What do the experts say about cloud readiness in product innovation, engineering, and industrial software? What else can we learn about Siemens’ Paul Brown from his conversation with Tech-Clarity’s Jim Brown (no relation)? Tune into this episode of (Not Your Typical) Tech Interview, the show where we have a little fun by asking some important industry questions and then adding a few more to get to know our industry experts a little bit better. Want to find out what Paul’s first computer was? His favorite browser? One of the answers might surprise you!
For more information on cloud migration, please see the second video of this series, (Not Your Typical) Cloud Migration Interview with Schnitger Corp’s Monica Schnitger.
For more information on the engineering market’s rapid shift to the cloud, please see the third video of this series, (Not Your Typical) Cloud Market Shift Interview with Allan Behrens.
For more information cloud perceptions, please see the fourth and final video of this series, (Not Your Typical) Cloud Perceptions Discussion with Siemens’ Paul Brown.
Get more information about cloud readiness and Siemens’ Cloud Solutions from Siemens Digital Industries Software. For related research, please check out our Cloud Advisor PLM Assessment.
Transcript
Jim:
Welcome to “Not Your Typical Industry Interview” where we ask industry experts some really important questions and then, throw some in that most people probably wouldn’t ask them.
Jim:
Hi, this is Jim Brown, with Tech-Clarity, and welcome to the web show where we ask industry experts some questions that you might not think to ask. Today, I’m joined by Paul Brown, he is a long-time friend, industry friend, industry expert. He is a Senior Marketing Director at Siemens Digital Industry Software. Paul, welcome.
Paul:
Hi Jim! Good to talk to you!
Jim:
Today we’re going to talk about how companies can tell that they’re ready to move to the cloud for product innovation, product development, engineering, and other related industrial software. Are you ready to get started, Paul? And I’ve got to warn you, we’ve got a couple of little twists up our sleeve today.
Jim:
Paul, we’ve seen just a tremendous amount of increased interest in the cloud for engineering types of solutions, CAD, CAM, CAE, PLM, and other more digital solutions. What do you think are some of the key signs that a company is ready to make the transition to the cloud?
Paul:
Well, I think Jim, the big thing here now is when people are looking at the current environment and their need to collaborate, that’s one of the big triggers. And once you start recognizing that you’re working with other companies, you’ve got people working at home, remotely, if you can start… Once you start seeing that opportunity and that need to build up these communities of people together, that’s when cloud technologies can really help you. And I think that that’s one of those flags that says, “Actually really, you should be thinking hard about how can I bring this into my business.”
Jim:
Paul, what’s your favorite web browser? I’ll go first. Mine’s Chrome.
Paul:
Yeah, I’m using Chrome, I’ll use Chrome pretty much all the time. Now and again, we get… There are things that pop up and say “This is better off in Edge,” but I always try and I’ll try it in Chrome first just to see…
Jim:
Well, are there any red flags that say a company maybe shouldn’t be taking their product innovation and engineering software into the cloud?
Paul:
There is the obvious red flag, which everyone jumps to straight away, which is that I work on secure projects, I work military, I work… And obviously, that’s one of those factors, that’s the business environment you’re working in. But the other red flag, and I think is more important, that companies can actually control themselves is having a plan as to what they want to achieve with the cloud. If they’re just talking about, “Well, I’m going there because that’s the current trend. Everyone is talking about cloud, I need to be on the cloud,” that’s not really a good business reason. You’ve got to have a goal and a business goal as to why you’re going to benefit from the cloud. Otherwise, it’s just change for change’s sake, and that’s never going to give you returns on investment that you want.
Jim:
What was your first personal computer?
Paul:
I guess my first personal computer, the one I had at home was, there was a company that was in the UK called Tiny. So that was my first home PC. And when I look at technology now and how we all are interconnected, if I think about it, my first real… The work PC, the one I first trained on CAD, that was, for those people that remember, there was a company called Digital Equipment Corporation a long, long time ago, and we had a micro, a VAX11750.
We had to put it into a separate room, air-conditioned in our drawing office, it supported four workstations, and it cost the company by the time they got the four workstations plus the hardware, it cost the company about a million dollars for… Just for the hardware. And now we run technology on our laptops, on our phones, on our tablets, all connected through the web, running technologies, using cloud technologies in our own sort of personalized environment that we have without even thinking about it, and… So the change over the years.
And I think the other thing is, I’ve always learned… I’ve now definitely, I’m a proponent of you never say never. I mean, I remember in the old days saying, you’d never run a CAD product on a laptop, those sorts of conversations that you used to have, and it’s like everything is now… Becomes possible.
Jim:
Well, thanks so much for joining me. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you both from a personal perspective, but from also a professional perspective. I always learn something new and love to share in your insights into the industry.
Paul:
Great. Thanks, Jim. Great to speak to you. And look forward to doing it again.
Jim:
Thanks for joining the web show where we asked industry experts mostly the wrong questions. We had a lot of fun today and certainly looking forward to more of these. If you’d like to learn more about product innovation, product development, engineering and other industrial software and how the cloud can really make that better, visit our sponsor, Siemens Digital Industry Software.