can help you see how the system will perform in real-world situations.
• User Interface and Usability: Evaluate the ease of use of the system. A complex system with a steep learning curve can hinder user adoption. This is why “trial” can be extremely helpful.

Assess Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Marketing materials often highlight the low upfront costs of a PLM system, especially with SaaS models. However, when it comes to product development process, it’s essential to assess the total cost of ownership, which includes not just the initial price but also implementation, training, maintenance, and potential customization costs. Here is what you can do to asses the TCO of PLM software.

• Hidden Costs: Be aware of any hidden costs such as data migration, integration with existing systems, or additional modules that may be required.
• ROI Analysis: Consider the return on investment (ROI) by comparing the total cost with the potential benefits, such as time savings, reduced errors, and faster time-to-market.
• Scalability Costs: Understand how costs may increase as your business grows. Some PLM systems may have tiered pricing based on the number of users or data storage.

Consider the Future of PLM

The PLM landscape is constantly evolving, with new technologies and methodologies emerging. Make an assessment of the PLM system you choose is aligned with the industry trend and future development. Sometimes, vendors re-brand and re-furbish 25+ years old products as a modern solutions (especially those that moving their existing systems to the cloud and those cloud solutions that were development 20 years ago), so it is important to take a look under the hood and check the engine. Here are some ideas how to do so:

• Modularity: A modular PLM system allows you to add or update features as your needs change, ensuring long-term flexibility.
• Innovation: Look for vendors that are actively innovating and incorporating new technologies like digital threads, AI, or IoT into their PLM offerings.
• Community and Ecosystem: Consider the broader ecosystem of third-party applications, user communities, and industry partnerships that can enhance your PLM system.
• Openness: The data and processes you manage using PLM are strategic. By placing it into another system (especially cloud one), ask a vendor how to get the data back to you in case we decide to move to another solution because of different reasons.

Make a Decision Based on Data, Not Emotions

Finally, make your decision based on a thorough analysis of the data you’ve gathered, not on emotional responses to marketing or sales tactics. Compile all the information you’ve collected, from your initial needs assessment to the hands-on trial, and use it to make an informed choice. Key Considerations:

• Decision Matrix: Use a decision matrix to compare and rank PLM systems based on your prioritized criteria.
• Team Involvement: Involve all relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process to ensure buy-in and alignment.
• Vendor Partnership: Remember that selecting a PLM system is also about choosing a long-term partner. Ensure the vendor’s values and support structure align with your business goals.

Big PLM Marketing Attacks: Are They Steering You Toward the Wrong PLM Tech?

In the crowded PLM market, large vendors often deploy aggressive marketing strategies to sway your decision. These tactics can be persuasive, but they might lead you to select a PLM system that isn’t the best fit for your organization. Here are some common “Big PLM Marketing Attacks” you should be aware of, and how to avoid falling into their traps.

The All-in-One Solution Trap

Big PLM vendors often market their systems as comprehensive, one-size-fits-all solutions that can manage every aspect of your product lifecycle. While it may sound appealing to have everything under one roof, this approach can be misleading.

What to Watch Out For:

• Overcomplexity: All-in-one solutions can be bloated with features that you may never use, complicating the user experience and making the system harder to adopt.
• Hidden Costs: The more features you add, the higher the cost. You may find yourself paying for modules and capabilities that don’t align with your actual needs.
• Lack of Flexibility: These systems are often less adaptable to your unique processes, forcing you to conform to the software rather than having the software work for you.

How to Avoid It:

• Assess Real Needs: Focus on the specific functionalities you require and evaluate whether the PLM system can be tailored to those needs without unnecessary complexity.
• Choose Modularity: Opt for a PLM system that allows you to select and implement only the modules you need, with the flexibility to add more as your requirements evolve.

The Big Brand Confidence Play

Many large PLM vendors rely on their brand reputation to influence your decision, suggesting that choosing a well-known name automatically means choosing the best solution.

What to Watch Out For:

• Brand Over Substance: A strong brand name doesn’t guarantee that the PLM system is the best fit for your specific needs. It might be overkill or underwhelming depending on your company size and industry.
• Complacency in Innovation: Big brands may be slow to innovate, relying on their established customer base and brand recognition rather than continuously improving their product.
• Vendor Lock-In: Some big brand PLM systems can create dependency on their ecosystem, making it difficult and costly to switch to another system in the future.

How to Avoid It:

• Do Your Research: Don’t be swayed by brand alone. Evaluate the system based on how well it meets your functional requirements and long-term business goals.
• Seek Innovation: Consider vendors that are known for innovation and agility, even if they’re not the biggest names in the market.

The Feature Creep Seduction

Large PLM vendors often market their solutions with a long list of features, suggesting that more features automatically equate to a better product. However, this feature overload can be a distraction.

What to Watch Out For:

• Decision Paralysis: The sheer number of features can make it difficult to focus on what’s truly important, leading to confusion and delays in the decision-making process.
• Increased Complexity: More features often mean more complexity, which can lead to longer implementation times, higher training costs, and lower user adoption rates.
• Hidden Customization Needs: Many of these features may require extensive customization to work as advertised, adding to the overall cost and complexity.

How to Avoid It:

• Prioritize Core Needs: Focus on the core features that align with your business objectives and ignore the noise of unnecessary bells and whistles.
• Test Before You Buy: Ensure you have the opportunity to test the features in real-world scenarios to confirm their relevance and usability.

The FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Maneuver

PLM vendors often use fear-based marketing tactics to create a sense of urgency, suggesting that if you don’t act quickly, you’ll fall behind your competitors who are already adopting

What is my conclusion?

Selecting the right PLM system in 2024 requires a careful, methodical approach that prioritizes your business needs over marketing hype. By understanding your requirements, focusing on essential functionalities, and thoroughly evaluating potential vendors, you can make a well-informed decision that will benefit your organization in the long term.

It’s crucial to stay alerted against common marketing tactics deployed by big PLM vendors, which can easily steer you toward the wrong choice. Whether it’s the allure of an all-in-one solution, the temptation to trust big brand names without question, or the pressure to act quickly out of fear of missing out, these strategies can cloud your judgment.

It is critical to pay attention to some unproven “marketing comparison” provided by a specific vendor. Most of them are typically fabricated by marketing people that manipulating names and convincing of a specific feature or function importance covering a specific narrow use case even you’re not sure you actually need it.

Remember, the best PLM system is one that fits your specific needs, adapts to your business processes, and supports your growth. By cutting through the noise and focusing on data-driven decision-making, you can choose a PLM system that will not only meet your current needs but also provide a solid foundation for future success.

Most important – selecting a PLM solution is not just about technology—it’s about finding a trusted partner that will support your journey toward innovation and efficiency in managing your product lifecycle.

Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Disclaimer: I’m the co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM, a digital-thread platform providing cloud-native PDM, PLM, and ERP capabilities. With extensive experience in federated CAD-PDM and PLM architecture, I’m advocates for agile, open product models and cloud technologies in manufacturing. My opinion can be unintentionally biased.