News
UGS and Microsoft To Collaborate on Product Lifecycle Management
Product life-cycle management (PLM) applications vendor UGS and Microsoft announced
this week a multi-year alliance through which they will collaborate to host
the smaller company’s suite of products entirely on Windows -- a first,
they say.
Plano, Texas-based UGS, whose products are widely used in manufacturing enterprises,
has announced previous collaborations with Microsoft. Last summer, UGS announced
it will add Microsoft’s eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML)
as one of its supported data formats. XAML is the format used by Windows Vista’s
Windows Presentation Foundation, previously codenamed “Avalon.”
“Product lifecycle management is an integrated, information-driven approach
to all aspects of a product's life -- from its design inception through its
manufacture, deployment and maintenance, culminating in its removal from service
and final disposal,” says a statement on UGS’ Web site.
A key intention of the alliance will be to help UGS deliver a full suite of
its Teamcenter PLM applications on Windows, as well as to enhance other UGS
products that already run on Windows. The full Teamcenter solution lets manufacturers
create and manage product data in a security-enhanced environment, while enabling
team members, customers, industry partners and vendors “participate in
the creative process,” the two companies said in a joint statement.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.