A resilient, stable PLM upgrade requires an effective quality plan and a solution to ensure that the plan is adhered to. A key part of an effective quality plan includes automated testing technology to enable consistent and repeatable validation to be performed early, supporting timely corrective action and minimizing or eliminating surprises.SQS’s PLM testing framework is used by Siemens PLM Software’s Teamcenter development and maintenance groups to test and validate Teamcenter. Major manufacturing companies use SQS to ensure the quality of their PLM upgrades and implementations.

Bertrand Sicot, Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS CEO, hosted a briefing with industry analysts September 5, 2014, to discuss the launch of SOLIDWORKS 2015.CIMdata views the improvements made to SOLIDWORKS 2015 and the expanded solution portfolio as important advances for the SOLIDWORKS user community. Users can leverage the Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE capabilities for collaboration and search—including graphical search. With SOLIDWORKS 2015 working together with conceptual design for front-end ideation, electrical design, simulation, inspection, and model-based definition for downstream manufacturing, users are assured of moving forward with a highly competitive suite of tools.

The Siemens PLM Software Analyst Conference, held on September 3 & 4 in Boston, MA, brought PLM industry analysts and media professionals together from around the world to hear what Siemens is doing today and their views and vision on where the PLM market is going. CIMdata has followed Siemens and its steady progress in developing and delivering a broad and deep set of PLM-enabling solutions for much of CIMdata’s 30 years. CIMdata views Siemens capabilities and offerings like Active Workspace, Industry Catalysts, and the delivery of Teamcenter as their PLM platform enabler to be an excellent demonstration of Siemens’ solution that should deliver quantifiable value to their customers. We expect that companies in multiple industries will benefit from deploying them. Since the acquisition by Siemens AG, the PLM group has been able to expand its capabilities by both incorporating technology from other Siemens AG groups as well as by leveraging and integrating the products and solutions of those groups to deliver a very comprehensive suite of manufacturing solutions to their customers. CIMdata believes that Siemens and its customers have gained significant value from this merging of capabilities and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Over the last several years, many large SIs have had mixed results both in PLM and in their broader services businesses. A bright spot has been Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global firm that posted a 16 percent gain to $13.4 billion in its most recent fiscal year. With headquarters in India, TCS has over 300,000 consultants (of 118 nationalities) that work in 46 countries around the world. Its PLM-specific consulting has also produced solid gains, in part through its alliances with Dassault Systèmes, Oracle, SAP, and Siemens PLM Software. CIMdata had the opportunity to learn more about the firm at its 10th Annual Innovation Forum in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 21 through 22, 2014, and at a subsequent visit to its Silicon Valley Customer Collaboration Center (SVCCC) in Santa Clara, California.

Increasing innovation and supporting global access to 3D product design information is a challenge for every company. HP’s PLM eVDI provides a solution that can help any company improve their business outcomes, ensure responsiveness, protect their intellectual property, and take advantage of new and secure mobility options.

Autodesk’s Design, Lifecycle, and Simulation team recently hosted a one-day industry analyst event to update the community on their evolving strategy for the Simulation and Analysis market and on their specific plans for the NEi Nastran technology in the context of that product strategy.

Increasing innovation is a top priority among CEOs today. Most recognize the importance of managing the requirements-gathering phase of product design to support innovation. It is also clear that gathering requirements and tracking them throughout the product design process can have a positive impact on product innovation. How to do this remains an elusive goal for many companies. The Oracle Innovation Management solution supports innovation by bridging the gap between innovative ideas and execution. In CIMdata’s view, this type of solution may lead to more innovative products with greater profitability and more happy customers.

Dassault Systèmes held their annual SIMULIA Community Conference, an international event, from May 19-22 in Providence, Rhode Island. The agenda included keynote briefings from Bernard Charlès, CEO of Dassault Systèmes, as well as the executive team of SIMULIA including Scott Berkey, CEO of Dassault Systèmes Simulia Corporation.

The Accelrys user conference was held May 21-23 in Washington, D.C. A crowd of over 300 customers, partners, and Dassault Systèmes staff attended to discuss the latest products and services from Accelrys as well as industrial and academic applications presented by customers. At this event Dassault Systèmes introduced its latest brand, BIOVIA, which is focused on supporting the development of biological and chemical materials at the molecular level. BIOVIA consists of Accelrys, the recently acquired scientific innovation lifecycle management (SILM) solution provider, and results from an internal research project, BioIntelligence.

On the 11th and 12th of June, Dassault Systèmes held their annual industry analyst event at their worldwide headquarters in Velizy, France. The event was attended by a few dozen industry analysts, twelve of whom were at the event for the first time. Bernard Charlès, Dassault Systèmes’ CEO and President, energetically kicked off the event by clearly articulating the company’s vision and commitment to building a robust and industry leading 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. Mr. Charlès reminded the group that Dassault Systèmes began this platform journey in 2004 as an internal set of secret projects and then made their intentions public in 2012. It is clear that the journey that they have embarked on is long and deliberate. They aren’t trying to just design and deliver the next PLM-enabling solutions; they are on a journey that they hope changes what PLM is and what it will be well into the future.