IBM, Dassault Systemes and RAND Worldwide Join Forces to Expand Product Lifecycle Management

 

Paris, France and Mississauga, Canada - April 15, 2002 - IBM, Dassault Systèmes (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), and RAND Worldwide™ (TSE: RAND) today announced an agreement to significantly expand worldwide marketing, sales, and services for PLM solutions from IBM and Dassault Systemes including CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, and SMARTEAM. Under the agreement, RAND Worldwide becomes an IBM premier Business Partner, a DELMIA Business Partner, and a Dassault Systemes CAA V5 partner for complementary application development. <br/>

 

 

RAND Worldwide is the global leader in providing knowledge-based solutions to the engineering community.  As part of this initiative, RAND Worldwide, Dassault Systemes and IBM will jointly invest in integrating RAND offerings with the IBM-Dassault Systemes Product Lifecycle Management portfolio, and RAND Worldwide will further expand and focus its global business on providing world-class technical education and professional services around PLM solutions from Dassault Systemes and IBM. <br/>

 

 

In addition, ENGINEERING.com (CDNX: EGN), partially owned by RAND Worldwide, becomes an IBM e-Business Solution Partner.  ENGINEERING.com, a unique resource built on IBM Websphere technology and hosted at IBM facilities, will provide state-of-the-art e-business solutions and collaborative services to address the professional requirements of the global engineering community.<br/>

 

 

As an IBM premier Business Partner, RAND Worldwide will now provide customers with integrated IBM solutions, including IBM PLM software and IBM servers, workstations and middleware.  In addition, RAND Worldwide and IBM Global Services (IGS) will collaborate on a range of services to deliver PLM solutions to a wide variety of customers worldwide, including consulting, solution design and implementation, training, and change management.  These agreements will enable manufacturing companies, regardless of size, to leverage the most advanced product design and development technologies. <br/>

 

 

IBM-Dassault Systemes PLM solutions, with core applications for product design, engineering and development from Dassault Systemes, help manufacturers of all types innovate, improve quality, and reduce both costs and product development times.  They also help companies collaborate internally, across geographic boundaries and with suppliers.<br/>

 

 

 

“Over the years, RAND has demonstrated an unyielding commitment to design and engineering within the manufacturing industries. Today, we share the same assessment that 3D PLM is the next stage in exploiting the digital world for product lifecycle management,” said Bernard Charles, President of Dassault Systemes. “This strategic alliance is another clear demonstration of how our 3D PLM strategy and solutions based on V5 architecture can deliver unprecedented opportunities for innovation in product lifecycle optimization and management for all RAND customers.”

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“This agreement gives us the opportunity to address a wider customer base across all segments of the discrete manufacturing market with a partner known for its superior technical knowledge and customer focus and who shares our PLM vision and strategy,” said Ed Petrozelli, general manager, IBM Product Lifecycle Management Solutions. “Customers who have worked with RAND Worldwide value their strong process and technical knowledge. These customers now have the opportunity to build additional business value through the deployment of IBM PLM solutions.” <br/>

 

 

 

 

“I am extremely pleased that, in making these investments and expanding our partnership, these two world class organizations have recognized our own leadership position.  We will work closely with IGS to further strengthen the preeminent PLM system integration capability in the world,” said Brian Semkiw, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer of RAND Worldwide and Co-founder, Chairman of ENGINEERING.com.  “This partnership is bringing us closer to achieving our goal of becoming the leading engineering systems integrator in the world.  I also believe that Dassault Systemes and IBM will be the PLM leaders for years to come because their strategy makes sense and it will make manufacturers become more innovative, efficient and profitable.”

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Added Frank Baldesarra, Co-founder and President of RAND Worldwide and Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ENGINEERING.com, Inc., “I am very pleased that the five-year relationship we have developed with these two companies has culminated in such a significant mutual endeavor and partnership. The real benefit will be to our customers, for whom we will be helping to provide a powerful 3D PLM solution that includes an effective blend of software, hardware, and services, based upon a driving vision and a strong understanding of their business needs.  Further, I am particularly heartened by the passion that both Dassault Systemes and IBM have demonstrated in supporting the engineering profession – which is, in my view, the most important profession in the world. ”