Arena Debuts PLM Starter Solution

Targets emerging companies with "on demand" product lifecycle management offering

Targets emerging companies with "on demand" product lifecycle management offering

Menlo Park, CA — August 31, 2004 — Product lifecycle management (PLM) specialist Arena Solutions debuted a "full-featured" entry-level version of its offering targeted at emerging growth companies that want a way to get started with PLM and scale up over time while keeping their initial costs down.

Arena said that its new TrueEdge Pack solution can be implemented in a matter of days, provides the depth of functionality and performance fast-growing companies need and is available at a "highly attractive" price. Like Arena's full-fledged PLM offering, TrueEdge Pack is a hosted, "on demand" solution that users access via the Web.

According to the solution provider, the TrueEdge offering is designed for young companies that want to get started with PLM early, but require a full-strength solution. It gives these companies and their suppliers access to a PLM environment that includes Arena's product data repository bundled with an array of PLM management tools, including Arena's Manufacturer Management, Vendor & Cost Management, Request Management, Change Management and Advanced File Management tools.

The baseline offer includes 15 in-house licenses and a "floating supplier license" that allows numerous suppliers to share a single license. Other PLM vendors require a separate license for each supplier, making integration of the supply chain into the PLM process cumbersome and cost prohibitive, Arena said.

In-house licenses include a mix of full and read-only licenses. Additional read-only licenses can be acquired as well, making it possible for customers to provide everyone involved in the product development and manufacturing process access to Arena PLM, the provider said. Pricing for the TrueEdge Pack begins at $1,200 a month.

Arena particularly highlights the "on demand" nature of its offering, which the provider contrasts with client/server applications available in the PLM market.

"We've all heard about fake-free checking; now there's fake-free hosting," said Michael Topolovac, CEO of Arena Solutions. "While we and other leaders of the on-demand software movement might be flattered by our competitors' disguised client/server approach, buyers must still beware. Companies who buy into hosted client/server, expecting the benefits and value of on-demand, will be disappointed."

Bal Singh, vice president of operations with Arena customer Ario Data Networks, said that the hosted nature of Arena's solution allowed Ario to get up and running on the provider's PLM offering in three days. "The speed of implementation was exceptional and critical to our business because we needed to be in market as fast as possible with our new products," Singh said.

For more information regarding "on demand" computing models, see the article "Cutting Through the 'On Demand' Hype," the Net Best Thing column in the December/January 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
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