Executive Support; Does it Really Matter to Drive a Successful PLM Program?
A Complimentary CIMdata Educational Webinar with Alan Mendel, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer, CIMdata
14 August 2025
11:00 EDT | 08:00 PDT | 17:00 CEST
Do any of the following statements sound familiar?
- Our PLM program falls short of achieving its corporate vision and delivering clear business objectives.
- We have multi-year PLM program deployments that fall behind scheduled go-lives due to inconsistent management support (at multiple levels), scope creep, inadequate training, limited organizational change management, excessive customization, and a general lack of user adoption.
- When members of the Executive Management or the PLM Executive Champion depart, the program stalls, and continued phased deployments often lose funding. The PLM program is viewed as “good enough” and moves into sustainability mode.
Driving a successful PLM program, like any enterprise software or IT initiative, is fundamentally about leadership.
Like all major enterprise software initiatives, PLM demands clear, strong, and active executive sponsorship. Sadly, many enterprise software projects, including PLM, struggle to achieve their initial business objectives, often failing to deliver on their original corporate vision. CIMdata has observed this trend repeatedly in global PLM deployments. However, a powerful common thread through CIMdata’s involvement in multiple global PLM deployments is that when clear, strong, and ongoing executive sponsorship—including a dedicated Executive PLM Champion—is present, successful, business-driven deployments are achieved, and a strategic program is established that focuses on phased deployments that consistently deliver on defined business objectives.
This webinar will share CIMdata’s recommendations, drawn from years of case studies and strategic consulting, on how executives can drive the success of their PLM programs. Topics include forming effective executive steering committees, selecting the leaders to involve, the benefits of a dedicated Executive PLM Champion, aligning PLM capabilities with business goals during ongoing PLM phased deployments, and other strategies for maximizing business value through active and consistent executive sponsorship.
By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:
- Identify the core concepts essential for deploying a successful PLM program.
- Articulate the specific roles and responsibilities of Executive Sponsors, Executive PLM Champions, and Executive Steering Committees in mitigating risks and accelerating PLM success.
- Apply practical insights and real-world approaches from leading global industrial organizations, demonstrating the critical impact of executive sponsorship on driving successful PLM initiatives.
Who should attend?
This webinar is ideal for anyone committed to driving a truly successful PLM program within their organization. If you're involved in defining, leading, or supporting your company's product lifecycle initiatives, you'll gain invaluable insights.
Specifically, this session is designed for:
- PLM Program Leadership: Executive Sponsors, PLM Champions, Steering Committee Members, and Core Program Leaders.
- Corporate Executives: VPs, Directors, and C-level leaders in Engineering, Product Development, Manufacturing, Quality, IT, and Innovation.
- PLM Management & Strategy: Program Managers, Project Managers, Planners, and Solution Architects.
- PLM Practitioners & Analysts: Business Analysts, Process Owners, and key users seeking to optimize PLM value.
During the webinar you’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions about the topics discussed.