PTC Strengthens ThingWorx with Augmented Reality Acquisition
PTC continues to build the capabilities of its IoT (Internet of Things) platform. With this week's announcement that the company is set to acquire augmented reality (AR) platform developer Vuforia from Qualcomm for $65 million, PTC makes it clear that it will keep investing into its ThingWorx platform.
The acquired solution, called Vuforia, is a platform for mobile vision that makes it possible for applications to "see" and connect digital experiences into the physical world.
Vuforia is is supported by a global ecosystem of developers in 130 countries. As of today, nearly 20,000 apps with an estimated 200 million users are equipped with Vuforia’s AR capabilities. With this information at hand, it’s not hard to see why PTC would want a piece of the pie.
PTC’s CEO, Jim Heppelmann, aims to combine Vuforia and PTC to meet two important technology trends: the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality (AR). By linking the solutions, he believes it will be possible to create a type of product where digital and physical realities merge.
“Because of what IoT is enabling, more and more products are now a mixture of digital and physical content. So naturally the ways in which we interact with these products will evolve toward a mixed-reality model that blends physical and digital interactions,” said Jim Heppelmann.
Since PTC announced the acquisition of ThingWorx almost two years ago, the company has spent close to half a billion dollars on technologies related to the Internet of Things, including ThingWorx ($112 million), Axeda ($170 million) and ColdLight ($105 million). That’s over $450 million, including the $65 million it is now paying for Vuforia.
PTC’s plan is to integrate Vuforia with the company’s IoT platform (ThingWorx) and analytics platform (Coldlight) to both find new ways to create products, and find new innovative solutions in terms of how to monitor, control and create operational information that optimizes functionality.
Exactly what that entails is hard to tell today. But PTC did give a sneak peek of what the technology might be used for as a part of its Digital Twin presentation at the LiveWorx 15 event that was held in Boston in May. Here’s a link to the presentation. ENGINEERING.com’s Kyle Maxey has also written on this topic.
BAE Systems Selects Aras
Earlier this week, PLM developer Aras announced that BAE Systems Sweden, a leading manufacturer of weapons systems and military vehicles, has selected Aras Innovator as its new common PLM platform.
BAE Systems Sweden is perhaps best known for producing the combat vehicle CV 90.
Danish Aras Partner Minerva will conduct the implementation and data migration from the two legacy PDM systems using a multi-phase approach.
Phase one will include Aras solutions for configuration management, Bill of Materials (BOM) and document/CAD management, enterprise reporting and searching, and secure social, as well as integrations to multiple MCAD and ECAD systems, SAP and IFS ERP, and Eurostep’s Share-A-Space data repository.
According to Aras, the decision was made after an extensive evaluation of the five major PLM systems on the market, and based on four criteria: depth and breadth of functionality, flexibility and ease of use, TCO and implementation partner competence.
Is Subscription a Good Deal for Autodesk’s Resellers?
Ever since Autodesk started talking about the cloud, the company’s partners and resellers have had one burning question: How will Autodesk’s transition from the traditional licensing model to a subscription model, mainly based on cloud and rental/subscriptions, affect the bottom line? Quite a bit initially, according to Cad-Q, one of Europe’s largest Autodesk resellers.
According to the company’s latest quarterly report, the underlying volume of business does not change, but the transition will initially provide a negative impact on the reported net sales, earnings and cash flow. The change comes from the fact that licenses are recognized when they are sold as compared to a subscription model that recognizes revenue as the software is used.
To combat this, Cad-Q will increase sales of their own products and services and adapt the organization by implementing cost savings. Cad-Q’s assessment is that earnings in 2016 are negatively affected by approximately SEK 15 million (approx $2 million). The company expects that earnings from Autodesk products will reach previous levels by the 2019 fiscal year.
However, this is not taking into account the dynamic effects the subscription model might have, according to Staffan Hanstorp, president and CEO of Cad-Q’s parent company, Addnode Group.
“The transition to a subscription-based business model for Autodesk Software means that we can reach more customers and build up an even larger share of recurring and predictable revenue streams,” says Hanstorp.
IBM or HCL to Acquire Volvo IT
The fight for the ownership of Volvo IT will be between IBM and Indian HCL. There has been quite a bit of speculation about who would buy the Swedish IT company, which has been for sale for some time.
But, according to Swedish tech publication Computer Sweden, the parties have reached a final position where both IBM and HCL have submitted their respective declarations of intent.
The final decision is expected to be made during October and to be finalized at the end of the year.
The main attraction is Volvo IT's customer base with companies like Volvo Cars, Volvo Group, H&M and Stockholm City.
For IBM the deal would, among other things, secure the company’s mainframe operations in Northern Europe. The fact that IBM traditionally has been strong in IT solutions related to the automotive industry should also be seen as a plus.
For Indian HCL, the acquisition would be important for the company’s Nordic initiative, and provide a much heavier presence in the Nordic market.
The company has some dealings with giants like Ikea and Astrazeneca, but the company’s largest Nordic customer, the oil company Statoil, is currently struggling with major issues in the troubled Norwegian oil economy.
About the Author
Felix Nilsson is PLM editor at VerkstadsForum, who works with both printed and online media. He also works as a reporter for PLM TV News.