- PTC is continuing to shift to partner-driven business.
- The PTC Partner Symposium 2019 held on the Spanish island of Tenerife underlined that message.
- PTC Partners are leveraging the network and especially Poland Solution Center to help support their growth.
In 2015 it became apparent that PTC is shifting its focus from being a largely service-oriented organization to providing software products and letting its large network of trusted and competent partners handle related services. This trend continues since then, with partners sales now contributing a high percentage of PTC’s annual revenue. PTC has put significant effort into enabling the Partner Network by providing necessary tools and trainings. At the same time, these partners delivered outstanding results to their customers, which proves that PTC’s decision to lean on them was a good one.
Every year PTC Partners meet on a few occasions. LiveWorx is the biggest annual event, obviously. But PTC Partner Symposia, although smaller, are almost equally important to the success of the Partner Network.
This year, it was a small city of Alcalá, located on the west coast of the Spanish island of Tenerife, which hosted the PTC Partner Symposium. Known worldwide for its black sand and shingle beaches, the town filled with technology experts and enthusiasts. Some were there to learn more on the industry-changing Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality (AR). Others focused on well-established industrial software of CAD and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).
It was the fourth time TT PSC participated in the Symposium and the concept was roughly similar to that of recent years: strongly focused on sharing and networking. Daytime sessions were interspersed with table discussions and dedicated networking breaks. Evenings were spent on conversations, with the beautiful Canary Island sunset serving as the background (as you might imagine, spending this time outside with industry peers meant we all had a fantastic time). This was yet another confirmation of PTC’s strategy for the partners’ ecosystem.
Counting the number of customer references brought up during those three days would be difficult. During the last year each partner completed quite a few projects which were mentioned on stage. I can only guess what the total number of projects the entire ecosystem completed is. Many of them were focused around the Digital Transformation of manufacturing. Leaders from automotive, electronics, med device, pharma and other industries shared outstanding examples of how customers in these and many more areas will benefit from deployed systems in the coming years. What you may not know, even if you are a part of the PTC Partner Network, is that TT PSC took an active part in many of those projects presented by both partners and PTC. Our contribution was highly valued and recognized, making us extremely proud of the effort we put in to ensuring successful project delivery.
Except for a great many case studies and project summaries, the PTC team provided updates on their products’ roadmaps. Some of them were expected, while some promise significant improvements and new features. I was especially excited about the integration of ThingWorx Flow with Wonderware and the enhanced integration of the ThingWorx platform with Microsoft’s IoT Hub. New versions of software containing these updates are coming soon, and we can’t wait to get our hands on them. Even now several projects we are working on could benefit from the tight integration of Azure and ThingWorx.
While it is of great significance that the number of available ThingWorx components is continuously growing, PTC’s approach of focusing on AR is probably equally important. New Vuforia Studio features will make it easier to use this technology to further decrease the amount and duration of unscheduled downtimes at our customers’ facilities. Pair that with the upcoming Microsoft HoloLens 2, and there is a lot to be excited about.
The PTC Partner Symposium was a time well spent, with interesting people many of whom we have known and worked with for years. On the other hand, the Partner Network is still growing and the event was a great opportunity to meet new partners and their organizations.
The 2019 PTC Partner Symposium has wrapped up. We are all looking towards LiveWorx 2019 and further, to the 2020 Symposium. If the trend is kept (and there is no indication suggesting otherwise), next year’s event will be even better than this one.