Arena Revamped

Arena Solutions, the cloud PLM company that has been offering SaaS subscriptions for $99 per user per month, is getting a facelift, so to speak. This Thursday, the company rebooted its site with a new look. But the change is not just cosmetics. Arena Solutions is also introducing new prices:

• $49 a month for basic account, which covers three seats and ten suppliers; or
• $79 per seat per month (up to 125 seats), which covers up to 75 suppliers.

Both options above come with guided implementation and standard support. (There is an option with unlimited seats, unlimited suppliers, custom implementation, and dedicated support, but the company doesn’t publish price for this plan.)

The relaunch marked the debut of two new modules: Arena PartList and Arena PDXViewer.

PartList serves as a way to publish lists of parts into BOMs, ready to use for purchasing. The module lets you import your electronic components (ECAD) BOMs as CVS files, mapped to targeted fields. PartList comes with an Autofill feature, powered by Octopart. Taking advantage of the wealth of data available at Octopart, which lists 24 million offers from 105 distributors for 18 million unique electronic components from 3,317 manufacturers, Arena Solutions’ PartList can automatically populate appropriate fields with input available from Octopart datasheets.

PDXViewer, integrated right into the browser, allows you to read and edit common BOMs published in PDX (Product Data eXchange) format. The feature lets you build and share quote packages in a way that your suppliers can access and read.

Arena Solutions’ core product comes with a series of BOM control tools, including tabs for BOM management, change management, supplier collaboration, compliance tracking, and project collaboration.

Unlike traditional on-premise PLM solutions deployed at a client’s site, Arena Solutions’ products are delivered through a browser, so no installation is required. The company has managed to maintain 99.98 % system uptime in the past ten years, proving a long history of reliability.

Cloud-hosted PLM is generally attractive to small and midsize businesses (SMB) because of its affordable price and its low (or no) IT overhead. The market has long been ignored by traditional PLM vendors, which concentrate on selling into enterprises that require heavily customized onsite implementation.

But the tide may be turning. With Autodesk venturing into SMB territory with its newly launched Autodesk PLM 360, SaaS PLM is once again capturing the imagination of many. With subscription pricing starting at less than $100 per user per month, SaaS PLM is bound to capture many wallets as well.

(For more, read “Autodesk PLM 360 Goes Live,” February 29, 2012.)