Comments on: Large Monolithic PLM Implementations Are a Thing of the Past

By: Social Intranet and PLM Apps « Daily PLM Think Tank Blog

Social Intranet and PLM Apps « Daily PLM Think Tank Blog — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:45:26 +0000

[...] In my view, the key word here is "disintegration". Opposite to a very strong trend of vertical integration, disintegration will introduce social identity and related to these standards like OpenSocial as a mechanism to break enterprise product suites into Enterprise App Stores. I think, we are in the early beginning of this process. However, enterprise company are starting to get this point. For most of them today, is just an understanding of the fact Large Monolithic PLM Implementations are A Thing of the Past. [...]

By: Social Intranet and PLM Apps

Social Intranet and PLM Apps — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:39:24 +0000

[...] In my view, the key word here is “disintegration”. Opposite to a very strong trend of vertical integration, disintegration will introduce social identity and related to these standards like OpenSocial as a mechanism to break enterprise product suites into Enterprise App Stores. I think, we are in the early beginning of this process. However, enterprise company are starting to get this point. For most of them today, is just an understanding of the fact Large Monolithic PLM Implementations are A Thing of the Past. [...]

By: olegshilovitsky

olegshilovitsky — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:00:49 +0000

Raj, Thanks for your comment! I think, ERP apps won’t be monolithic too. However, the basis of ERP is much stronger (from $$$). So, for big company the lifespan of ERP apps can be 10-15 years. Therefore, wait 4-5 more years and you’ll hear lots of companies splitting there ERP implementations on services. Smaller customers will be the first segment to experience this change. Just my thoughts…Oleg

By: Raj

Raj — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:04:40 +0000

So, Oleg, why does this not apply to ERP systems? ERP implementations are monlithic…

By: Mid-market PLM: Smashed Or Transformed? « Daily PLM Think Tank Blog

Mid-market PLM: Smashed Or Transformed? « Daily PLM Think Tank Blog — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:50:10 +0000

[...] this word. For me, it means first of all precision and understanding. As I mentioned few months ago, large monolithic PLM implementations are a thing in the past. To find PLM solution for smaller customers will require to go and understand what these customers [...]

By: olegshilovitsky

olegshilovitsky — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:33:12 +0000

Cam, thank you for your comment and sharing of experience with Agile. If I understand correctly, you increased functionality of implementation within the time. I’ve seen it in many successful implementations with different products. Normally, it shows rational approach and good balancing between goals and system capabilities. The key for me in such implementation always was “cost of change”. If you can keep the cost of change “low”, you will be successful with software/system you are going to implement. Best, Oleg

By: Cam Bickel

Cam Bickel — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:35:11 +0000

I would take a bit of exception to some of the statements above. We implemented Agile in one week – initially using only as a PDM system. This was 10 years ago and before much of the function was added through version upgrades. Yet we still started with using a fraction of the capabilities available at the time. It was certainly easier to evolve with the package than to be exposed to an overwhelming set of decisions – but I think with the right guidance you could start off small and use the pre-configured settings to begin. With a few exceptions we have not had problems changing our mind on the configuration over time – the flexibility of the package has allowed us to expand it’s use and change our processes without a lot of pain. Eventually we got into some customization to optimize some processes but there is a lot you can do with just configuration before you get to this point.

I agree about data being a disaster in companies with a lot of history, especially acquired IP. I think the best approach is to avoid massive clean up before you implement. Decide which data attributes are fundamental and focus only on these. You can then get value from PLM earlier and use the categorization capabilities of PLM to manage further clean up activities. You may find a lot of the dirty data is no longer active and can be left alone.

Conclusion is to find a configurable package and start using it to get your BOMs and Drawings and change process under control and then expand from there.

Also, we did not have any problem with moving from our paper change form to the out of the box electronic version – we just did it.

By: olegshilovitsky

olegshilovitsky — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 11:35:33 +0000

Andy, Thanks! I agree with you about flexibility. Over-flexibility as well as complete out-of-the-box vertical solution is both dangerous for the company as a source of wasted time and resources. In my view, open source (or free) solution like Innovator can solve the problem of high risk. You emphasized it by saying “you don’t waste several million dollars”. By saying – no license fees, organization is getting lower entry barrier. It will be very interesting to see the evolution of this business model and impact of software development in the enterprises… Best, Oleg

By: AndyF

AndyF — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:40:15 +0000

While there are lots of application building software that can be used to solve various PLM problems, Innovator is the best one we’ve ever seen. The trick with Innovator is that it has so much pre-built functionality. The pre-built functions can be quickly assembled to solve most any data management problem. The fact that the software is free is a very nice bonus but the functionality is what is important.

Of course, a person needs to be careful with so much flexibility. If you aren’t careful you can build something that works just as bad as a monolithic PLM system from a major vendor. Of course since the Innovator package is free you’ll only have wasted your time and not several million dollars.

By: olegshilovitsky

olegshilovitsky — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:25:28 +0000

Andy, Thank you for your comment! Let me ask you provocative question. I had chance to see the similar situation (translate a business requirements in flexible PDM/PLM model) with other tools (not Aras). And it works… It is always based on skills and good project organization. Is there something specific in Aras Innovator that helps or this is just a notion of “free tool”? Best, Oleg