Picking a PLM Vendor: Finding Industry Expertise in Software Companies

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.