Posted on April 28, 2010 by johnbruggeman
Yesterday, Cadence called to action the entire EDA industry. Seriously…WTH does calling to action an entire industry even mean in the year 2010?
Let me spell it out as it relates to the EDA market. It means, a disruptive shift is happening with our customers’ customers. And as a result, our customers, the semiconductor companies, are now facing some very complex challenges that can no longer be solved by a traditional, disaggregated design process. We all know the process – pretty well as a matter of fact – it’s the comfort zone we’ve lived in for decades: bottoms up, based on random point tools (some best-in-class, others not so much.)
Whether you’re willing to admit it or not, EDA is at a crossroad. With where the semiconductor industry is heading, can anyone honestly doubt a conventional wisdom shake up is long overdue? As an industry, we must expand our thinking. I’m talking “the world isn’t flat” kind of thinking. We are at a critical point. It just isn’t a “maybe” or a “someday” debate anymore.
From what customers tell me, it’s a “must” and “how” debate now. And the “how is called EDA360. (28 pages worth of “how” to be exact) Read more »
Filed under: Cool, EDA360, Just My Opinion, eda | Tagged: cadence, CDNS, eda, EDA360, electronic design automation, johnb, johnbruggeman | Comments Off
Posted on April 7, 2010 by johnbruggeman
Health care reform. Could the topic even be avoided the last month or so? While the whole country seemed obsessed with various aspects of health care reform and deadlocked in bitter debate, my short attention span became bored somewhere around angry calls to senators’ message lines and repetitive news highlights covering multi-city tea parties.
Underneath the emotional reaction this debate sparks, no one can deny that no matter which side of the fence you stand on, change is happening. Like it or not, we ARE witnessing a significant transformation in our health care system. To me, regardless of the issues, the compelling angle to health care reform is really…how did it happen, now? Decades have passed and several administrations have tried to tackle this massive problem. Everyone failed. Some even failed miserably. Sure, what finally ended up in the legislation or the politics that led to its passing are very important from a historical sense– but my double take was on the transformational behaviors that emerged to drive this change. Read more »
Filed under: General, Just My Opinion, eda | Tagged: cadence, cadence cmo, CDNS, eda, electronic design automation, enterprise software, johnb, johnbruggeman | Comments Off
Posted on March 24, 2010 by johnbruggeman
I am a software guy. I admit, sometimes it can cloud my judgment but in this case – not an issue. If you think about it, it’s really obvious. Mark my words … the next significant software evolution will not come from the Apples, Googles or Oracles of the world – Microsoft, in my opinion, already bailed so no big expectations there. The next generation of great software infrastructure will come from those formally known as semiconductor companies – a category description these companies technically will no longer fall into. While this may seem unlikely, it’s actually more realistic than you might think. The day of reckoning is rapidly approaching.
Outrageous prediction? Not really – the reason is simple: Consumers are driving demand for devices that do more than ever before – more than they can even imagine. We want handsets with all the cool apps we see on TV; we want gaming consoles that provide such a realistic experience, we feel like we’re living the game; we want TVs so on demand, we can search for content from sources we didn’t even know were available…AND we want it all at a lower price point.
Device companies that used to provide total solutions now need to focus all of their energy and attention on delivering the game-changing applications I described above. They don’t have the time or resources to develop, test and deliver applications infrastructure. Therefore, they are demanding that their semiconductor suppliers provide it.
This semiconductor makeover won’t be easy – and there will likely be new winners and losers. It will require no small feat of overhauling their business models, technology and product offerings, processes and operations – quite frankly, their core DNA. It will be, without a doubt, the hardest challenge the industry has faced yet. But in order to be deliver, it must be undertaken and mastered.
-JB
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Posted on November 3, 2009 by johnbruggeman
Last week, New York Times technology reporter, Steve Lohr, wrote about a Booz&Company annual survey of the 1,000 largest corporate spenders on research and development. In an economic environment laced with cost cutting measures across capital investments, marketing and payroll, the obvious premise for a survey on this topic would be that R&D spending would also take a hit.
Not so, according to the results. Respondents indicated that R&D budgets actually increased 5.7 percent in 2008 and 70% planned to maintain or increase their spend in 2009. Surprising? Not really given the survey also revealed more than 90% of the participating executives said innovation was critical to their companies’ success. More than 90%! With 14 pages of summary, testimonials, pie charts and graphs, this report gives a clear picture of just how integral innovation is to the corporate strategies behind the world’s most important industries.
The report uses an arms-race analogy to describe how the 1,000 largest corporate R&D spenders consider innovation so important, they don’t want to disarm despite the short-term economics. Innovation is the foundation they are betting on to hold their market positions and gain a competitive edge. In their minds, everything can be cut…but not R&D.
For me personally, the release of the Booz&Company results couldn’t have been better timed – today happens to be the fourth annual Innovation Day. But with the added reinforcement of the survey conclusions, a big question came to mind. How does an “arms merchant” like Cadence take advantage of the innovation arms race? The answer is simple. We INNOVATE! Read more »
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Posted on September 26, 2009 by johnbruggeman
Day 10 in my new CMO gig at Cadence…
After 100s of meetings, I have 1000s of thoughts relating to my new favorite obsession — EDA. Market dynamics, ecosystem, competitive landscape, conventional wisdom, business models, growth segments, product direction, pricing and packaging — the list of challenges goes on and on.
But the one observation – beyond all the others – that completely blows my mind is the intense cynicism from friends surrounding my decision to join Cadence. On pretty much a daily basis, I‘m asked, “Why John, would a marketing guy like you make a move to EDA?” Translation: “What the hell were you thinking?”
I’m just two weeks in and unquestionably confident that my decision was right. How can I be so sure? Well, I can clearly pinpoint the exact thought process behind the decision and it all started when I read one simple article. Read more »
Filed under: Just My Opinion, eda | Tagged: cadence, cadence cmo, CDNS, eda, electronic design automation, enterprise software, john bruggeman, johnb, johnbruggeman, marketing | Comments Off
