AU 2023: Focus on platforms, granularity and AI
Ah, Autodesk University. Thousands of people and too few escalators. Designers and makers and architects and construction teams, all in one place. Las Vegas, usually prettying itself up for holiday visitors at this time of year, was instead prepping for a Formula One...
AVEVA World showcases connection of data, functions, people
Let’s face it: AVEVA is fascinating. It started 50 years ago as a Cadcentre, a spinout from the UK's Cambridge University. It was a sleepy tech company for a long time, then maybe 10 years ago, it got noticed. Schneider Electric did/didn’t/partly acquired the company,...
Bentley YII 2023 highlights spectacular projects, reinforces data stewardship
How to describe Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure (YII)? It’s a chance for the AEC world’s media to hear from some of the most innovative infrastructure projects on the planet, how they use technology from Bentley Systems and others to bring these assets to life, and...
Nemetschek goes all in on dTwins
When I was with Graphisoft last month, I had the chance to speak with Graphisoft CEO Huw Roberts and Nemetschek’s César Rodriguez about Nemetschek’s vision of the future, one in which its brands are better integrated (while remaining open to outside third parties) and...
Graphisoft’s Archicad 27 aims to put the fun back into BIM
Last month, I spent time with the Graphisoft team in Budapest, ostensibly for the launch of the newest version of Archicad (27, of those keeping count) but really to get a glimpse into what the team there sees as the main issues facing architects, designers and their...
Another ESI update: new CEO, Olfa Zorgati, to manage rest of acquisition
Remember how I wrote yesterday that it seemed nothing would happen in Keysight Technology's acquisition of ESI Group since it was now in the hands of regulators? I couldn't have been more wrong. As expected, ESI's board told regulators that it approved the acquisition...
Quick update: Acquisition of ESI is one step closer
On Friday, ESI Group and Keysight Technologies announced that Keysight has now acquired a controlling stake in ESI, and that Keysight plans to file with French regulators to acquire the rest. As of Friday, Keysight owned nearly 51% of ESI's share capital and 56% of...
4+1 on a Wednesday: Autodesk, Maya HTT, BAE Systems and PTC acquire — plus a thank you for a safe landing
I spent the last month traveling, going to Graphisoft’s Archicad 27 launch in Budapest, Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure in Singapore, and AVEVA World in San Francisco —and exploring in Japan— and will tell you about each of those as I can; I’m still digging out from...
Bentley’s Seequent amps “rock to revenue” value prop, acquires geothermal simulation solution
Bentley Systems' Seequent is very cool. And it just got cooler by acquiring Flow State Solutions, maker of the geothermal reservoir simulation solution, Volsung. Recall that Seequent Seequent makes solutions for geological and geophysical modeling, geotechnical...
Another week, another CAE acquisition – this time ZWSOFT + PHOENICS
I admit, I did not see this one coming: ZWSOFT announced (here) that it had acquired Concentration, Heat and Momentum Limited (CHAM), maker of the PHOENICS CFD solution. You likely know ZWSOFT. They make the 2D ZWCAD and 3D ZW3D solutions, among others, that compete...
Altair acquires OmniQuest, maker of Genesis
Just across the newswire (here), Altair announced that it has acquired OmniQuest, a company you may know by its former name, Vanderplaats R&D, maker of the Genesis structural analysis and optimization solution. Altair CEO Jim Scapa said in the announcement that...
Update: Stratasys + Desktop Metal = not happening
Stratasys held its shareholder meeting today, and, as predicted, management couldn’t muster the votes to approve the combination with Desktop Metal. As a result, Dov Ofer, Chairman of Stratasys’ Board of Directors, said, “We have decided to undertake a comprehensive...
5 on a Wednesday: Additive merger mania continues, news from the world of fashion and retail, Hexagon supports manufacturing startups
There is so much going on right now that it’s hard to keep up. Here are a few things I’m watching: The saga of 3D Systems’ possible merger with Stratasys is still ongoing. Stratasys and Desktop Metal have their shareholder meetings tomorrow, so we’ll learn whether...
A quick update on the Additive Ball
Remember how last month there was a will they/won’t they dance going on in the world of additive manufacturing? Well, the dance continues, with news on several fronts. To recap: Desktop Metal and Stratasys had planned a merger, then another company stepped in to say...
How close are we, really, to AI in PLM?
(Newsletter subscribers: sorry if you're seeing this twice. The first one went out with weird formatting.) Did you hear the news yesterday? My local radio station advised me NOT to rely on Siri and Alexa for help if I need to perform CPR (cardio-pulmonary...
Quickie: PTC announces CEO change; Rockwell sells its stake in PTC
Earnings season rolls along, and I will eventually get to capsules covering PLMish results (mixed so far, nothing horrible), but there are two PTC items to cover outside of earnings. The first is that PTC has announced that current CEO Jim Heppelmann will step down...
Partnering up at the Additive Ball
Have you kept up with the Stratasys + Desktop Metal + 3D Systems + Nano Dimension saga? It’s been a captivating will they/won’t they that the striking Hollywood writers might want to turn into a movie when they’re back in the office … 3D printing, aka additive...
4 on a Monday: ESI to become part of Keysight Technologies; Hexagon and Cadence acquire; and the cost of AI to you and the developer
ESI announced that Keysight Technologies would acquire it in two stages for about EU 913 million. For those keeping track, that’s roughly a 6.5x revenue multiple. Who? Keysight had revenue of $5.4 billion in 2022, roughly half from commercial communications companies,...
The PLMish VAR economy: mixed Q2 so far
As PLMish earnings start, it’s helpful to look at the results reported by the (very few) publicly traded value-added resellers (VARs). They’re the canary in the coal mine, on the front lines with the buyers of PLMish solutions. They’re also a middleman, buffeted by...
And we’re off: Sandvik reports 9th consecutive quarter of revenue growth
It’s that time again: PLMish earnings season. If you recall, a year ago, we heard of companies winding down their businesses and exiting operations in Russia, often at a considerable cost in lost sales and asset write-downs. What will this year’s Q2 results bring?...
