SolidWorks World 2010 (Day 3) – Dassault Systemes & SolidWorks

Something struck me as odd yesterday at the press reception. In his speech SolidWorks CEO Jeff Ray said, “Bernard Charles [Dassault Systemes CEO] was on stage today. What do yo think about that?” For a while I didn’t quite get it. I was thinking to myself, “Well, Dassault Systemes owns SolidWorks. So what’s the big deal? He had better talk at SolidWorks World. Who do you expect? Carl Bass?” I am not sure about this but I think this was the first time Bernard Charles spoke at a SolidWorks World event. SolidWorks World is the most important event for SolidWorks and the fact that its parent’s CEO has not been a significant part of it says a lot. It’s like a father not attending his child’s birthday party and wishing him in front of his friends. I know that this is more like symbolism, but I think there is something to it.

It’s good to know that relations appear to have improved. The results are for us all to see. Jeff Ray publicly acknowledged the role of Dassault Systemes in developing the new stuff that was shown on the first day. SolidWorks is already the leader in its segment. Reinforcing its position with superior technology from Dassault Systemes, adding scalability and the ability to interface with high-end product management systems may pose as a challenge to its competition.