On one hand, we're getting promising news about the growth in manufacturing in the US and Asia (but with Europe a little less confident).  On the other hand, the words "double-dip recession" are in the business press every day.

Gartner is recommending that CIOs prepare for a potential round two of the global recession:

"In 2008, most CIOs were forgiven for being unprepared to deal with the global recession, but if another recession unfolds in the next 12 to 18 months, no CIO will be forgiven for being unprepared a second time," Gartner said in a statement earlier this month reported in Computerworld.

So what's a CIO to do?  Do you stay ultra-conservative and risk sacrificing growth? Or do you cross your fingers, make expensive long-term bets and go all in?  The answer is… neither.

Smart executives are making decisions that enable their companies to optimize resources for growth today, and plan for a less than certain future without putting the company in a financial situation that could hurt earnings.  Easier said than done?  Not really.

Fueling new product development that drives growth has moved up on the priority list. If investing in a PLM solution is part of your company's strategy, then it probably makes sense to consider the enterprise open source approach to PLM.

What we're doing here at Aras offers a way for global companies to leverage advanced PLM technology without the substantial capital investment that is traditionally required for PLM licenses along with a series of other benefits that reduce your company's financial risk.

To better understand how the costs stack up between Aras and the other major PLM systems a recent article by AESSiS does a good job of breaking out the cost structure in Cost of Ownership Comparison between Aras and Other PLM Solutions.

IMHO it's only wise to set up your PLM strategy for success regardless of what the future might bring.

What's your take? Are you trapped between doing nothing and writing a big check for PLM? Or is there a way forward for your PLM strategy that will deliver the results need to drive growth in the face of uncertainty?

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