Best-of-Breed Versus Complete

CAD-PLM Suites: The Debate Rages O

By P.J. Jakovljevic
www.technologyevaluation.com
TEC report
Best-of-Breed Versus Complete CAD-PLM Suites:
The Debate Rages O
While it is not at all surprising to see competing press releases (PRs) issued by the
opposing parties o the !" presidential election campaign# one would not e$pect
that much convention intererence in the enterprise sotware world. But perhaps
the best e$ample comes rom the announcements by Siemes% archrival Dassault
S!st"mes during the recently held two&day analyst summit by the Siemes PLM
Soft#are unit.
'n the irst day o the "iemens P() summit# when the leading product liecycle
management (P())# sotware vendor would traditionally have talked about its
business overview and recent wins# *assault "yst+mes issued a PR about
e$tending its $o%ia P() platorm contract with Boeig . ,ot surprisingly# the PR
comes ater "iemens% early -./- announcement about Boeing signing a /.&year
deal with "iemens% 0eamcenter P() platorm.
'n day two o the summit# when "iemens presented updates on its individual
P()# computer aided manuacturing (12))# computer aided engineering (123)#
and computer aided design (12*) product lines including presentations by some
mar4uee customers# *assault "yst+mes released a PR on Lo&al Motors# an open
source automotive company that is using the vendor%s lagship CAT'A 5* 12*
platorm. 2gain# (ocal )otors ironically presented at "iemens% analyst event about
its use o "iemens% Solid $dge in crowdsourcing and community&based design .
"imilarly to Boeing# (ocal )otors uses 12062 and "olid 3dge in dierent divisions
and or dierent purposes7 12062 seems as a good it or an intricate in&house
Rally 8ighter 5* design o an entire vehicle# whereas "olid 3dge is ideal or ast
and le$ible design o mechanical parts within many in&house community&based
projects.
't(s a Multi-produ&t )orld
6 was oblivious to any such competitive game and attitude during the recently
held PlaetPTC Li%e *+,* and Aras AC$ *+,* conerences. But 6 wouldn%t be
surprised i similar moves by "iemens# *assault "yst+mes# and other P()912*
players took place during those conerences as well. Why do 12*9P() vendors
engage in this :we are still there too; game playing<
Well# it appears that the name o the game in the P()912*9123912)9)3" world
is =0he more one can oer# the better# but the best&o&breed (B'B) world is here
to stay>= 0he situation is similar to the enterprise resource planning (3RP) world#
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where most global and diverse organi@ations can take on all o the possible 3RP
solutions that meet the needs o their diverse divisions. 6n the P() world# being
able to have the needed capabilities and hence integrate the necessary sotware
modules in a B'B manner is still a more sensible strategy versus the :one si@e "2P
(or 'racle) its all; type o strategy.
6n addition# it appears that there is no brand loyalty enterprise&wideAand this is
particularly true among 12* users. 3ven "iemens admitted at the event that the
vendor%s own P()# 12*# manuacturing e$ecution system ()3")# and other
products are only used in about /B percent o its our huge divisions (each with
multiple units) and o its more than -C. actories globally. 2lthough 12* is largely
a desktop tool (at least beore the advent o the Web&enabled Dassault S!st"mes(
V- platorm)# it has played a big role in enterprise inormation technology (60)
decision making.
6nteroperability is always a huge concern or 12* sotware users. 8or e$ample# big
original e4uipment manuacturers ('3)s) use 12* systems and mandate them to
their supply chain partners. 6ronically# because '3)s do not want to deal with
disparate 12* systems their suppliers may use multiple 12* systems to comply
with whatever 12* system is in use by the '3)Aand hence disparate ile ormats
that cannot be imported and read. 3ven in "iemens% case# in addition to the
:domestic; Siemes ./ and "olid 3dge# its divisions also admittedly use '-deas (a
legacy 12* solution developed by "iemens)# 0u1e# Pro2$3 Medusa# and AutoCad.
12* tools are such that they are diicult to learn and modiy.
The Case for BOB PLM2CAD $%iromets
)oreover# "iemens P() "otware admitted that there is no corporate top&down
mandate to use its own P()912* products# but# even more poignantly# the
company admitted that it does not want that mandate. "iemens P() 13' 1huck
Drindsta said that he doesnEt want the company%s sister divisions to be distracted
by unnecessary migrations to "iemens P() products (he also said that he wanted
to compete or and earn this business based on the business need# not on a
corporate mandate).
6s this an admission o the comple$ity inherent in P() and 12* implementations
at large enterprises< Would the medical technology# energy sector# or another
ield at "iemens beneit more rom those competitive products< 0hese are some
o the 4uestions that come to mindAbut certainly the cost and risk o migrating
to P() and 12* products is very high. 2nd as many o "iemens% own divisions are
manuacturing and services oriented# with the manuacturing and ield services
groups being bigger than the engineering group# they probably would have a big
say in 60 decisions and not see a return on investment (R'6) in adopting their own
P()912* sotware.
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The Case for All-i-Oe PLM2CAD
"iemens P() "otware has identiied some low&hanging targets rom the "iemens
parent companyAthese targets were strategic in nature and have re4uired a
thorough analysis o R'6. 2 number o incumbent systems were already replaced
as a result o this major project# which continues on. But it will take some time or
the P() sotware to be integrated and to be used ully by these potential targets.
"o i we look at 45S# rom where "iemens P() "otware largely originates# which
was ac4uired in -..FAwe can see that some time will still be needed to change
and ully assimilate all o the P() business unit%s sotware systems within the
"iemens arsenal. 1ertainly# powering /B percent o "iemens% actories is already
a big achievement.
