IBM and Siemens PLM Software, a global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, jointly announced offerings that help companies improve the management of products throughout their lifecycle from design and manufacturing to end-of-life planning and recycling and simplify the process of sharing key product data and manufacturing plans.

As products become more sophisticated and the number of suppliers and manufacturers increases around the globe, companies need a more intelligent and well-connected framework to support the accurate exchange of millions of data transactions. These transactions are important in the design and manufacturing of mechanical, software, and electrical components critical in products from planes and ships to global positioning systems and cell phones.

Using IBM's Product Development Integration Framework (PDIF) as a development platform and primary integration environment, Siemens is delivering ready-to-use solutions built on its Teamcenter PLM software portfolio and IBM WebSphere and Information Management (DB2). PDIF also enables a richer integration between Siemens Teamcenter and Rational Software Platform for Systems.

Additionally, IBM and Siemens will jointly provide a comprehensive range of services including consulting and implementation, systems integration, and application hosting.

"Siemens PLM Software's Teamcenter is the industry's first PDIF-ready platform to deliver tightly integrated IBM middleware offerings that reduce PLM software acquisition and lifecycle costs," said Michael Wheeler, vice president, IBM PLM and Supply Chain Solutions. "By using a flexible software environment, companies have a framework for marrying key PLM business processes to technology initiatives that offer a structured approach to managing the life of a product," added Wheeler.

"For information technology groups the news translates into easier deployment and technical support," said Michael Burkett, leading industry analyst and vice president of AMR Research. "For line-of-business users from product development to supply chain it means faster access to information and better performance to support collaboration for global product development. The technology certification is significant in its depth where Teamcenter PLM is now optimized to run on IBM applications including WebSphere and DB2."

By exploiting the open computing flexibility of IBM's service-oriented architecture (SOA) and IBM's PDIF, companies can address the challenge of making sure millions of pieces of data and design plans are exchanged accurately throughout the product lifecycle communities. The combination of PLM with SOA helps companies build, extend and transform their existing infrastructures incrementally over time by allowing multiple systems to re-use business services and incorporate new technologies such as web-based collaboration across the product supply chain.

"One of the significant benefits of the announcement is the fact that customers will no longer need to choose between IBM and Siemens when selecting the best PLM solution for their organizations," said Chuck Grindstaff, executive vice president of products and CTO, Siemens PLM Software. "Companies now have access to the performance and reliability of IBM middleware combined with the scalability and instant access to product knowledge provided by Teamcenter. This combination presents a unique advantage for companies as they address the growing demand from their customers for more sustainable products."

IBM and Siemens PLM Software are also working closely with IBM's Business Partner network to deliver PLM to the small and medium size business community. In addition, the companies will deepen their joint client offerings by optimizing Siemens PLM Software applications that can run IBM server and storage devices.

For more information about IBM please visit www.ibm.com/solutions/plm.

About IBM Smarter Products

A new generation of intelligent, instrumented and interconnected products are transforming the way the world works. IBM Rational Software provides a fully-integrated software delivery platform that addresses requirements, design, development and management across electrical, mechanical and software technologies and helps organizations derive the greatest value from the products they deliver.

For more information on IBM Smarter Products: http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/smartplanet/topics/embeddedsoftware/20090518/index.shtml

About Siemens PLM Software

Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division, is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with nearly six million licensed seats and 56,000 customers worldwide. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Siemens PLM Software works collaboratively with companies to deliver open solutions that help them turn more ideas into successful products. For more information on Siemens PLM Software products and services, visit www.siemens.com/plm

Teamcenter is a trademark or registered trademark of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.