One-to-One: Unigraphics and SDRC have found a Home (Siemens)

I had the chance to talk
with … Siemens PLM this week
about their transition into Siemens. A large group from the analyst
and press community spent a couple of days in Boston talking to
Siemens. In addition to the formal story, I tried to get some of
the “inside scoop” from some people that have been less than happy
about their circumstances in the past.
The bottom line? For the majority and for the most part, Siemens
seems to be a very good home for the people and the technology (and
therefore the customers).

Where have they Been?
It is a
long saga for many. Major acquisitions include the EDS acquisition
of both Unigraphics and SDRC to create a combined EDS PLM solution.
With EDS’ stronghold in outsourced IT services for some big
auto companies, it was a strategic move. But… well, EDS
didn’t have the financial success to back it. (As an
aside, it might be fun to speculate about HP acquiring
EDS, both have strong PLM service capabilities, but it’s such
a minor part of each of their businesses I don’t pretend
it’s that relevant to most.) Then, EDS spun out UGS to
investment bankers / venture capital. Despite strong performance,
it was a sticky situation because of it’s lack of
predictability. Going public was a stated goal, but not one that
was finally pursued. A little over a year ago now, Siemens bought
UGS. That could have been good or bad news, depending on how the
integration went (and how much PLM became and “add on” to existing
Siemens products versus a business unto itself).

The Past Year
The last year
has been about integration. Integration of products, of people, and
of businesses. There have been some hiccups, but the things look
pretty good from the outside. Even in candid moments (karaoke
anyone?) the Siemens’ “PL” employees seem pretty pleased.
They have a greater access to the market, more global reach, and
some nice synergies with their Siemens’ brethren. More importantly,
they seem to have found a home. Nobody is looking over their
shoulders, and it’s hard to imagine anyone questioning
Siemens’ viability. A lot of work has happened, and plans for
the future have been put together.

A Look Forward
The thing that
I am impressed most with is the lack of force-fit integration
between the products and the businesses. My biggest concern when I
heard about the prospect of a fully integrated solution was
that, candidly, it would make prospects heads explode due to the
complexity of the vision. I admit that there are some customers
(Nissan gave a great presentation on their vision, for example)
that might be able to envision themselves with fully integrated
product design and production. But for most, “PLM” is still a big
concept. Add on digital commissioning and things get hairy fast. If
you look to far into the integration, it can really make your head
spin. Fortunately, while Siemens’ is looking into those
possibilities, they aren’t expecting every customer to “get it”
right away.

I mentioned this to Tony Affuso (UGS CEO) last
year, although I won’t claim to be his primary adviser on
this kind of matter (or whether he would even remember the comment,
for that matter). This year, I met with Tony and Helmuth Ludwig who
are leading the “PL” business. What they described was a step-wise
approach that allowed them to paint a vision that was more than
enough for most companies, but provide the manufacturers with a
reasonable approach to get there by solving their pressing problems
along the way. Sounds like what I would want if I was one of their
customers, and I guess that’s the bottom line.

So that’s what I hear from Siemens, I hope you
found it useful.There was a lot more information from the
conference, I will try to include some more next week.

What do you think? What else should I have asked
them?