CIMdata Publishes eBook on Cloud PLM

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - May 16, 2017 - PRLog -- CIMdata, Inc., the leading global PLM strategic management consulting and research firm, announces the publication of an eBook on cloud product lifecycle management (PLM) adoption, the first deliverable from a multi-sponsor collaborative research program on the use of cloud-based solutions to PLM strategies and processes in industrial companies.

This research program focused on the collaborative Product Definition management (cPDm) segment of PLM, defined by CIMdata as the category of data and process management solutions at the core of most industrial PLM implementations. In 2016, CIMdata estimated the cPDm segment at over US$5.7 billion, up more than 6.5% over 2015. At present, a small portion of this estimate is cloud-based, but the segment is poised to grow significantly in the next few years and this research program was designed to help CIMdata and the broader PLM Economy understand this market evolution.

According to Mr. Stan Przybylinski, CIMdata's Vice President of Research, "Cloud-based solutions are a fact of life in many other enterprise software domains, but adoption in the PLM market has been spotty. Helping to better understand why is one of the main goals for this research. This will also be the first step in documenting how and why industrial companies are moving their core product and process development work to cloud-based solutions."

CIMdata enlisted several leading PLM solution and service providers as sponsors of this research: Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, Oracle, PTC, and Siemens PLM Software. The extended research program team will collaborate to help identify the crucial issues facing potential cloud adopters and lessons learned from companies that have made this change.

The research program comprises several elements, including interviews with thought leaders from sponsors and their lead customers published on the CIMdata.com blog: www.CIMdata.com/blog. "This interview series has provided some great insights into both solution provider strategies and their customer actions," stated Mr. Przybylinski. In addition to materials developed with the sponsors, CIMdata will also publish the results more broadly for use by members of the PLM Economy. The blog site also includes a link to the global cloud PLM survey, which will remain open until all interviews have been published.

The first public deliverable of the research program is an eBook, a short, targeted document that highlights the key issues facing adopting organizations. Entitled "Making the Connection: The Path to Cloud PLM" the eBook seeks to frame the debate about cloud-based applications using standard terminology, supporting the discussion with selected data from the survey results and quotes from interviews conducted. "One area we looked at were the 'buzzwords' used by solution providers to try to differentiate themselves. Based on our initial results, our respondents mostly see through that language and are focused on the right issues," claimed Mr. Przybylinski, and "while security ranks high in their list of concerns, integration between cloud offerings and their existing IT infrastructure and applications was their biggest concern." PTC, one of the research Sponsors, will be the first to release their eBook to coincide with their LiveWorx event on May 22-25, 2017 in Boston MA.

To find out more and to download the eBook on Cloud PLM, visit the CIMdata website at http://www.CIMdata.com.