www.upfrontezine.com
Inside this Issue
Ashlar Revamps Software Line
Ashlar has a new line of software, with clever names based
on the elements of the periodic table:
http://www.ashlar-vellum.com/products/index.shtml
PTC Conference Call
Parametric Technology's conference call with financial analysts was refreshingly blunt. PTC asked, then answered, the question: "Why are revenues flat?" (3Q revenues were up just 0.8%, and net income fell.) The answer:
1. The economy is worse than expected. The downturn has spread
to Europe and Asia, costing PTC an estimated US$10-$15 million.
This results in the absence of large deals; last quarter, PTC
closed only one US$3 million deal.
2. The strong US dollar cost the company an estimated $8 million
in revenue.
3. PTC lost an estimated US$10 million to its new service partners.
While it sees service partners as the future (pointing to the
Dassault/IBM and EDS/UGS/SDRC relationships), the revenue sharing
is hurting PTC in the short term.
4. Sales are low in Japan and Germany, as well in the automotive
sector. PTC feels that its sales in Japan and Germany should be
close to that in the USA.
To counter the slowdown, PTC is:
* Unifying its MCAD and collaboration divisions. Its newly-announced
Pro/Collaborate software is the first result. The Grand Plan is
to bring Pro/E and WindChill closer together and create a collaboration
solution that PTC says its competitors lack.
* Cutting 8 - 10% of its 4,860 employees. This is in contrast
to the previous earnings call, which placed an emphasis on how
happy its employees were, as proven by the low turnover rate.
* Inventing new software in-house, rather than going on an acquisitions
binge, as have EDS and Dassault.
Despite those measures, PTC is forecasting further flat revenues
of US$225-$240 million for the next quarter, and US$950 million
for its next fiscal year. One analyst remarked that the MCAD market
was growing faster than PTC, meaning that PTC was losing market
share. PTC responded that the latest figures show the MCAD market
shrinking.
New products include:
SDRC Conference Call
In contrast to PTC's moody call, the SDRC conference call was
upbeat and proud. It was also somewhat of a historical moment,
being the last earnings call SDRC would make before being absorbed
into the EDS colossus.
SDRC was proud to have beat earnings estimates by US$2 million,
and that revenue was up 3% over last year. Sales in the Asia market
was at an all-time high, as were sales of its Metaphase product
lifecycle management software. The company has US$193 million
in cash. Headcount was flat.
Indeed, most of the call emphasized its MetaPhase and newly-launched
TeamCenter collaboration products, with scant mention of its IDEAS
CAD software. Late in the call, SDRC emphasized that IDEAS is
"not going away." IDEAS v9 is in beta, and v10 is in
planning stages.
This being the last earnings call, the management team took no
questions.
UGS Conference Call
UGS claims a copyright on the content of their conference call,
which is why I am not reporting it.
Revit Attracts 75
Revit Technology had launched a marketing campaign to raid
AutoCAD Release 14 users facing Autodesk's deadline to upgrade
by next January or pay the full price. I have watched similar
campaigns over the last ten years, and found generally that CAD
software is too sticky for these campaigns to be be successful.
Revit says their campaign attracted "more than 75 new client
firms" -- a tiny fraction of the estimated several hundred
thousand R14 users. As usual, Revit did not reveal actual subscription
numbers. http://www.revit.com/decision14
Autodesk didn't help the R14 upgrade process with its recent
mailing that angered dealers and confused customers. The letter
I received told me that my "Dealer of Record" is Autodraft,
located in Calgary AB. I have nothing against Claire, but Calgary
is 550 miles away, which violates Autodesk's own requirement that
customers be located within 75 miles of the dealer. What angered
dealers was that the mistake appeared to drive customers to competitors.
In an apology, Autodesk said a database error was to blame.
The database can't, however, be blamed for the letter's misleading
headline: "Software Expiration Notice" is printed prominently
in large red letters, twice. The software is not expiring (as
much as Autodesk probably wishes it would); customers are free
to use R14 for as long as they want, if they choose to not upgrade.
An update from Denis McNelis, whose firm was too busy to upgrade
from R14 within Autdoesk's mandated 30-day period: "The Autodesk
distributor in Ireland agreed to allow us to have a 9-month grace
period to implement the upgrade, provided that we write to them
outlining our situation. We did mention that I had written to
you regarding this matter. It is surprising that our dealer was
not able to get this answer!"
