Autodesk adds to its renderers, buys Solid Angle

Autodesk adds to its renderers, buys Solid Angle

Apr 18, 2016 | Hot Topics

Autodesk just announced that it has acquired Solid Angle, maker of Arnold, a ray-tracing image renderer for high-quality 3D animation and visual effects creation. Arnold was co-developed with Sony Pictures Imageworks and is now their main renderer. Autodesk says...
Quickie: Yokogawa closes KBC acquisition

Quickie: Yokogawa closes KBC acquisition

Apr 13, 2016 | Hot Topics

Back in February, Yokogawa outbid AspenTech for KBC, the UK software developer and consultancy focused on operational optimization for the oil and gas industry. The deal needed to be approved by UK regulators, which happened on April 5, and on April 7 both boards of...
AVEVA’s shares up 10% on “in line with expectations” announcement

Altair makes waves, snaps up AWE

Apr 12, 2016 | Hot Topics

Altair is one of my favorite companies — but I don’t get the chance to write about it as often as I’d like because it’s not publicly traded and so we miss those four chances per year to take a deeper dive. Why do I admire them? Because they...
Are you on a path to obsolescence?

Are you on a path to obsolescence?

Apr 10, 2016 | Hot Topics

No, not you personally but your IT? How many different backup types do you have, cluttering up your environment? Just from my desk, I can see audio and data cartridges, CDs, DVDs. and USB drives of all sorts. In my filing cabinets, I’m pretty sure I’ve got...
AVEVA’s shares up 10% on “in line with expectations” announcement

Geometric to be acquired by HCL

Apr 4, 2016 | Hot Topics

When we think of PLM, we tend to focus on the biggest of the big: Siemens PLM, Dassault Systemes, Autodesk, ANSYS, and so on — but these companies rely on a host of component developers, outside software development resources and integration partners to bring...
AVEVA’s shares up 10% on “in line with expectations” announcement

Aconex & Hexagon acquisitions keep up the pace in AEC

Mar 21, 2016 | Hot Topics

The world of engineering software had blistering pace of acquisitions at the start of the year, slowed a bit but seems to be picking up steam again. Two came across the wires in the last few days: First, Aconex announced that it is acquiring Conject for €65 million....
Autodesk’s REAL explores capture/compute/create

Autodesk’s REAL explores capture/compute/create

Mar 14, 2016 | Hot Topics

Autodesk’s REAL conference last week was a mashup of technology, both market-ready and in the creation stage, and scientific, artistic and business endeavors that show how why this tech matters. Like last year, it was fascinating; unlike last year, we’re seeing...
AVEVA’s shares up 10% on “in line with expectations” announcement

Exa’s Q4 beats, highlights cloud success

Mar 11, 2016 | Hot Topics

Exa Corp. last night announced results that definitely bucked the trend — recall that ANSYS and DS both reported simulation results that were good but not expectation-beating. Exa’s Q4 revenue was $18.3 million, up 8% year/year as reported and up 13% in...
AVEVA’s shares up 10% on “in line with expectations” announcement

ANSYS’ Q4 shows it’s not immune from subs’ effects

Mar 8, 2016 | Hot Topics

By now you’ve heard that ANSYS had an OK Q4 but still only reported revenue 2015 that was about on par with revenue in 2014. And the forecast for 2016 is, at best, lukewarm. Why? Yes, some of this is macro-economic and currency-related, but ANSYS is also seeing...