Bridging the Frontier 
Bob Smith, Executive Director
Bob Smith is Executive Director of the ESD Alliance responsible for its management and operations. Previously, Bob was senior vice president of Marketing and Business Development at Uniquify, responsible for brand development, positioning, strategy and business development activities. Bob began his … More » Methodics’ Next PhaseAugust 24th, 2020 by Bob Smith, Executive Director
Plenty has changed for Methodics in those three months –– notably, it is now part of Perforce. From what I heard during a recent call with Jim, Simon and Michael Munsey, Methodics’ vice president of marketing, business development and strategy, it’s already making its mark within Perforce as a valuable and strategic resource. Methodics’ technology, they explained, is foundational to Perforce’s strategy to move into the IPLM space.  Simon Butler  Jim Hogan  Michael Munsey Methodics, a member of the ESD Alliance, and Perforce aren’t strangers, having sh ared joint customers and a partnership going back about five years. Methodics is noted for IPLM, broadly, a bill of materials (BOM) management ecosystem in the semiconductor hardware components space. Perforce’s software is used for developing and running applications, including version control software, web-based repository management, developer collaboration, application lifecycle management (ALM), web application servers, debugging tools and Agile planning software. Perforce approached Methodics in the past. Although they had product and customer synergies, timing wasn’t right. This time around, the offer put in front of Methodics was compelling and presented a chance at greater prospects. As a joint entity, they will be able to bring joint hardware and software solutions to the systems market, offering a unified BoM approach to design and other ALM flows. It’s also a way to attract a new community of users in untapped adjacent markets that need a traceable platform for all of their IP or digital assets. When asked why the acquisition makes sense now, Jim pointed to the uncertainty of COVID-19, observing our market has been spared much of the upheaval in other industries with no obvious slowdown. With no clear signals, however, no one can predict the trickledown effect in the future. Methodics is an autonomous business unit within Perforce and little has changed within the 40-person company though Perforce, with a headcount of 900, is plugging in R&D resources as needed. Some roles and responsibilities have changed to streamline collaboration. Simon is general manager, for instance, and reports to Perforce’s C-level executives. Methodics employees are generally excited with the acquisition as well and see it as an opportunity for growth into leadership positions within a bigger company. Closing the agreement went quickly due in large measure to Methodics’ success in the market and its business model. The 12-year-old company was bootstrapped having taken no venture capital investment, profitable and focused on growing the business. It didn’t have structural or outside investor complications or other nagging problems that often sink potential acquisitions. As you might expect, many of the shared customers were contacted during Perforce’s due diligence. The feedback was stellar, reported Simon, in-part because of Methodics’ product engineering process, solid execution plan and the strength of its technical roadmap. Its modern, hands-on and interactive 2020 customer support approach leverages Slack to enable a social media-style support model, not the legacy support model most EDA tool users know all too well. The support model is sensible and offers ongoing discussion and a level of immediacy for an interactive experience to heighten customer satisfaction. Users get real touch points to interact with anyone at Methodics through almost 24/7 support and regular meetings to ensure best practices have been implemented Moving forward, Michael identified several new market segments that the joint Methodics/Perforce will be able to address. DoD, for example, has cybersecurity requirements that could be met with a jointly developed platform. Gaming is another. In gaming, IP is called a digital asset. Methodics supports digital assets with its traceable asset platform that is well-used by the semiconductor industry to track where designs come from. As we wind down our discussion, all three stressed operations are continuing as before and new opportunities are coming along, including some from the embedded software space, a focal point for Perforce. Perhaps Jim summed it best when he says, “Perforce is a great company giving Methodics a great future.” Methodics created a new market segment, validated by the acquisition that reinforces the value of a central BoM. As its tagline reads, “IP lifecycle management and traceability for the enterprise,” Methodics has a long lifecycle and is not going anywhere.
If your company is already a SEMI member, becoming a member of the ESD Alliance means submitting a short application with no extra fee. If your company is not a SEMI member yet, it can apply at the same time to join the ESD Alliance. Again, no extra fee is associated with being a part of the ESD Alliance. Engage with the ESD Alliance at: Website: www.esd-alliance.org ESD Alliance Bridging the Frontier blog: http://bit.ly/2oJUVzl Twitter: @ESDAlliance |
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