Readers
Respond: Does CAD Degrade Drawing Quality?
Here are several more letters responding to Leo Schlosberg's
guest editorial that asked if CAD software is worsening the quality
of construction drawings -- as well as readers responding to readers,
and the viewpoint from a dealer.
"The continuing banter on the integrity of CAD is intriguing.
The issue relates to a hurdle that us CAD sales guys face: is
the continuing push for new software really worth it?
"Do companies like Autodesk, PTC, Dassault really have the
CEOs of the world fooled into believing that their respective
tools can assist in delivering faster cycle times, reduced manufacturing
errors, increased innovation -- among many other positive benefits?
And at what cost?
"I hope that the 21st-century client has enough sense to
put the appropriate amount of time into investigating a return-on-investment
before embarking into a new world of design. But there is nothing
more gratifying than to hear from a client, 'I have reduced my
time for change on iteration 2-15 by somewhere between 50-70%'
or 'I have reduced my manufacturing errors from many per month
to nearly zero' by using one of the latest 3D tools.
"Maybe time is not important in the manufacturing environment
anymore. The integrity issue will always remain: garbage in, garbage
out. There is a tremendous amount of precision available in CAD
to the client who, if he does not take advantage of it, will probably
suffer in the long run and wonder why his 2D drawings take days,
weeks, or months of cleanup to use in his new 3D tool.
"On the board or on CAD, the naked eye is quite the fool.
Don't buy the software to be compatible with your clients and
suppliers, share files with them, eliminate the mailing and faxing
of drawings, collaborate (yes, the C-word) with them almost instantaneously
over the web, give your employees growing skill sets, leverage
and re-use data over and over and over.
"What do you do when your competitor changes a dimension
and updates his whole drawing package while you crack out the
electric eraser for hours?"
- Greg Bau
Ketiv Technologies
"I read "Exploring the Unrealized Potential of Computer-Aided
Drafting" and had to agree with some of the info, but had
to shake my head because of two issues that were completely overlooked.
"The article addresses only the initial drawing and drafter
technique. I have never worked on a set of drawings where there
was not an modification, addition, or correction and this is where
CAD shines. The initial drawing may take as much time, but the
changes are achieved much more quickly than hand-drafted.
"One project we produced in 1975 using pencil-paper required
the services of one design engineer and 6 draftsman to deliver
a 28-sheet set of plans. A similar project in 1995 required one
engineer, 1 full-time draftsman, and 1 part-time draftsman. The
1995 project was drafted in two drawings and plotted with paperspace
and xrefs to deliver a 25-sheet set of plans.
"There appears to be progress here. Computer-aided drafting
is a tool that aids drafting. Anybody who says it is not productive
is not seeing the big picture. Let them go buy a T-square, triangles,
protractor, pencils, pens and go back to the way it was before.
Let's see how they long they stay in business."
- Rick Howell
Santa Barbara County Flood Control District
"In reference to 'Exploring the Unrealized Potential of
Computer-Aided Drafting,' the author is a bit out of date. References
are made to publication between 1975 to 1994. I am sure a lot
of CAD personal are now working in 3D, and I would not want to
go back to the drafting board.
"Enjoying your publication, keep up the well-defined information."
- Wolfe Derle
"I have had 15 years on the drawing board with the old
sets squares, tracing paper, and ink pens before jumping over
to CAD. I feel this gave me the insight to provide reasonable
looking drawings, easily read, and with the appropriate information
needed.
"I believe people that have not had the opportunity of being
on the board, but have gone straight onto CAD have developed a
heavier reliance on CAD and at times readily accept what it produces.
"But I do remember that I produced some shocking-looking
hand-drawn stuff that I'm not proud off. Just being lazy I guess!"
- Craig Ryan
Australia
Below the Radar
A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read
elsewhere:
Bentley Systems has formatted the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) data on rolled steel shapes in XML on an AISC Shapes Database CD-ROM for purchase from http://www.aisc.org
Sheetmetalworld.com integrated its online directory with online
mapping site Maporama.com . This allows customers to locate vendors
geographically.
