My previous post identified a few ways to address industry needs in your PLM solution. This post is a quick aside on the people you are looking for within your vendors community.

How to Spot an Industry Specialist

As I mentioned previously, industry expertise is important when selecting PLM. The ideal people you are looking for (with credit to given to Olin Thompson for the core concept behind this) is someone that:

1. Knows you Industry - The people in your solution provider should be familiar with the unique practices and needs of your industry. They should understand the reality of what it is like to work in the reality that your company works in. Yes, you can train people on this, but maybe your time is better spent on implementing a solution (and solving your problems).
2. Knows PLM - The people also need to know enterprise software, and PLM in particular. While industry expertise is important, you probably have a lot of that in your company already. Beyond that, you know your company's role in the industry and your practices better than anyone else. What you need is the additional knowledge of how PLM can improve business performance in your industry.

The ideal candidates, therefore, have an intersection if knowledge that includes your industry and PLM.

Some Random Samples

With apologies to many of my friends in the software industry, I am going to pick some examples and I can't include all of them. So I am going to work on a "last in first out" order. Here are some examples from recent conversations:

• Conformia - I had lunch not long ago with Anjali Kataria from Conformia. Conformia offers PLM for the "process industries" - but currently their focus is on a subset that primarily includes life sciences. Some snipits from Anajali's bio include "Ms. Kataria's experience includes research, compliance, and investigation experience from service in two government agencies as well as bench research on a precursor to the Epigenesis platform for asthma therapeutics at ECU School of Medicine" and "concentrated her studies on biomedical and health care policy." Although I have not yet met him, the other part of the equation (software) is evident in their CEO Joseph Prang who is a "25-year enterprise software veteran" according to the site. A look at their advisory board highlights addition industry credibility in both life sciences and another regulated industry, alcoholic beverages.
• TradeStone - TradeStone software came into the office to brief us the other day. We are in the process of speaking with a number of companies that offer software for apparel and fashion because of an upcoming PLM benchmark we are working on, and many of them have deep "industry cred" and possess that intersection of industry expertise and software knowledge. I had the idea for this post buzzing in the back of my mind, and when I heard their CEO introduce herself I knew I had to include it, even though it is not a "pure PLM" example. Sue Welch's resume starts with credibility: "For 20 years Welch has been at the forefront of global trade, developing technology that enables collaboration between global commerce communities." The company offers her personal credibility as a proof statement of their knowledge and understanding of industry needs - and the cross-section with how software technology can support it. "Welch is a frequent speaker on global trade automation and has addressed numerous organizations including a full delegation of the World Trade Organization, the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, the ICC and the National Retail Federation."

There are many other examples, these are just a couple of recent ones. There are also examples at large suite vendors that have vertical expertise. While these people may not be on the executive team, they have significant control over product capabilities. I could not lay my hands (or my browser) on the bios that sprang to mind at these larger companies - but you should look for them. And when you find them, try to understand how much influence they really have on the product. A really great industry sales person may be helpful to you in evaluating their product versus your product needs, but in the final analysis may have little to do with what new features and products the company invests in.

We'll get back onto the track of picking a PLM vendor in following posts.

I look forward to your comments.