Trying to fit your organization's processes into out-of-the-box software and then customizing it can mean that upgrades are challenging. The result can be instant "legacy." We can show you a better approach.

Recent announcements of new strategic partnerships are evidence of the success of Aras' open, resilient platform. In this blog you'll discover what it means to be "powered by Aras."

Out-of-the-box (OOTB) is dead. If your employees are mindlessly walking around, unable to use data to get their jobs done because you have an old customized OOTB system, you have a serious problem. That’s right: PLM zombies. The root cause for ...

While vacationing in Maine, I learned a saying of theirs: “You can’t get there from here.” This is their way of relaying the impossibility of traveling from point A to point B in a direct path due to various ponds (you might call th...

Last week, I read an interesting article on Engineering.com by Verdi Ogewell entitled, Telecom Giant Ericsson Halts Its PLM Project with Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE. It reminded me of a quote from science fiction author, Larry Niven: “The din...

According to the consulting firm, Kalypso, “eight out of 10 dollars spent on PLM go to systems maintenance support.” And you thought your license costs were high? I talk to many members of our community as well as many prospective custome...

Most companies spend the vast majority of their IT budgets on sustaining operations—ongoing maintenance and administrative tasks like maintaining systems, availability, applying upgrades, fixes, patches, etc. Just “keeping the lights on&r...

The recent Boeing 737 crashes caused me to look up other product failures, a few of which I’ve worked on after-the-fact. Product failures are a regular occurrence, but I think many of us, myself included, are somewhat desensitized to them becau...

According the Gartner’s 2018 CIO Survey, 46% of CIOs believe culture is their number one barrier to achieving successful digital transformations. While technology changes virtually every second, human nature, maybe not quite so fast. Looking up...

The other night in our recently purchased home, I was explaining to my daughter why there was a connection for a phone line in the corner of the kitchen. Her response was, “Why put a phone on a wall?” I attempted to explain to her what it...

Throughout its history, PLM implementations have fallen woefully short of their intended vision. These systems were largely chosen on the basis of their breadth and depth of functionality and were intended to manage an organization’s product th...

Innovation can be defined as the application of better methods, products, or solutions that meet new requirements—in other words, it is change. New requirements generally must be met with new ideas, but where are new ideas most often cooked up?...

Last year, I posted a blog, Out-of-the-Box is a PLM Fantasy, which apparently struck a nerve. The response to the blog was both overwhelming and positive, but more interesting was its popularity with the other PLM vendors. The simple message was that…

Be honest—are your users sick of playing PLM games with you? Perhaps this will help. It’s Santa’s PLM Naughty or Nice List, and of course, he checked it twice. Rest assured it’s been validated. Open and published APIs? If yo...

We live in an era where highly connected global markets and technology are transforming our economy. In response, many companies are attempting to digitally transform. IDC Forecasts that worldwide spending on Digital Transformation will reach $1...

The main thing to avoid when doing a PLM upgrade is the upgrade itself—it’s a waste. If the technology can’t be downloaded with the tap of a finger, which currently isn’t the case with most enterprise applications like PLM, th...

If your PLM system isn’t meeting customer expectations, well, you’re not alone. As any relationship expert will tell you, the first step is to openly discuss the issues with your PLM partner. But does that conversation still leave you fee...

Today, global organizations are rethinking how they use product data. They’re turning to more open and flexible approaches to creating a more digitally connected enterprise, attempting to use product data across the entire lifecycle to drive th...

So, you want to dress up for failure on Halloween? Try Legacy PLM. It’s not a new concept, but can be extremely frightening. To paraphrase Johnny Depp’s Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow, “Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous a...

In a recent blog, Acquisitions and The Famous Platform Mojo, I responded to an excellent question Oleg Shilovitsky raised in his blog entitled “Will Aras Lose Its Mojo or Develop a New Way to Acquire Companies?” Oleg essentially points ou...

“Companies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving too slow.” – Reed Hastings, Netflix We live in a time of unparalleled innovation and disruption. Since 2000, more than half of the Fortune 500 have gone...

Whether you have one PLM system, have spent a decade trying to deploy one, or have fifty, PLM can kill you. I’m going to focus on the hoarders. You know who you are—you wake up in the middle of the night with a hankering for just one more...

Every now and then, someone whose opinion I respect will mention Out-of-the-Box (OOTB) in PLM as a trend. It’s not a trend—it’s a fantasy. Anyone that has been around PLM for any period of time is aware of ugly prolonged deployments...

We live in a time of unprecedented disruptive innovation—the destruction of those unable to compete and the emergence of smart, connected products and services. At the heart of this continuously accelerating race to innovation is the need to su...

A bigger boat…OR…does Chief Brody need a flexible Product Innovation Platform.