New
Software Releases
SE-PartsXL (US$295) is a parametric parts library that operates
inside Solid Edge V9 and V10 to create a million variations on
standard and manufacturer-specific parts, including bearings,
fasteners, and steel shapes. http://www.partsxl.com
Nemetschek North America is previewing its Carbon version of VectorWorks
for the Mac OS X. ("Carbonizing" is the first step in
moving software toward Unix-based OS X compatibility.) CTO Sean
Flaherty reports that "The carbonization of VectorWorks has
proven much more challenging than expected." http://www.vectorworks9.com/osx
. Some background info at Archintosh News: http://www.architosh.com/news/2001-07/2001-0722-mw-vectorwork.phtml
SDRC made its TeamCenter collaborative product management software available 18 July. http://www.sdrc.com
If you can't market a product on its merits, you go the young-woman-in-black-underwear
route. "Buy Windows XP to prevent men from unhooking a woman's
bra" seems to be the message being broadcast by Microsoft's
Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/switzerland/de/officexp/library/images/30sekdt01.mpeg
Advances
in Hardware
Intel will cut the price of its Pentium 4 CPUs on 26 August by
as much as 55%. A second round of price cuts is planned for 28
October.
Conferences
4th Annual ArchiCAD University, somewhere in England, September
13-15, 2001. http://www.archicad-university.com/
Implementation Road Map 2001 is being held Nov 13-14, 2001 at the Dearborn Inn, Dearborn MI USA. http://dhbrown.com/dhbrown/events.cfm
People/Companies
on the Move
Corel (of Canada) has signed a deal to acquire Micrografx (of
the USA) for US$32 million in stock. Both companies specializes
in technical illustration software. Corel says it might be making
further acquisitions in the graphics market.
Both companies have lost of lot of money, although have become
profitable in recent quarters. Micrografx lost US$22.1 million
on annual revenue of US$36.3 million. Corel was able to make the
purchase because it has US$126.2 million left in the bank from
the US$135-million equity investment made by Microsoft last October.
In the early- to mid-90s, both companies attempted to market their
software to CAD users. Corel had a range of 2D and 3D CAD software
based on DesignCAD and Visual CADD, while Micrografx had Designer
Technical Edition. Corel eventually sold its software to IMSI,
while the ceo and founder of Micrografx went on to start Alibre.com,
a collaboration Web site for mechanical CAD.
A lawsuit filed by Micrografx against Corel for copyright infringement
of its home graphics software was settled out of court in late
1998. - with reports from the Globe & Mail.
Redo
"I saw your posting, and wanted to let you know that there
is no 'catch' with Pro/COLLABORATE. This is truly a free service
for maintenance-paying Pro/ENGINEER users, and they do NOT need
to purchase Windchill.
- Maria Doyle
PTC
"Just wanted to correct a factual error in your Autodesk
/ Buzzsaw acquisition story that appeared in upFront.eZine. Autodesk
investment in Buzzsaw to date has been US$22.5 million, not US$36
million as stated in your story. The acquisition represents an
additional US$15 million."
- Carol Lettieri
Autodesk
The editor replied: "I had multipled Autodesk's ownership (40%) by the total invested in Buzzsaw (US$90 million) to come up with the $36-million figure. Ms Lettieri explains how the $22.5-million number is arrived at."
"Ownership percentage is based upon a series of valuation
events rather than a simple proportional calculation. Each investment
dollar does not buy an equal share in a company. Typically, earlier
dollars into an investment buy a larger stake in a company. The
earlier investors' stake is diluted as later investors buy a smaller
stake.
"Autodesk has invested $22,550,000 over three investment
rounds. The lead investor in each round establishes the value
of the investment round, which in turn dictates the share of the
company that each new investor purchases for their investment
and the amount of dilution of prior investors. Because Autodesk
was a large investor in early rounds of funding and valuations
have fluctuated, its ownership percentage worked out to be about
40%."
- C.L.
Computer
News Summaries
TecChannel has figured out that Windows XP "activation"
relies on a file called WPA.DBL found in the System32 folder.
Windows XP records up to three changes in hardware to this file;
after the third change, Windows XP erases the file, requiring
you to get another "activation" code from Microsoft.
TecChannel found that Windows records hardware changes as trivial
as changing a CD-ROM drive, adding more RAM, or toggling the CPU
serial number. They found that it is possible to create a universal
WPA.DBL file that works for any copy of Windows XP and any change
to hardware, with the exception of adding RAM.
http://www.tecchannel.de/betriebssysteme/746/index.html
Review of first Linux implementation for the Palm at http://www.pdassi.de/shownews.php?news_id=114 -- includes screen shots. Commercial version will cost US$40; $100 for developer version.
To cut expenses, Amazon.com plans to switch to Linux for its operating system.
