Autodesk Q4: things are looking up
I am fascinated by the varying types of spin put on earnings releases. Autodesk released what are really quite positive year-end results but one media headline read only “Autodesk FY10 revenue down 26%.” True, but not even the tip of the news iceberg and reflecting...
PTC’s swagger is back
PTC held their annual media and analyst day on the day “Snowmaggedon” was supposed to hit the Boston area. It amounted to not much of anything but did keep a few participants and a speaker or two away, and sent several people scurrying by mid-afternoon. Those of us...
Dassault Systèmes: Done with 2009, ambitious for 2020
Dassault Systèmes reported results last week that showed revenue declined in all major products lines and all geographies, with the company’s large installed base providing a nice cushion of recurring revenue that forestalled an even more dramatic decline. DS has put...
Avatech looking up and out
Avatech Solutions yesterday announced results for its second fiscal quarter 2010 (ended December 31, 2009). Like its peers, Avatech saw FQ2 revenue far below last year’s level but on a flattening trajectory - perhaps signaling that the worst of the recession is over....
Measuring: How much is that customer costing you?
This is the second in a series of articles exploring business metrics and their usefulness in the engineering software space. In the last post, we covered using overall market data to measure success. This post discusses the cost of acquiring and keeping customers....
Dassault Systèmes Q4: slow recovery
Dassault Systèmes’ earnings call is in an hour, so this is all gleaned from the materials released earlier today. Much more color commentary coming later:For Q4, • total revenue was €339.0 million, down 11% as reported from a year ago, but up 16% from Q3. For the sake...
AspenTech reports some improvement, relists
Aspen Technology today announced results for its second quarter of fiscal 2010. AspenTech is in the midst of a painful transition from a typical perpetual license model, where a large upfront new license payment is followed by much smaller periodic maintenance...
Poor performance leads to management shakeup at SAP
SAP announced over the weekend that CEO Leo Apotheker was resigning, effective immediately, and that Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development, and Bill McDermott, in charge of field operations, would assume the roles of co-CEO.The change is perhaps not a...
Measuring: Are you #1 or #2?
This is the second in a series of posts exploring business metrics and their usefulness in the engineering software space. This article focuses on two types of external metrics companies can use to measure their market success: market share and category penetration....
You get what you measure
An interesting tweet came across the Twitter timeline today: “Most important reason to measure - to know what's working and what's not“ from @abelniak retweeting @amyblack and it got me thinking. Knowing what’s working and what isn’t is probably the most critical part...
Discount pricing: A bad idea
Note, 02 February 2010: Since posting this yesterday, I’ve been informed by Kubotek that these deals were for 2009, and are no longer offered. Check with them for current offerings and pricing. Kubotek also tells me that they an “awesome year end and the best year...
Social media changes some of the rules
In business school we were taught that businesses should engage with prospects in a systematic, organized way, moving them through a standard set of steps to purchase:awareness --> consideration --> preference --> trial --> purchase.The Internet and the access is...
PTC blows by targets in FQ1, ups guidance for the year
As previewed last night, PTC announced startlingly strong results for the December quarter, 2009. To recap, total revenue was up 8%, led by a very strong rebound in license revenue. Not surprising, maintenance revenue was down, since it’s driven by license sales in...
PTC reports solid December quarter, license up 48%
PTC just reported results for the fiscal first quarter. Quick points: • Q1 revenue of $258 million, up 8%, driven by license growth of 48% • PLM license revenue was $45 million, up 143% year-over-year • PTC reports a slight year-over-year decline in maintenance and...
Mentor Graphics trying to make a splash with CFD
Mentor Graphics bought boutique CFD house Flomerics in 2008 to strengthen its offerings in the printed circuit board (PCB) and accelerate its entrance into markets outside the traditional (and volatile) electronics space. Before it became Mentor Graphics’ Mechanical...
AVEVA says recent performance is “Satisfactory”
In the opening salvo of earnings reports in the greater PLM universe, AVEVA Group today issued an interim statement saying that its performance since October 2009 is “satisfactory” as the company has seen resilience in the oil, gas and power segments, especially in...
SAP blinks, delays maintenance hike
You just gotta love spin: “In a demonstration of its commitment to customer satisfaction, SAP [on January 14] announced the introduction of a comprehensive, tiered support model” that leaves 2010 pricing at 2009 levels. Recall that SAP tried to move all customers to a...
2009: The year the buyer/vendor balance shifted
As we look back on 2009, it becomes apparent that the single story of the year might have been “doing more with less”. For too many companies, this meant closing plants, reducing their workforce and cutting costs wherever possible. CIOs were charged with cutting IT...
Are you social?
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about PLM’s efforts to engage in social media, so it’s time for an update. On a somewhat depressing note, not that much has changed. Yet. And that’s the good news: a number of PLM companies are still in the watching phase, trying...
CAE to rebound in 2010, up 8%
Forrester Research yesterday gave a rosy forecast for tech spending in 2010, saying in a press release that “global IT spending, which dropped 8.9 percent last year, will rise 8.1 percent in 2010 to more than $1.6 trillion.” Forrester sees spending on computer...
