DS: Holding steady

Oct 29, 2009 | Hot Topics

Good things come in twos (so far): Dassault Systèmes reported that Q3 performance was as expected, with total revenue of 291.7 million euros and software revenue of 255.6 million euros, both down 8% from a year ago but essentially flat with Q2. Keep in mind that Q3 is...

PTC: Things are looking up!

Oct 28, 2009 | Hot Topics

The good news: things are looking up enough for PTC to forecast actual growth for next year – not couched in terms of “constant currency” or using non-GAAP measures. Actual growth! The bad news, of course, is that 2009 was a dismal year by many measures. PTC...

The DS/IBM deal changes the PLM sector

Oct 27, 2009 | Hot Topics

Regardless of whether you like the deal DS struck to buy the IBM PLM business, it does change the dynamics within the PLM sector. From a competitive perspective, DS will now face the same issues of access that PTC and Autodesk face: can their sales reps get in to see...

Some questions resolved in DS/IBM deal

Oct 27, 2009 | Hot Topics

But some questions remain. First the answers from today’s analyst call. Keep in mind that DS couldn’t answer some of the most pointed questions because IBM PLM is a non-reporting piece of a public company and, as such, DS can’t disclose the unit’s financials. • This...

Largest deal in DS history: buying part of IBM

Oct 27, 2009 | Hot Topics

In the largest deal in its history, Dassault Systèmes announced that it is acquiring the IBM sales and support operations for DS’s PLM application portfolio, including customer contracts and related assets, for approximately $600 million in cash. One stated goal...

Earnings preview: good news ahead?

Oct 26, 2009 | Hot Topics

PTC, Dassault Systèmes (DS) and ANSYS report third quarter earnings over the next ten days, so it’s time for a preview. Each company has kept a tight lid on things, so only insiders know what will be reported but we can look to other company’s reports for...

Three tools to measure Twitter success

Oct 24, 2009 | Hot Topics

Many companies look at hits on a website, clickthroughs from advertising, numbers of “friends” and mentions in blogs (to name just a few) to measure the success of online activities. I’m not sure that these are meaningful, but how can you evaluate success without some...

Innovation = Market Cap?

Oct 23, 2009 | Hot Topics

Does the use of any particular tool lead to recognition by the stock markets? During the opening sessions of the Invention Machine User Group meeting yesterday, VP Marketing Jeff Boehm said that the combined market cap of companies attending the event grew 4.2% in the...

5 billion tweets — and counting

Oct 20, 2009 | Hot Topics

According to Gigatweet, the 5 billionth tweet was delivered sometime today (maybe yesterday – we’re at 5,005,611,937 as I type). That’s a lot of people saying a lot of things, 140 characters at a time.To put this in context, the one billionth tweet was delivered...

Good news from AVEVA

Oct 16, 2009 | Hot Topics

AVEVA Group today gave preliminary information on its results for the six months ended September 30 — and it’s surprisingly good. In a press release, AVEVA says that large new capital projects are hard to come by, but that customers’ existing projects and...