Gartner releases predictions for 2012. Social networking to become a keep element of the PLM solution. Gartner predicts social capabilities will evolve as an integral part the PLM backbone.
Market Implications:
Social networking will continue to grow as part of PLM software. Key roles in PLM, including engineers, scientists, manufacturing specialists, service specialists, potential partners and external innovators, will increasingly use the social network to identify coworkers and others who can make faster contributions to their work. While large software vendors such as Autodesk, Dassault Systemes, PTC, SAP, Oracle Siemens and specialty providers such as Vuuch (see www.vuuch.com) provide social networking, social networking will still need to evolve from an “add on” capability to an integral part of the PLM backbone. It is feasible that product developers and others engaged in life cycle activities will increase their use of existing social networking providers, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, for their business needs.
Of course the team over at Vuuch sees this as already happening. Gartner specifies that “social” needs to move from an add-on to an integral part of the solution. At Vuuch we agree, but do not see this as being accomplished by simply adding social features to an enterprise application. A social platform will become part of the standard enterprise stack (ERP, CRM, PLM, MRO … Social), as business social interactions cut across users of different enterprise applications. For example a customer service rep who logs a complaint in CRM will involve people who are non CRM users. Or in the case of an ECO an engineer will involve non PLM users in the decisions related to the ECO. The Vuuch open architecture already supports this and is starting to be implemented across multiple enterprise applications within customers. The deliverable-centric nature of Vuuch in the cases above would connect people based on the customer complaint and the ECO.
Writing a post about team the day after the Super Bowl would certainly feel better if the right team had won… Team is just as important in business as it is in sports and Vuuch has built a Super Bowl wining team. In 2011 Vuuch won great customers and in the 4th quarter started thinking about the 2012 draft.
One agent and supporter of Vuuch we engaged was Joe Alsop, founder of Progress Software. Joe introduced Vuuch to Peter Sliwkowski a Progress 22 year veteran, wo had left Progress 18 months prior to explore new opportunities, do some fishing (Peter is an avid fishermen) and become an angel investor. Peter joined Progress when they were $8M in revenue and had not yet gone public. Peter was instrumental in the development of the Progress database and enterprise middle-ware applications. Peter has jumped right in at Vuuch and is leading the charge on the soon to be released V5. Although Peter has not spent time in the product development market (CAD/PLM) he does have CAD DNA, as his farther was a co-founder of Computervision and few other CAD companies.
Mid to late summer the grapevine was a buzz that Paul Cunningham a long-term PTC employee and EVP of Sales was leaving PTC. I’ve known Paul since 1989 when I joined PTC and was sitting just up the hall from him. That hall of office mates has gone on to create some great teams and great companies – Paul Cunningham (Vuuch and PTC), Frank Azzolino (Team Grills, aPriorri, Agile amd Eigner), Mike McGuinness (Sophos, Spaceclaim, PanGo Networks and NuGenesis), Leslie Manasian (Active Endpoints and Spaceclaim), Jeff Eaton (Simpose and Spaceclaim), John Buza (aPriorri and CXO), John Inman (Verivo, Invoke, Agile and NexPrise) and Brian Halligan (Hubspot, MIT and Groove Networks). Paul’s network and his ability to build a game winning team is second to none - most of the large successful software companies have X-PTC people in the management team.
The Vuuch team is also comprised of Warren Foss (Chairman of Needham and Company), Mike Payne (co-founder PTC, Soldworks and Spaceclaim) and Frank Sica who has been involved in JetBlue, Morgan Stanley, Kohl’s and many others and is currently a partner at Tailwind Capital.
Go Team! download press release.
Vuuch Eyes Growth, Rounds Out Executive Team with Industry Veterans
– PTC’s Cunningham and Progress Software’s Sliwkowski Join Enterprise Social Software Company –
Sudbury, MA (February 6, 2012) – Vuuch, an enterprise social software company, today announced the addition of two experienced executives to the senior management team. Paul Cunningham and Peter Sliwkowski have joined Vuuch as the vice president of sales, marketing and business development, and the vice president of products, respectively. Cunningham and Sliwkowski will help lead Vuuch as the company expands and brings the power of social technology to an enterprise audience.
“Both Paul and Peter bring outstanding experience with two of the world’s most successful business software companies,” said Chris Williams, Vuuch president and CEO. “Paul has extensive experience and existing relationships with a wide variety of companies and partners. He will leverage his background in distribution, sales and strategic business development.” Williams continued, “Peter is a highly accomplished software product executive with extensive development expertise, including product strategies and integration efforts.”
Prior to joining Vuuch, Cunningham was executive vice president of worldwide sales, distribution and managing executive of the Arbortext business unit of PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC). As one of PTC’s earliest hires (employee 47), Cunningham was instrumental in the early growth phase of the company and ultimately led the companies reemergence as a leader in the PLM space, driving revenues to over a $1B. Sliwkowski spent more than 20 years at Progress Software Corporation (Nasdaq: PRGS), most recently as the vice president of product development.
“Vuuch is an exciting solution that solves a significant business problem,” said Cunningham. “The cloud-based offering gives users significant advantages, including speed of implementation and ease of use. The strong positive reaction to the product reminds me of the early days of demonstrating Pro/ENGINEER.”
About Vuuch
Founded in 2009 and based in Sudbury, MA, Vuuch is a privately-held enterprise social software provider. Vuuches deliverable-centric social operations platform uses social @ work to improve business performance. Vuuch is the only enterprise social software that connects people based on deliverables, rather than relationships. Vuuch can run standalone or be integrated into desktop and enterprise applications used across the enterprise. Vuuch connects anyone anywhere, improves how work gets done, captures knowledge and fosters innovation. Vuuch is focused principally on interactions related to a customer’s product. For more information, visit Vuuch online at www.Vuuch.com
