For Sale Signs Are Up at PTC
Parametric Technology Corporation has put
itself on the market for $2 billion, according to reports
published in Ten Links and elsewhere. A subsequent article
indicated that management has shrewdly awarded itself
?takeover bonuses? of millions of dollars that will kick in
if ownership of the company changes, even if they get jobs
with the new owners.
Too bad PTC?s customers don?t get any takeover bonuses if
the company is sold. A sale of the developer of software you
have invested in is rarely good news. The likelihood of
another software company purchasing and maintaining PTC?s
aging algorithms seems remote. An even worse eventuality
might be that no one is willing to pay $ 2 billion for the
company. Can you imagine that R&D will continue unabated
while management tries to sell the company? It seems likely
that would be the first place to cut expenses.
For an example of what might happen if a deal does occur,
consider EDS? acquisition of SDRC (SDRC development
abandoned and customers forced to migrate to EDS? UG
software) or SDRC?s acquisition of Point Control (Point
Control development abandoned and customers urged to migrate
to SDRC).
Already we?re starting to see customers dumping PTC software
for Autodesk Inventor. We expect to see much more of
it as customers begin to comprehend the potential impact of
a company sale or wind-down of R&D on their investment.
PTC?s colorful history has included its decision to sack the
entire reseller channel back in the 90?s. Later, they
recanted and tried to lure resellers back. Throughout its
history the company has been notorious for hard-sell tactics
including dissing customers to their faces, and insulting
those who had reservations about the software.
If you?re currently invested in PTC software and want to
consider your escape options, please give us a call.
Autodesk has excellent tools permitting integration with
PTC.
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