Martyn Day opens his “special box” for old friend of DEVELOP3D, Dr. Sandro Sozzi, at COFES 2009
I’m not entirely sure how we managed to get to April next week quite so quickly this year. It seems only yesterday the snow was on the ground, the Christmas decorations were being put away and we all dreaded the return back to the grindstone (sorry.. back to work).
In the world of product development technology and the industry that surrounds it, April is COFES time. For those unaware, organised by Cyon Research, the Congress on the Future of Engineering Software is held, as it is every year, in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. This sees a motley collection of software industry executives, industry analysts, media and a fair smattering of users gather to discuss the role of engineering software in a rapidly changing market.
While I’m not going to pretend that the future of software is defined at this event, what does happen is that vendors connect in a very informal manner, to discuss business, technology and establish links and connections between organisations that might not typically connect.
For the smaller players in the world of design and engineering software development, COFES provides access to higher-level of management at the larger vendors than they could normally get access to. Over the last few years of attending, it’s been interesting to see relationships develop that you’ve seen nascent as a result of a weekend in the sun in Arizona. You also get an idea of who’s in the mood for buying and acquisitions and who’s in the mood for being sold – and again, that’s been proven true from previous year’s experiences.
Alongside this, the Cyon team are also doing some survey work and I’d encourage you to participate if you can spare a few minutes to fill out the questions and give your input. The survey is here and should take but a few minutes to complete – if you fill it out and complete it, you’ll get a copy of the report once complete and it’ll give you an insight into where things are heading.
