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Is SolidWorks going out of business?
17

Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Is SolidWorks going out of business?

(OP)
A salesperson from Pro E just told a co worker that in 2 years there will be no SW so we should buy ProE.  Any truth to that?

Just Wondering.

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

I wouldn't believe an awful lot of what a competing salesman says about any given product, especially if it's not backed up by any evidence.

Some people think SW's current R&D direction is shooting themselves in the foot, some think it's a great new world.  The truth I'm sure is somewhere in between.

I don't see SW disappearing any time soon, however.
 

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Absolute BS.

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Obviously, with the use of Pro-Excruciating one can model a crystal ball like the one Ben Affleck used in the movie Paycheck and can see the future!

Instead of listening to a bitter salesman say anything about the demise of the competitor that has eaten his lunch you should check what people are actually using.  More and more machine shops and designers are using SolidWorks.  In fact, I cannot remember when I ran into anyone using SolidEdge, CoCreate, IronCad, or Alibre.  Once in a while I run into someone using Inventor, but all of them say they are trying to switch to SolidWorks.  The folks that are using Pro-E, UG, or Catia are mostly doing so out of legacy.  Some of these are using advanced surface modeling and are happier with UG or Catia.

I have worked for four different companies that had Pro.  Three of them switched to SolidWorks and the fourth one was trying to, but in the 11th hour the engineering director was over-ruled by the comptroller (eminently qualified to make THAT call!).

I hope you at least got a good lunch out of this guy, but I bet the salesperson stiffed the wait staff on the tip!

This is laughable!

- - -Updraft

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

[A salesperson from Pro E just told a co worker that in 2 years there will be no SW so we should buy ProE. [/quote]

LOL, just the opposite is far far more likely.  Check the market cap for PTC (especially 1999-2008 - we'll toss the data for the last couple of years when everybody tanked because of the housing fraud).

Check out their user forum http://portal.ptcuser.org/p/fo/si/topic=3 , you could go to sleep waiting for a new question - and when there is a question no answer.  I guess those already using the software are too busy and already know all the answers.

One thing I do know - those Pro/E salesmen are the best I've dealt with (in terms of shoveling the bull).  I guess you have to be a true blue oldtime fanboy to still be on deck.

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

As a general rule, anytime one CAD company starts trash-talking another CAD company, I don't believe a word of it.  I've known several sales reps over the years who were either laid off or got better offers from the competition; I'm sure you can guess what happened to all their trash-talking after they switched companies.

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

As a thumb rule,
no. of job openings = no. of seats being used* = no. of subscription = amount of money a CAD software company makes = More chances of surviving for longer

So go & check your area's job website & compare Pro-E & SolidWorks jobs.

* = Seats being used is more realistic than seats sold

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

I agree with the others.
Whenever I hear any salesperson trash talking a competitor, I walk away. If that's how they do business, it's not with me.
Read most publications about CAD and most of the time you read AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or CATIA. The mention of Pro-E is there, but I personally don't read about them as often.
SolidWorks does a fair job recruiting AutoCAD users.

Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP5.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Ooh, have I got great stories about Pro/E sales misconduct.  Shameless, they are.

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

I'd differ in one regard--subscription renewals are probably far below expectations with SolidWorks.  Diminishing returns on each new release is sure to have lots and lots of customers wondering why they keep purchasing the newest version.

My guess would be that SolidWorks is relying more heavily on annual subscription revenue than original software purchase revenue.  If this is true, they ought to be hurting plenty by now.  The VARs are probably beginning to starve.  My guess is that we'll either see a slight change (flexibility?) to the subscription service or the punishment policy for failing to renew each year will increase from the current $500 fee.  And I figure we'll see one or the other within six months at our current rate of economic happiness.

Other than that, I don't think SolidWorks is going anywhere.  Now that I finally got v2010 to install on Windows 7 x64, I can see some benefits to this new release over v2009--several things I like better and that seem to behave fairly well.  But I think the business model is troublesome and something's got to give.

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

They are just playing on the buzz that was going around SolidWorks World this year when Dassault unleashed the scary cloud on everyone.  People were freaked that DSS was going to drop SW or just morph it into Catia.

Short story is that you should tell the ProE sales guy that you are concerned, and you'd like to talk about it over lunch...at his expense.  Then tell them to go scratch.

Dan

www.eltronresearch.com
Dan's Blog

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

If I post in this thread do I get a star?

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

here ya go rfus :)

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Did you notice that Pro/E salesmen always wear sharkskin suits?

They grow their own.

 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Pro/E supposedly had good year-over-year results on the subscription side for the past two or three quarters, where SolidWorks has been having some trouble with holding on to subscriptions for that same period.  This may be the source of that saleperson's overconfidence in making completely unjustified statements.

Pro/E has a bad habit of overstating their perception of their own "advantages".  I just talked to a couple of Pro/E PLM guys that made the statement that their PLM has more seats than any other PLM.  I don't know what their definition of PLM is, but I'm guessing that the total number of Pro/E's PLM seats is a drop in the bucket when compared to Oracle.

Matt Lorono
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources & SolidWorks Legion

&

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

At the time of that press release, we had been part of Siemens for barely a year.  Note that our current press release 'boilerplate' now lists that figure at 6.7 million seats.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

I had rec'd an interesting sales call the other day with an offer for a seat of Pre/E in exchange for my seat of SW for the price of two years of service support. That would be Pro/E for about $2500.

Harold
SW2010 SP3.0 OPW2010 SP1.0 Win XP Pro 2002 SP3
Dell 690, Xeon 5160 @3.00GHz, 3.25GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX4600
www.lumenflow.com

RE: Is SolidWorks going out of business?

Lumenharold, send me the name of the Pro/E salesman.  Sounds like a deal.  ;)

Mark Stapleton
Watermark Design, LLC
Charlotte, NC
www.h2omarkdesign.com

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