May 18

Written by: Rachael Dalton-Taggart
5/18/2006 3:52 AM 

A CADwire.net search on Right Hemisphere will bring you a wealth of news listings delivered by the company over the last few years.

Interestingly, in its April 14 2005 announcement, the company classed itself as "a leading provider of enterprise graphics management
software'. Upon hiring Tom Meredith on August 1st 2005, the company became "a leading provider of Product Graphics Management (PGM) software."

Since then the term has been repeatedly used with more frequency in its press releases. In 2006, every press release I have seen has PGM in the headline or as part of the subject in the first paragraph. The company is doing the 'right thing' about trying to get a term accepted. i am not going to blame them for using tried-and-tested strategies and tactics to gain a lead in a pretty aggressive market.

But the questions then start: in an industry that it stricken with TLA's (Three-Letter Acronyms), do we need yet more?

And does PGM fully describe what the company delivers?

My views: (please add comments. I am always happy to have my mind changed.)
Do we need more TLA's?
If a company needs to differentiate itself in an industry where everyone has a three letter acronym for everything, is this truly a differentiator? I don't really think so. Rather than relying on decades-old methods, should marketers be actually thinking out-of-the-box by now? It might be an idea worth chewing over.

Does PGM describe what this company does. Well, here's an excerpt from a recent press release boilerplate.

" PGM enables manufacturers to globally source, sell, and service products more effectively by delivering the right 2D and 3D product graphics, in the right format, right now across their extended enterprises, all from accurate, up-to-date engineering data readily available in current CAD and PDM systems."

Does that describe "management" of product graphics? I am not sure. To me it is more about Product Graphic Useability...the ability to send, share and actually use product data rather than it being locked away.

Again, I am not intending to pick on Right Hemipshere here.  They are doing much of the right thing with what they have. And, after all, 'useability' as a term is not comprehensive enough for what is being expounded. PGU as a TLA makes me LMAO. (sorry, couldn't resist). They just provide a classic case that needs discussion.