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...
Quickie: Update on Autodesk and NEi
My goodness -- the piece I posted yesterday about Autodesk acquiring certain asset of NEi Software really poked the bear! You've been commenting and emailing like crazy, which leads to this quick update: No, I don't know more that what I originally posted. There are...
Autodesk adds Nastran to its CAE offering
Autodesk confirmed yesterday that it has acquired certain assets of NEi Software, including its flagship Nastran solver. Autodesk isn't ready to say anything about its plans for Nastran but we can speculate that it wants to add its powerful linear and nonlinear as...
Is Hexagon’s strategy starting to pay off?
Hexagon has been on a quite a buying spree lately, adding point solutions for precision agriculture (Arvus) and mine modeling (Mintec), traffic safety (SAFEmine, initially targeted at mines) and multicopters (Aibotix), as well as precise positioning for all sorts of...
Morning coffee: Automotive edition
Welcome to a new week! Spring finally arrived in New England on Saturday and it's hard to concentrate on work this fine day. But it's a busy week, so let's get right to it. I'll be in Atlanta for Solid Edge University and hope to see you there. I'm told that...
ANSYS channel worries, Russia drag down Q1
ANSYS's announcement that it was buying SpaceClaim took the spotlight off its Q1 earnings, but those deserve a look, too. The company reported Q1 revenue of $215 million, up 9% from a year ago, with software revenue up 6% to $126 million and maintenance and services...
Encouraging new license sales lead DS to “decent” Q1 2014
Dassault Systèmes reported Q1 results that were decidedly mixed. Total revenue was up but that growth was largely due to acquisitions -- and, even then, most of the increase was in services, thanks to the RTT acquisition. Unusual for a traditional software company,...
Don’t wait: simulate earlier!
OK, I hear you say: "You keep telling me I should add simulation into my design process. I know, I know, I know, but I JUST DON'T HAVE TIME." You probably do, you just need to approach things a bit differently. Many companies start simulating too late to do much good....
ANSYS buys SpaceClaim (finally!)
Yes, yes, yes, ANSYS announced Q1 results today and we'll get to that. What's really got you buzzing is the second press release out of ANSYS this morning: For those who follow simulation but not CAD, SpaceClaim has ruffled a lot of feathers since 2007 by saying that...
Morning coffee: manufacturing, earnings, ice and … tuna?
Wow, what a week! Let's see: earnings, COFES, earnings, meetings, briefings ... There's lots more coming from me over the next few weeks about COFES and earnings but here are some highlights and news we all need to catch up on. It’s the Economy … Big picture news...
Quickie: DS earnings highlight V6 deployments
Thursday was a complicated day. PTC and Dassault Systèmes announced earrings for the March quarter and I had to leave midday to catch a flight to Phoenix for COFES. I was able to do an extensive post on PTC's earnings (here) but will have to defer a longer article on...
PTC has its eye on the ball: CAD, PLM rev up as SLM leads growth
Once again the Internet of Things dominated PTC's earnings call -- and no wonder: it captures the imagination as a huge opportunity and is a concept that people can understand. As excited as PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann is about ThingWorx, he's quite clear: PTC is still...
Simulation and the value pyramid
One of the questions I get most often from designers and their managers is how to do it all: be a good designer, work like a CAD rock star, and learn simulation. It's a lot to ask of one person and we always wind up talking about how to shift work around to take...
Bentley just shy of $600m in 2013, fastest growth in prof services
Bentley Systems just shared a bit of what it is seeing in the world -- unusual because it's a privately held company and important because it is by far the largest software vendor focused only on AEC. Bentley has published its annual report and held a corporate update...
Tekla acquires Field3D mobile BIM apps
Yesterday, Tekla announced that it has acquired SVS Innovations’ construction business, including the Field3D mobile solution, to strengthen its position in mobile BIM. Field3D apps are available for iPad and iPhone, and enable collaboration between the job site and...
