PTC says bookings for its product lifecycle management software-as-a-service solution have doubled over the last four quarters.
This expansion complements PTC’s new subscription model and aligns with the recent findings of a cloud PLM study conducted by CIMdata, an independent global strategic management consulting and research authority focused on the PLM market.
According to CIMdata, 95 percent of current and prospective cloud PLM customers surveyed plan to purchase PLM Cloud in the next 24 months, while 72 percent plan to in just 13 months.
The Cloud PLM study also found that those customers are most interested in the convenience and economic advantages of the cloud.
Faster time to value, ability to scale, and ease of management were among the top benefits industrial customers hope to achieve from cloud-based PLM.
Kevin Wrenn, divisional general manager, PLM, PTC, says: “Technology is changing, and our customers are evolving.
“They are going through a digital transformation and want to get to market faster and bring down costs.
“They see PLM Cloud and our subscription licensing model as a way of getting there, especially as we continue to increase flexibility and add capabilities to our PLM Cloud offering.
“Our subscription PLM Cloud solution offers customers greater functionality, scalability, and security than if they purchase PLM in other ways.”
Based on its Windchill software, the PTC PLM Cloud SaaS solution is said to deliver a broad set of capabilities.
In addition, PTC says its active user subscription pricing model offers companies the flexibility to scale based on the needs of the business.
One of the top benefits cited in the CIMdata study was reduced capital expenditure, and PTC PLM Cloud enables companies to improve workflows without heavy IT overhead or resource commitments.
Vincent Guercio, vice president of engineering, RAB Lighting, says: “Our main objective when deciding for PTC PLM in the Cloud was to have a central repository of up-to-date product information and efficient delivery of that data to customers and technical support staff, but at the same time to minimize the burden on IT while maintaining a predictable monthly cost.
“PTC PLM Cloud is meeting our goals.”
Enterprise collaboration is considered a critical function of PLM software in order to enable innovation, according to CIMdata and feedback from PTC’s customers.
The PTC PLM Cloud SaaS solution enables companies to drive business growth by allowing them to securely share product knowledge throughout the product development value chain.
This includes internal teams, such as engineering, design, manufacturing, and procurement, as well as external stakeholders, such as partners, suppliers, and even customers who are a critical part of the product development process.
To support further collaboration, PTC’s PLM Cloud solution includes ThingWorx Navigate software.
The ThingWorx Navigate apps can easily be tailored and deployed across the enterprise, and extended to include data from other systems of record and smart, connected products.
This increased collaboration across the value chain strengthens the relationship between the vendor and its stakeholders.
While industrial companies see the value of Cloud PLM, the CIMdata report also cited real and perceived issues that may slow adoption by some companies, including the ability to meet specific integration, capability, performance, and security needs.
Specifically, almost half of participants cited the integration of Cloud PLM and enterprise systems as their primary concern.
In addition to assuming responsibility for PLM upgrades and updates, PTC offers additional cloud migration services, value ready deployments, and systems integration capabilities to enable organizations to reduce the time to value.
Stan Przybylinski, vice president, CIMdata, says: “With PLM Cloud, the time and investment that otherwise might have gone into basic integrations and system maintenance can instead be invested into enabling new organizational capabilities and efficiencies.
“PTC’s focus on continually adding new capabilities, such as enterprise collaboration and systems integration, enables customers to derive benefits as their cloud solution evolves and matures.”
