Quick and Easy?!? There's nothing quick and easy about PLM, is there?

The last time I 'blogged,' I discussed the merits of forward planning as it relates to home improvement, but more importantly, to your product development environment.

The gist of it went something like this: Pro/INTRALINK is a very good product, and may be just what you need. However, given certain current and near term needs, Windchill PDMLink may be an even better option. At a minimum, give it some thought.

"OK," you're saying, "you've got me considering Windchill PDMLink." Maybe because you want to manage AutoCAD files in addition to Pro/ENGINEER models. Or, you're trying to implement a smoother, automated change management process. Either way, you're now thinking, "how am I going to pull this off?" You've been administering Pro/INTRALINK 3.x for so long; you could do it in your sleep. What now? This Windchill PDMLink thing is a different animal, right?

Well, yes it is. But with its different set of capabilities comes a choice of implementation. Many customers will choose to deploy Windchill PDMLink internally, on their own site. We call this "on premises." A traditional deployment, "on premises" solutions give you maximum flexibility in terms of system customization. But what if that's not so important to you? What if your needs are straightforward, but your IT infrastructure is lean. How do you get the advantages discussed previously?

Allow me to introduce a new way to get all the same capabilities but without the IT, cost, and time to deploy hurdles -- PTC's PLM On Demand. Yup, that's right, if you're like me, you've seen those hilarious widescreen IBM commercials, usually during football games. Everything seems to be "On Demand," doesn't it? Anyway, the idea is that for those who need the capabilities of Windchill PDMLink (or also Windchill ProjectLink by the way), but can't deal with the administration, then On Demand is a great option. Hosted by IBM, PTC's PLM On Demand solutions are up and running in days. Rather than require you to implement and administer the software, IBM and PTC does it for you. The cost: an economical upfront setup fee and a monthly subscription price per user.

So far, we've seen lots of interest within small and medium sized businesses. But frankly, larger companies may benefit from on Demand as well. In some cases, larger accounts use an On Demand system as a pilot before rolling out their own On-premises solution. In the end, the choice is yours. On Demand is just another option to consider.

To learn more about PTC's PLM On Demand offerings, go here: www.ptc.com/go/ondemand.

Best of luck,
-Tom