It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a month since the completion of PTC’s acquisition of ServiceMax. In the past month, ServiceMax and PTC leaders have been busy strategizing how to best integrate our companies and products to benefit our customers. The excitement for the future is high, and we can’t wait to unveil more formalized integration plans at PTC’s LiveWorx conference in Boston, May 15-18.

Recently, PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann gave a glimpse into what customers can expect next during PTC’s quarterly earnings call. Speaking on the synergy between the ServiceMax and PTC’s ThingWorx product, Heppelmann noted:

“High-value products are operated by the customer for years or even decades. These products require regular service to keep them up and running, and this service is typically provided by the manufacturer, who views the recurring service contracts and spare part sales as a highly desirable source of revenue and profit.

ServiceMax helps the manufacturer manage their entire installed base of physical product instances and orchestrates all the necessary service activities. By monitoring the installed base of products, ThingWorx adds a lot of value to ServiceMax, because it allows service to be more proactive and preventative in nature. Sometimes the service can even be done remotely thereby canceling the need for a truck roll.”

He also called out the harmony we have with Creo and Windchill:

 “On the one hand, the service process consumes the digital product data created in engineering, in the form of parts catalogs and service instructions. And on the other hand, the service process is the primary source of feedback that drives ongoing product improvements through engineering change orders or ECOs.

Windchill serves as the system of record for the digital definition of all possible product configurations, and ServiceMax serves as the system of record for the actual physical instances of products that exist, each of which may have a slightly different configuration…There is a digital thread of product information flowing between these key systems in both directions throughout the product life cycle.

Aligning ServiceMax with PTC’s various offerings will lubricate this flow of data creating tremendous business value. No competitor has a solution comparable to this. Equally important, as the service system of record, ServiceMax knits together our existing SLM products, allowing PTC to now offer the industry’s first truly comprehensive offering for service management optimization.”

Think of it as a hub-and-spoke model with ServiceMax as the hub and PTC’s other service offerings as spokes, he added:

“For example, ThingWorx IoT connects to and monitors the vital signs of installed products to enable preventative remote service. Arbortext dynamically publishes technical service information to match each product configuration in the installed base. Vuforia AR enables this technical service information to be augmented onto each installed product to make service technicians more productive. And Servigistics allows customer service level agreements to be met, while carrying the smallest possible inventory of spare parts.”

As you can see, there is a new era of possibilities for ServiceMax now that we have access to all of PTC’s technologies. Following the earnings call, Neil Barua sat down with Derek du Preez at diginomica to discuss his strategy and excitement, noting that he felt like a kid in a candy store.

When asked about the value proposition now that ServiceMax and PTC are one, Barua said:

“This will take this company into a whole different ball game and a whole new era. What I don’t think people understand, which they will very shortly, is that PTC is extremely prominent in PLM and CAD design. Almost all the Fortune 500 use PTC product software, independent of SLM, and have been designing products for decades. And that data, the 3D models around it, that is built on their software. 

When you translate that to all the things that need to be serviced on that product that’s been designed, now underneath this umbrella…we’ve been talking about data and digital thread for a long time and one of the biggest issues of data is the consistency and the quality of that data. Think about it, this is now within our infrastructure, all those data components. And if there’s anyone to solve this for customers, it’s us. It’s really fascinating, which is why I’m continuing on. I think this is a game changer, on many fronts, for many years and decades to come.”

As for next steps, ServiceMax and PTC teams are currently working through the prioritization of all the different integration possibilities. For instance, how does ServiceMax connect into PTC’s AR capabilities, using a work order generated off of the ServiceMax platform? How does it, for example, show Philips Healthcare, a work order with the technical documentation and AR capabilities that actually allows a technician to fix things remotely? These are use cases that customers have been trying to solve on their own, with complex integrations and a number of disjointed products, but now will have the possibility to use under one roof.

Right now, ServiceMax is very focused on ensuring that we don’t do too much too soon and follow a path that will lead to generating quick value for our customers. Barua explained:

“I like to say that the ‘say:do ratio’ is very important. So what we’re methodically doing is: what are the near term points of integration where customers gain value right out of the gates, right? And what does the future look like in terms of what we should be working on right now, for next year, three years, four years from now? 

We are spending meaningful time with customers ideating on this. We are planning on announcing a lot of those ideas, as well as potential value points, at our LiveWorx event in Boston in May.”

I hope you are as excited as I am for the future of ServiceMax, and I encourage you to join us at LiveWorx this May. Register here.

ABOUT Deirdre Yee

Avatar photoDeirdre Yee is the Senior Director of Demand Generation at ServiceMax. She collaborates with customers to help thought leaders promote their successes, build up their network, and demonstrate the transformative power of technology. Her favorite programs help top customers take the spotlight and highlight their strategies and innovation through world-class events, speaking engagements, videos, and beautiful, compelling storytelling. She creates strategic programs to add value for customers while driving customer engagement and advocacy. At home in Vermont, she and her two daughters, husband, and needy hound, Marlo, enjoy the mountains, the snow, and the summer sun.