Clues ahead of PLMish earnings season? Or not?
PLMish earnings start tomorrow, when Sandvik reports its second-quarter results. I don’t know what they'll say, but I'm getting questions about PLMish earnings since IBM pre-announced results on Tuesday morning, so let's explore. [Quick refresher: US companies release...
Schneider Electric to acquire Cognite for $3.1billion
Well, well, well. Schneider Electric just announced that it will acquire Cognite Holding in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.1 billion, and will "integrate the industrial artificial intelligence software company's data foundation" into AVEVA. I first came across...
Autodesk’s $3.6B bet on MaintainX for asset operations
Autodesk just announced the largest acquisition in the company’s history: it will acquire MaintainX for $3.6 billion as the starting point for a new Autodesk Operations Solutions division. So many questions: Who? Why? Why now? And, of course, what’s with that huge...
The additive saga continues: Stratasys buys MarkForged
I've written plenty about how technology needs to be timed just right: too early to market and a company expends all its energy and capital on educating that market on why the tech matters; too late, and a company loses the advantage of being seen as cutting edge....
Nemetschek expands Build with HCSS acquisition
Nemetschek just announced that it will acquire Heavy Construction Systems Specialists (HCSS) from private equity firm Thoma Bravo. I know you're all asking, who?? HCSS makes specialized software for civil, infrastructure, and utility contractors. They offer solutions...
Evolution continues: Hexagon buys Waygate
Hexagon continues its reinvention — the PPM spin-off, Octave, won't be complete until May, in all likelihood — today announcing the acquisition of Waygate Technologies for $1.45 billion in cash (about €1.24 billion), in a carve-out from Baker Hughes. Waygate had...
PTC’s Strategic Pivot: Back to the Future – and welcome, Velotic
You might recall PTC’s announcement last year regarding the sale of its ThingWorx and Kepware businesses to TPG for $725 million. Last week, the deal officially closed. While the headline figure is large, it’s not all “cash in hand.” After accounting for a potential...
Hexagon and Cadence complete transfer of design & engineering business
Superquick. Blizzard bearing down, may lose power (but warm and cozy so far). Hexagon and Cadence just announced that completion of the sale of Hexagon's Design & Engineering business (D&E) to Cadence, for a total of around €2.7 billion: something like €1.9...
SaaS isn’t going away—even in the age of AI
I get asked this a lot: "Is SaaS dead?" — and, given that all of the PLMish companies in our space sell their software that way, it's a good question. The whole "SaaS is dead" thing apparently started when Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, said something like this:...
“Flow” wars: Autodesk sues Google over product name
Reuters reported yesterday that Autodesk is suing Google for infringing on its "Flow" trademark and marketing competing AI-enabled tools that, like Autodesk's Flow, are used to make movies, TV shows, and video games. In the complaint, Autodesk says it began using the...