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...
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...