PTC Live: CAD, PLM, Services, IoT – lots of IoT
PTC had a tough balancing act last week at its Live Global event: act like a CAD and PLM company for the majority of the attendees, help a smaller but vibrant community of manufacturers develop their services delivery capabilities while also pulling us towards the...
GrabCAD’s PDM Workbench: design collaboration in minutes
I know you're all looking for posts on this week's PTC Live Global and PTC Live Service Exchange, and I'll get to those, but I need to fill you in on a little shindig GrabCAD threw on Tuesday. You know about GrabCAD, right? It's a library of nearly 500,000 CAD parts,...
How do you know when it’s time to update?
I'm at PTC Live Global in Boston right now and we've had no lack of news: PTC announced an acquisition (Atego, more soon), Creo 3.0 and Creo Elements/Direct 19.0, agreements and collaborations galore. In today's post over at the PTC Creo blog, I pick my favorites from...
Morning coffee: patents, deals and Björk
Welcome to a shiny new week! I'll be at PTC Live Global, the first user conference that will feature PTC's combo of CAD + PLM + ALM + SLM+ IoT + well, whatever other initials come out of it. Last year, we all learned about "servitization", creating bundles that...
ESI’s Q1 down year/year, partly due to planned change in services
ESI Group reported today that fiscal Q1 2014/5 revenue was down 7% to €20.1 million, in part because of the company's intention focus on high value services engagements that are likely to lead to future license sales. Had services revenue held constant with last year,...
They did it again: HXGN acquires data & content database provider
Hexagon continues its acquisitive ways, adding North West Geomatics Ltd. (aka North West Group) to its quiver of geospatial data providers. North West also created Valtus, a database that enables the integration of content through a hosting service. Valtus appears to...
Quickie: Autodesk acquires Bitsquid, adds real-time 3D vis to design
What a day! Autodesk just announced that it has acquired Bitsquid, the Swedish creator of the Bitsquid game engine. Not surprising, this bolsters Autodesk's offering for the game development industry but it also has potential in other markets that can benefit from...
Quickie: Autodesk’s Derrek Cooper on NEi acquisition
If you recall, Autodesk didn't really say that it had acquired certain assets of NEi Software last month -- the news leaked out as customers found out from NEi partners and resellers. Last week, Autodesk's Derrek Cooper blogged about it and gave some hints about...
Mining heats up: Trimble acquires MIS
As you know, I was at Hexagon's user conference, HxGN LIVE, last week, where mining was featured as an emerging market for Hexagon's offerings. Hexagon's team told investors that mining is an underserved industry, technologically, and that even in times when new mines...
SIMULIA SCC highlights simulation in an enterprise context
It took an entire day, but Dassault Systèmes (DS) finally got its point across during the last session of day one at the SIMULIA Customer Conference 2014: the 3DExperience platform may be new, but is comprised of the same Abaqus CAE, iSIGHT, Tosca and other products...
Solid Edge U showcases cool toys and happy customers
It's a sleepy Tuesday morning in Atlanta. Siemens PLM and Solid Edge welcome us to the latest iteration of Solid Edge University, etcetera etcetera etcetera. Just as we're settling in for some serious corporate presentations, in zooms a guy on a go-kart -- but it's...
Quickies: Hexagon & Trimble acquire to extend their capabilities
I'm at the Hexagon user conference, HxGN LIVE in Las Vegas, and you know the event wouldn't be complete without an announcement or two or ten. Yesterday, Hexagon announced that it has acquired iLab Sistemas, a Brazilian provider of planning and optimization solutions...
Musings on analyst craftsmen and the rest of the world
Many old-school simulation experts are craftsmen, honing their meshes and input decks to fine precision. That competence is often stashed in simulation centers of excellence that act as internal service bureaus for project teams -- great for the kind of simulation...
Morning coffee: BRIC troubles and Reading Rainbows
Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend, and forgot all about work. Let’s get caught up with recent news. It’s the Economy … The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were the engines of the world's economic growth and a huge target of opportunity for...
Exa’s Q1 falls short — but for a good reason
Exa announced Q1 results on Thursday that were good, not great. Revenue was just under $14 million, at the low end of the company's guidance but still up 10% year/year (y/y). Exa CEO Steve Remondi told investors that a few passenger car and heavy vehicle projects in...
AVEVA’s marine woes may be over, eyes acquisitions in FY15
New product gaining traction in the market? Check. Problematic end-industry apparently reviving? Looks like it. Costs under control? Yup. More acquisitions? Yes, please. AVEVA's recent earnings announcement hit all the high notes and investors loved it, sending the...
Autodesk’s Q1 a study in moving parts
There's been no shortage of news from Autodesk lately, what with new licensing options, acquisitions, 3D printing and an RV touring the US*, so it's no surprise that the Q1 earning call tried to put it all in perspective. CEO Carl Bass addressed the 3D printing hoopla...
Morning coffee: deals, cars and snowmelt. Yup.
So here we are, just a few days from June. Where does the time go? It's full-on user conference season so there's more to cover than ever -- let's get right to it. It’s the Economy … ... And it continues to send and receive mixed signals. One report out last...
Happy Memorial Day!
Today is Memorial Day, when the US pauses to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to the country. Unofficially, it's also the long weekend that kicks off summer, when many people eat too much at the first cookout of the season. If you're a former or...
Rev up to trounce the competition!
Are you using the latest version of the software you rely on to do your job? Why not? You'd be amazed at how often I talk with users who are a couple of revs back -- they tell me they don't have the money to upgrade, or they're too busy, they don't want to learn...