A bill to prevent federal law-enforcement officials from dodging
the US Congress' questions about the use of surveillance systems--including
the email Carnivore surveillance system--passes the U.S. House.
- ZDNet News
Market
News
UGS 2Q revenue grew 14%, excluding a planned 61% decline in hardware.
Net income was US$14.9 million and $0.07 above analysts' estimates.
Net income decreased US$3.1 million to US$8.8 million compared
to 2Q00.
MSC.Software reported 2Q revenues of US$48.7 million, an increase
of 12%; net income was US$2.9 million, up from US$2.0 million
in the second quarter last year.
ANSYS announced a 32% increase in 2Q01 adjusted revenue to US$21.4
million, and a 28% increase in adjusted earnings.
Constructware 2Q01 sales reached US$2.4 million, up 26% from the
previous quarter.
Bricsnet closed the first part of its acquisition of the Paris-based
Constructeo.com SA.
PlanetCAD restated 1Q sales at US$337,000, down from the previously-reported
US$480,000.
Ariba lost US$273.5 million in its third-quarter, leading ceo
Larry Mueller to resign after just 3 months "to pursue other
interests," and layoffs of 1/3 of the company's staff. Its
share price has fallen from a 52-week high of US$173.50 down to
US$4.85.
The
WorthWhile Web
http://www.boycottadobe.com
http://www.freesklyarov.org
Boycott Adobe
...for having a Russian encryption expert arrested in the USA.
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,52345,00.asp
PC World
500 Fixes for Windows 2000: The latest service release repairs
a mountain of bugs.
http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2781900-2,00.html
ZDnet
"Kodak tangles with Microsoft over Win XP"
Letters
to the Editor
AutoCAD Plotting from Linux Servers
"My client uses AutoCAD Map in a network, with files stored
on a Linux server. When he saves a file more than 4-5 times, AutoCAD
replies that it cannot write; the work-around is to save file
under another name. When he works with files stored on a Windows
server, he doesn't have this problem. We wrote to Autodesk Italia,
but we have no reply. Do you think if there is an incompatibility
between AutoCAD Map (2000i) and Linux?"
- Aniello Annunziata <www.cadlandia.com>
CADlandia, Italy
The editor replies: "Autodesk does not support Linux servers. Perhaps one of our readers knows the answer to the problem."
Re: The C-word
"I'm also negative about the C-word. My father told me about
World War II, and that 'collaborateurs' were the disgusting people
who worked with the Nazis in return for money or status. In Holland,
the word has a negative association. (In contrast, the 'Allied
Forces' were our heroes from the UK, US, Canada, and more.) Even
your suggestion of OLMC doesn't make me happy. Some suggestions:
On Line Alliances (OLA)
On Line Project Alliance (OLPA)
Hosted Project Alliance (HPA)
On Line Teamwork (OLT)
On Line Project Teams (OLPT)
Co-operation (CoO)
Internetworking (IW)
Teleteams (TT)
Cyber teams (CT)"
- Siem Eikelenboom <http://www.ideoma.nl>
IDEOMA intelligent systems, The Netherlands
The editor replies, "I suspect that 'collaboration' also has a bad connotation in France."
Re: Questioning $30 Billion
"Thanks for making that comment, asking why people don't
ever question things like a $30-billion jump in just two years
for collaborative product commerce.
"During the Y2K days, it seemed to be like a bidding war,
with analysts competing against each other to see who could come
out with the highest impact dollar figure, and thus be the most
quotable for journalists.
"Analysts know the deal: writers on the hunt for news, especially
sensational, quotable news, without a whole lot of time to verify
all the facts. The analysts get quoted, then they use that editorial
mention as credibilty for selling reports on the subject for hundreds
of dollar a clip.
"What a racket."
- Matthew Phair
The editor replies: "You know us journalists, ever on the lookout for ever-larger numbers with which to impress our readers of the Grave Seriousness of the Situation."
"Thanks for keeping us informed!"
- Carl Ransdell
"Thank you for your emag -- interesting and appreciate
it."
- Norm
DesigNet Custom Home Plans
Spin
Doctor of the Moment
"GreaterGood.com is undergoing routine maintenance. We are
very sorry for the inconvenience."
- Message greeting visitors to www.greatergood.com, which has
shut down permanently.
Notable
Quotable
"Ever wonder what 'next generation' really means? It won't
be ready until the next generation."
- WorldCom ad.
Contact!