PLMjobs.com – PLM coming of age?

I recently received an email from one of the guys at PLMjobs.com – the dedicated PLM job board launched in May. They were asking if I would mind giving them a link. Even though I had only just launched this blog it seemed a reasonable enough request given that I think it’s important and relevant.

However, to me this signals a shift – well, perhaps not a shift, but certainly an insight into the strength of the PLM market. The recruitment market is a good indicator of so many factors in industry. Recruitment professionals often know the state of an economy or an industry well before anyone else. They see the signs first hand. They monitor shifts in salary, they notice skill shortages, they notice slowdowns almost immediately – well before any government figures are released. And on the other side of this is that they notice growth, and exploit areas that are strong.

The advent of the job board, and the niche job board is another great indicator of the health of an individual sector. The fact that a niche site, dedicated purely to PLM, has been launched can only be a sign that PLM is in very good fettle. I’m also reliably informed that Artemis Resources, the PLM, PDM & CAD headhunter, is going from strength to strength, recently opening additional offices in the US.

A quick glance at the PLMjobs.com site shows that they have got some heavy hitters in the PLM space on board already – Dassault Systemes, Siemens PLM Software, INCAT, CENIT, Technia. I’ve been promised an interview with one of the PLMjobs Directors, Will Milling, once they’ve launched their German language site and India specific board.

Are people any clearer on what PLM actually is?

Sorry guys – I know this is done to death, and yes, I too am (almost) fed up with the debate about what PLM really is. But, like all acronyms, they are limiting and they evolve.

Unquestionably, PLM is no longer just techie vernacular that few others understand – PLM is now about strategic decisions made in the boardroom, about how every stage in the life of a product is managed. We all know that, you say. Yes, but the distinction I am making is that the technical implementation side of it, while paramount, isn’t what people think of when they think PLM. Now it stands for best practise, increased profitability, improving engineering methods, innovation. PLM has always been a catch-all acronym, but it has evolved beyond the 3 words for which it stands.

I voiced this opinion at a PLM Summit a couple of months back, perhaps as incoherently and was told I was being ‘wishy washy’. So, round two…

Is PLM consolidation a good thing?

The last couple of years have seen an ongoing consolidation of the PLM market. The purchase of Agile by Oracle, UGS by Siemens, CoCreate by PTC etc.

What impact has this had on the customer experience?

Well, firstly I don't think it's fair to lump all of these deals together - they are different beasts. Siemens, at first glance, seems to have had the most trouble free integration, or so my inside sources suggest! Oracle are a supremely organised company, so perhaps they will address a few of the inconsistency niggles that frustrated some Agile customers.

Are there any real concerns with this consolidation process? Well, to date, not really. The advantages of being able to implement an end-to-end solution that 'fits together nicely' shouldn't be underestimated. Far too frequently PLM selection has been based on existing ERP or CAD installations - not necessarily on the most appropriate PLM solution. Integration into these larger companies able to offer a complete solution will surely pay dividends.

Perhaps the only question mark is whether the smaller customers will suffer...will these increasingly large PLM vendors have the patience to manage smaller less profitable installations? Or will this create opportunities to the increasing number of vendors catering to the SME market?

Interestingly, in May's Managing Automation magazine, Dassault USA CEO Joel Lemke predicted that the number of tier-one vendors of product lifecycle management software would boil down to three in the next three to four years - Dassault Systemes, Oracle, and SAP - with SAP the most likely aquirer of PTC and Autodesk.

That remains to be seen, but it doesn't seem wholly unrealistic.

Would love to hear from someone who has been at the front-end of these takeovers...