Dassault Systèmes Changing Landscape :The Future of COE

[Rolando Garza]

Dear NT-COE member,
We would like to share with you some information regarding changes
being negotiated that will reshape our national COE organization.

Dassault Systèmes Changing Landscape
During the past year, the COE Board of Directors has held extensive
discussions with executives from DS regarding their future direction,
and what role COE plays in those plans. We have recently become aware
of significant planned changes to DS marketing strategies that would
combine all of their existing brand customer conferences (e.g. CATIA,
ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA) under one umbrella, corporate-run sales and
marketing event as early as 2010. Siemens of PLM World has a similar
scope though it is run by users like COE, with vendor representatives,
press, 3rd party vendors, end users, and sales prospects, together in
the same location at the same time.

While the details of this strategy are still not final, we understand
that DS would eventually like to control the educational content
offered at this “mega” annual conference and eliminate COE’s role in
planning the agenda and recruiting the presenters. Furthermore, under
this proposed model, DS funding and sponsorship of COE activities
would be dramatically reduced – a significant change from our current
independent user group operating model.


The Future of COE
COE is currently the only independent, self-sustaining software user
group that supports the DS tool suite. As an organization of users for
users, our leadership knows firsthand that the greatest value COE
provides has always been user training, facilitating the transfer of
knowledge, and experience sharing. Moreover, COE membership has
repeatedly made evident the fact that remaining independent is vital
to provide a credible voice of the user to DS.

The COE Board of Directors will continue our dialogues with DS
executives as we look for a path forward that does not compromise the
mission of the COE organization and our promise to the user community.
While we will continue to profess the value and need for independence,
depending on DS’s decision concerning its partnership with COE,
remaining independent may drastically reduce the benefits COE receives
from DS at events and in year-round activities. In turn, this may
impact our pricing models and the scope of our membership benefits.

Just as the COE organization is dependent on our membership to deliver
value, the COE Board of Directors is dependent on your feedback for
guidance. Are independence and therefore more technical education more
important than a close relationship with DS and therefore a sales and
marketing focus? Would you continue to support COE if the DS presence
was not as strong as it traditionally has been? Please share your
opinions on the future direction of COE and your needs as a COE member
and as an end user of the DS tool suite.

We encourage you to post your thoughts, comments, and concerns. We
will compile your input and present it to the voting members at their
next meeting.

[MBD]

"Everyone want's to buy, nobody wants to be sold to"... A famous
philosopher who's name I can't recall

I would be less likely to attend a DS sales and marketing event than
an independent COE event.

To date, I have benefited and received the most information on DS
products at RUGS. Being small and independent, all opinions and
products are welcomed as the attendees want all possible information
to make future decisions.

RUGS are also done on a very tight budget. Should the COE receive less
financial help from DS, it could always scale back. The RUGS I've
attended in Dallas and Seattle provided sponsor donated food. My small
company, sponsoring the food on 4 or 5 occasions, and hosting the
location once.

I have seen software like CATCMM, that was licensed in V4, that was
not allowed to make the jump to V5, as it may have competed against a
DS product. I would expect a DS marketing event promoting internal
products and products that did not compete with them.

If you recall at the last NTCOE, I demonstrated our CATIA V5 MBD to
PDF service (www.mbdcentral.com) as a less expensive alternative to
CATIA/Enovia LEV, for factory floor MBD data access. Would CATIA users
get to hear about it at a future DS sales event?

So what competing event do you feel will be better attended? My guess
would be the independent one.

Kaae Rillos
CATIA user since October 1990

[MBD]

[MBD]