Big Blue moves PLM muscle from Dassault to UGS

IBM and UGS will now jointly market to IBM’s business partners to sell and support Teamcenter Express – the mid-market configuration of Teamcenter PLM – software and services in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and China. And remember, in IBM terms SMEs can be very large indeed as well as small. Steve Solazzo, general manager for mid-market at IBM, doesn’t comment on the Dassault situation. He simply says: “This agreement is another important step in our strategy of delivering innovative, industry-focused business and technology solutions designed specifically for the SMB market.” And John Graham, executive vice president of global sales and services at UGS, adds: “More companies trust UGS to manage their product knowledge than the next three competitors combined. We already create or manage more than 40% of the world’s 3D data with our open cPDM [collaborative product data management] technology. Working closely with IBM … and IBM’s business partners will extend that leadership.” Politics aside, this will be interesting for engineering SMEs. Obviously, Teamcenter Express integrates well with UGS own CAD applications (Solid Edge and NX) but it also works with Catia V5, Pro/Engineer Wildfire, AutoCAD, Inventor and SolidWorks – so there’s good openness. Additionally, there’s preconfigured best practice technology for the machinery, automotive, aerospace and defence industries – meaning rapid paths to the various goals of PLM. What’s more, an expanded version of Teamcenter Express specifically for IBM customers, is now scheduled to be available some time this spring.