"When you renew your maintenance agreement for your upgraded Windchill
PDMLink licenses, you will be quoted a new price that reflects the Windchill
PDMLink maintenance price that is current at that time." - PTC
In my opinion this is where PTC continues to miss opportunities to surprise
and delight customers. Customers, especially SMB's, wishing to stay with
the PTC product suite will be asked to pay more. While some can argue,
rightfully in my view, that the PDMLink solution is a better solution the
cost of ownership and ROI are difficult to get across in any organization.
Similarly do not expect for PTC to offer to Pro/E customers "Flexible
Modeling/Direct" without having to pay for the additional app/module. This
despite PTC currently leveraging maintenance dollars from CoCreate customers
for that development.
For example:
PTC has two customers it is getting maintenance dollars from
1. One using Creo Elements Parametric (Pro/E)
2. One using Creo Elements Direct (CoCreate)
Under the improved Creo platform PTC shall have a better combined data model
to build upon with the same maintenance dollars. This should improve their
ability to develop enhancements and improve usability under this common data
model and platform. This should actually lower PTC's development cost or
allow them to make further enhancements with the same dollars. Yet we
should expect:
1. One using Creo + Parametric [+ additional cost for direct]
2. One using Creo + Direct [+ additional cost for parametric]
Under this scenario PTC will be getting their traditional maintenance
dollars from the Parametric and Direct customers plus additional dollars for
companies wishing have the additional enhancements under the Creo platform.
Cost of ownership will go up under this scenario.
This certainly make packages that offer combined PDM/PLM/Parametric/Direct
more attractive.
I have been a long time user of PTC products and encourage them to look deep
into this. Poor customer perception is something that can be overcome with
surprising and delighting existing customers. As for new customers it all
about ROI and ongoing cost of ownership, period.
Let's hope my scenario is wrong and PTC shocks the industry with unparallel
function, usability, and ROI/Cost of ownership.
Tim McLellan
Mobius Innovation and Development, Inc.
