I'm guessing that many of you are thinking that installation, setup, and administration of Pro/INTRALINK has become a lot more complicated now that it shares the underlying Windchill architecture? Well, I'm here to tell you that this isn't exactly the case. Depending on the situation, I'd say that Pro/INTRALINK ranges from being slightly more complicated – to considerably easier – to install and setup. Let me try to outline typical concerns and then I'll introduce you to the current realities.

Here's the typical concern: the underlying Windchill architecture is more open, more powerful and more flexible, but that makes it more complicated. With the exception of an Oracle database, Pro/INTRALINK 3.X was largely self-contained within proprietary client/server architecture. Since it was mostly PTC code, we could make the install and setup quite simple. Windchill, on the other hand, sits on top of a number of third party components such as a database, a web server, a servlet engine, a directory server, and a browser. We give the customer options at each level, which is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On the positive side, this approach allows Windchill to dovetail into your existing computing infrastructure and accommodate your corporate standards. On the other hand, the need to make choices represents complexity. No doubt that in early releases (circa 1998-2001), the installation of Windchill was a project in and of itself!

We've come along way since then. In Windchill 7, we started fresh with a new installer and a new packaged installation approach. Installation and setup saw further significant enhancements in Windchill 8 (and therefore Pro/INTRALINK 8.0) with a specific eye toward reducing complexity for Pro/INTRALINK customers. For example, with the exception of the database (Oracle now, SQL*Server soon) we've packaged all of the necessary 3^rd party building blocks on the Windchill CD's so that they install and configure automatically for you if you just select the default choices. If you sit down in front of a Windows machine with Oracle and Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 CD's, you'll have a running system inside of 2 hours, tightly integrated with Pro/ENGINEER!

Now, just to be clear, that doesn't necessarily mean you are ready to go into full production with an enterprise PLM system! For example, if you are migrating data from Pro/INTRALINK 3.X that's an additional process. Plus, Pro/INTRALINK 8.0 has many capabilities for additional tuning and configuration, to be used at your option as you see fit. Not to mention many additional modules (PDMLink, ProjectLink, PartsLink, Arbortext, etc., etc.) that build out a full Product Development System (PDS). With additional modules there are additional considerations, for example how to structure workflows for managing ECO's, but these considerations are well beyond an apples to apples comparison to Pro/INTRALINK 3.X.

If that still sounds daunting, there is an even simpler option. Talk to your PTC (or reseller) contacts about a PTC "PLM on Demand" solution. This solution is based on PDMLink (and includes Pro/INTRALINK capabilities) and is delivered to you as a hosted service, with utility pricing to boot. In this model, PTC will provide you with a URL that connects you into a ready-to-go system that is hosted and running in an IBM "On Demand" data center. You don't have to do anything. If any routine maintenance or tuning is required, PTC and IBM handle that for you behind the scenes. What better way to make things simple than to outsource the issue back to the experts?

My suggestion: give it a try, either on-premise or on-demand then post your comments or results thru our discussion forums. I think you will be pleasantly impressed either way.

Talk to you soon,

Jim Heppelmann