This series of posts assumes you have defined your path to PLM and provides some guidance on how to choose a vendor.

What is a Vendor's Ecosystem (and why should I care...)?
The last post was about vendor size, pointing out that there are advantages to both big and small companies. In particular, small companies are often specialty vendors with focus on a specific industry or business process. One thing to consider, though, is the business that is built around the software solution. In this case, I am not talking about the vendor's business itself, but how many other companies are involved with the customers' solutions. What I call the vendor ecosystem.

Vendors that have a large install base create a services and software industry of their own. For example, look how many consultants and software vendors have solutions aimed at helping a manufacturer (or other company) get more value from their SAP implementation. SAP, in fact, is encouraging companies to extend SAP using their NetWeaver platform to create composite applications (applications built from existing SAP components to cover business processes or capabilities that SAP doesn't provide). They are a clear example of a company that an ecosystem has developed around. There are several components of the vendor ecosystem:

• Complementary Software - These can be add-on solutions like regulatory management. As an example, Synapsis Technology offers EMARS which is a regulatory management solution for product developers and engineers. The solution fits well into Siemens PLM's (formerly UGS) Teamcenter applications. It is also integrated with the Oracle Business Suite. Synapsis also offers a line of PLM products that extend Teamcenter capabilities to make it easier to use and extend it's use into new areas.
• Software Extensions - Like the SAP NetWeaver ecosystem, this is when companies use the vendors' software and technology platform as a base for their own solutions. Sometimes this can be specialization in an industry, such as the apparel solution Aptavis built on PTC's Windchill solution (see note) or the PLM solution for life sciences built by Integware on top of Dassault Systemes' MatrixOne solution.
• Service Companies - Software requires services. Whether it is just the technical implementation, or a full PLM transformation requiring strategy, change management, systems integration, and more in-depth consultation. Companies like Accenture, Deloitte Consulting, and others invest in developing skills in solutions that they can help their customers implement (and that they feel will make good markets for them). Many companies also have value-added resellers (VARs) that combine service, software sales, and sometimes even software extensions.

Is an Ecosystem always Good?
The counter to the need for an ecosystem is that many of the specialty providers will tell you they don't need an ecosystem. Why?

• The system is easy to implement. There is not a lot of money available to consulting firms for easy to implement solutions. I have experienced this one firsthand, where I had a solution that had very little service required, and the systems integrators were not very interested in partnering with our company or supporting our solution.
• The system is relatively complete. There is not a large need to integrate some solutions to other solutions because it does what it needs to do. Specialty solutions may not need as many extensions or enhancements, for example.
• The system is easy to integrate. Companies can build the integration themselves in some cases, or the integration may be provided by the vendor. Web technologies such as XML and SOA have diminished integration challenges, so pre-canned integration is not as necessary as it once was. But the integration challenge is only part technology, you still have to figure out how to align the processes and the data for your business.

How do I find the Vendor's Ecosystem?
One word - Google. The vendor themselves may know their ecosystem and their website may tout their alliances. But if a market has developed around a software solution, I am sure that the companies in the ecosystem would like you to know about them.

So I have given you one more thing to think about when selecting a PLM vendor. I look forward to your comments. Feel free to share your experience in selecting a vendor, your suggestions might save someone a lot of headaches...

Note: Aptavis was subsequently acquired by PTC in their effort to offer more tailored solutions to the apparel industry.
Note 2: It's not too late to take the Aberdeen survey on PLM for fashion, apparel and footwear if it is applicable to you.