DARATECH PREDICTS PDM REBOUND

11 Jul, 2004

Market research firm Daratech projects that end-user spending on PDM (product data management) software will increase by 1% in 2004 to $1.73 billion, but rebound to 12% in 2005. Daratech notes continuing customer interest in what the firm calls 3-6-9 solutions-those that can be implemented in three months, that pay for themselves in six months, and that generate ROI in nine. Vendors are beginning to meet this preference with less-expensive "light" versions of their traditional PDM systems. Also driving growth are manufacturers with proprietary PDM systems switching to commercial systems to reduce costs.

For 2004, Daratech expects UGS Teamcenter to lead the PDM market with end user spending of $475.1 million, followed by Dassault Syst