PTC takes fresh look at India

BANGALORE: US-based Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), a provider of product lifecycle management solutions, which has its biggest development center in Pune, is now actively targeting the Indian market.

The company, which has gained a lot of traction in the automotive sector in the country is now going after other potential verticals.

“PLM solutions are not a must-have in India yet. But it's a matter of time before PLM becomes a mantra like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),” said Natarajan Viswanathan, MD, PTC India.

He added that various enterprises that feel the pressures of time-to-market, competition and cost would take to PLM software. While the company recorded nine percent year-on-year growth globally this year, the Indian market grew by a healthy 30-40 percent in FY05.

Apart from the traditionally strong automotive sector, PTC now plans to pursue opportunities in heavy engineering, SMB, aerospace and defense, apparel and footwear, and education.

To target the aerospace and defense segment, the company has roped in astronaut Rakesh Sharma to spearhead customer wins in this area.

At present, the company uses direct sales as well as channels to tap the market. “Our direct team handles our large customer accounts like Tata and Eicher while our channels have succeeded in expanding our footprint in tier-two and tier-three cities,” said Viswanathan.

PTC has four main channel partners including Ingram Micro, SoftCell, Dimensions and Rolta, and hopes to increase their reseller network to cover smaller towns in the Indian hinterland.

To make further in-roads into the education sector in India, PTC plans to donate truncated versions of its product ProE in high schools in around ten cities. “We will launch this program in Q1 2006, where CAD would be included as part of students' curriculum.”

In addition to the PLM solutions, PTC is also looking to promote its dynamic publishing solution - a result of the acquisition of Arbortext in July this year.

“This would allow us to tap new areas like pharmaceuticals and government and get into enterprises where we don't have a presence,” said Viswanathan.