One of the secrets behind Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS’ journey to becoming a world-leading software in the mainstream desktop 3D CAD arena is its sensitivity to users’ wishes regarding improvements in functionality and the continuous addition of new solutions through annual software upgrades.
But not everything has succeeded all at once. One example is Gian Paolo Bassi’s burning desire to start a mass transition to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and SOLIDWORKS in the cloud. I will take a closer look at this in today’s article, since Dassault recently announced the new 2021 version of SOLIDWORKS, which includes several improvements in terms of connections to the cloud and utilization of the 3DEXPERIENCE Works portfolio. In summary, SOLIDWORKS 2021 provides better opportunities for integrated collaboration, cloud-based data management and access to more advanced tools such as simulation.
But will this be enough to achieve what Bassi expressed so eloquently in a previous PLM & ERP News interview: “a volcanic eruption of people in the SOLIDWORKS community who want to invest in 3DEXPERIENCE Works”?
“Absolutely,” Bassi claims in today’s exclusive interview. He formulates the development of the company’s cloud ambitions very poetically:
“There are two types of volcanoes; some are explosive, like Vesuvius in Italy, ever famous for the enormous destructive force that obliterated the towns of Pompeii and Ercolano. Some are effusive, like those in Hawaii, more peaceful and predictable. Effusive volcanoes often end up building beautiful islands and are still at work today. So, to continue the geological analogy I’d say that we are working on the latter type of volcano, forceful but gradual and constructive,” Bassi says.
He also says that SOLIDWORKS and the 3DEXPERIENCE Works portfolio will not fight with low-cost solutions, but with competence, high quality and long-term sustainability. “Otherwise, it can go as with some volcanoes, where they end up as dead ash-heaps,” Bassi adds.
Expressive Language. SOLIDWORKS’ global manager, Gian Paolo Bassi, states during engineering.com’s interview that the transition to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform in the SOLIDWORKS community is growing at a rapid pace.
“But not as an explosive volcanic eruption; rather it ‘swells’ our user base at a good pace,” he says. Bassi also claims that the latest 2021 version of the 3DEXPERIENCE Works portfolio, “strengthened our competitive position incredibly much. Our vision is that the future of technology software includes more mobile and browser-based systems, and that our customers need to gradually expand their tool arsenal with more advanced features. At the same time, everything still has to work seamlessly together. I mean that we stand out significantly from the competition. I do not see any competitor in the rearview mirror with a consistent and mature platform strategy that corresponds to what we have,” says Bassi. “We will not compete with a low-cost solution, but with program expertise at the highest level at an affordable price.”
Apart from this, SOLIDWORKS’ product development has been well in sync with the wishes of the user community. Today we have arrived at the 2021 version, which has now launched on a broad front, and the impression is that SOLIDWORKS remains on track when it comes to improvements and the ability to relate new functionalities to customer needs. This is true even when it comes to the great watershed of the last half decade and the objective of Dassault SOLIDWORKS’ hottest wish: to get the community to embrace the promise of a more capable future in the cloud with the tools in 3DEXPERIENCE Works’ cloud platform.
An extrapolation of the development is that Bassi sees the cloud as the inevitable goal for the next few years’ journey, towards not only “3D for all,” but also “PLM capability for all.”
Read more at ENGINEERING.com
