There is a great deal of confusion over what is (or is not) considered Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technology. Analysts, vendors, and consultants have defined and redefined the space exhaustively- each with a slightly different spin depending on their point of view and all equally valid.
AMR Research estimates that the market for PLM software and services will surpass $20B yearly spend by 2012. Vendors expect better than 10% growth annually. So whatever it is, it's big. But how should you- the customer investigating the purchase and implementation of PLM software- characterize the domain when making buying decisions and justifying them to management?
Here's an easy and complete definition for you:
PLM technology refers to the group of software applications that create and manage the data that define a product and the process for building the product.
Beyond just technology, PLM is a discipline that defines best practices for product definition, configuration management, change control, design release, and many other product- and process-related procedures. It's easy to confuse the discipline with the technology that enables it, as we in the industry tend to use the terms interchangeably.
In the Total PLM column, we'll clear things up for you. We focus on employing PLM technology to implement these best practices and generate business value for your company. We'll review the major PLM authoring and management applications, discuss how they are used, and investigate the value they bring to your business. We'll also explore how PLM fits into the enterprise software domain alongside ERP, SRM, and CRM (among others). Be sure to subscribe for updates. Thanks for reading!
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