"iemens 0eamcenter was recently deployed across seven business units at the
Siemes 'dustr! Automatio (where "iemens P() "otware is used) and
Siemes Dri%e Te&holog! divisions. 0he scope o the deployment covers more
than /.#... users (where the company recently tested 0eamcenter%s perormance
benchmarks) in GB plants# in more than /.. locations and more than /B countries.
"iemens is also hoping to win more o its sister plants perhaps with some new
value propAe.g.# Vistag! and 6ieo CAM seem to be great catches# similar to
P01Es ac4uisitions o M6S 'tegrit! and Ser%igisti&s7 "ome even consider ?istagy
to be a must&buy or "iemens P() in light o the growth o Dassault CAT'A
Composites Desig 8 9CPD: (in addition# most ?istagy customers are based on
12062 12*). But trying to open up new P() ronts might be tricky or "iemens#
which has been ocused on integrated suites all the way to manuacturing
e$ecution and automation. "ales and services sta# or e$ample# may get conused
and not be able to e$ecute. With a smaller unctional ootprint# it is not that hard
or P01 to open up another ront such as service liecycle management ("()) and
application liecycle management (2()) in comparison to "iemens P() "otware.
BOB ; Opeess )i the Da!<
While "iemens P() "otware was happy to talk at its analyst summit about
:eating its own cooking; and that the consolidated 0eamcenter applications have
signiicantly reduced comple$ity and drastically improved data 4uality# the reality
is that 0eamcenter still supports multiple non&"iemens 12* and P() systems.
0o that end# willingness to be open should be a good PR tactic or every P()912*
vendor# or at least to be perceived as such. 6n addition# selling products rom its
1omponents division (e.g.# Parasolid# D-Cubed# Bod!shop# etc.) even to ierce
competitors (most recently to Betle! S!stems ) cannot hurt "iemens% top and
bottom line.
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Denerally speaking# 6 think that proessing openness is really about PR messaging#
as it is the instinct o every large vendor to really try to lock&in customers. "iemens
has long been touting its =T data visuali@ation standard as being almost universally
open# but the standard has recently seen a hurdle toward being accepted by the
6nternational "tandards 'rgani@ation (6"') review board.
0o be air# supporting multiple third&party applications has been a part o the
!D"9"iemens P() business strategy or more than -B years# which is not a
short&term PR strategy. 6n addition to 0eamcenter# "iemens% ,H product ully
supports multi&12* product development# driven in part by the vendor%s uni4ue
S!&hroous technology. 0his too has been a undamental part o "iemens%
development or many years.
"iemens is adamant that openness is ar more than PR messaging at the company.
0he vendor has a level&playing&ield policy on all o its open components (such as
Parasolid# *&1ubed# and J0)# which are widely used by virtually all o its
competitors. 2nd the 0eamcenter system works relatively well with competitive
12* systems# that "iemens manages more o its competitors 12* data with
0eamcenter# than they manage o their own 12* data with their own P() system.
,o one else in the industry can back up their openness story with acts as well as
"iemens. 2nd while J0 is not yet an oicial 6"' standard# it continues down that
path. 'n the other hand# the market has also been bu@@ing about *assault
"yst+mes recently decoupling the Solid)or1s kernel rom the Parasolid kernel (by
"iemens) and pursuing a dual&kernel strategy. (2 geometric modeling kernel is a
5* solid modeling sotware component used in 12* packages). 6n addition to
Parasolid# "olidWorks will now have the :domestic; 1D) kernel rom 12062.
*assault "yst+mes believes that C5M is not only a better kernel than Parasolid#
but also it gives customers the option to manage 12* objects (not 12* iles) in
their databasesAallowing or much tighter and more le$ible integration via
objects (e.g.# item# attribute# etc.) than via mere iles (e.g.# drawings). 6t appears
that ater letting "olidWorks operate as an autonomous division9brand# *assault
"yst+mes now wants to put it on the same ?I object model as the other brands.
While this is not necessarily a lock&in (although :lock&in; can be good or some
customers)# given that ?I 12* integration with other P*)93RP systems is
ongoing# it is again about perception versus reality.
Co&lusio
6n summary# while the :all&in&one 12*9P() suite; might not necessarily be a best
it or customers# this setup is easier or the vendor to handle. 1onversely# B'B
system implementations are harder or vendors (system integration is harder with
every new open interace)# but they better meet the customers% unctional
re4uirements. 2 truly open 12*9P() solution will evolve at some point in the
uture# but 6 think that that is years away. 2 smaller and9or new player such as
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2ras and 2utodesk can be open# but the Big 0hree P() vendors will have sales
and services challenges trying to actively pursue the sales o B'B concoctions.
Refere&es ad Re&ommeded Readig
What 1ould Be "ome ,ew 8rontiers or (arge 12*9P() Providers< ,ovember /I#
-.//.
12*&centric P()# 3RP&centric P()# and 'rganic P()7 What%s Right or Jou< K Part
5. June B# -./-.
P01 Windchill and 1reo7 -./- "tate o Play. 2ugust /F# -./-.
*assault "yst+mesA3$panding Product *evelopment and the 5* 3$perience.
2pril G# -./-.
"iemens 0eamcenter Doing to the P() 1loud. 'ctober /L# -./-.
Bentley 3$tends 1ommitment to "iemens P() "otware. "eptember -B# -./-.
"iemens P() 0ackles Product 1osting. "eptember -G# -./-.
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