EXTRANET NEWS * Week of 10 March 2003
Editors: Joel Orr and N'omi Orr
http://www.extranetnews.com

1. SYNCHRONICITY: EDA COLLABORATION
2. THE LIST
3. FROM OUR READERS
4. TIDBITS
5. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

1.      SYNCHRONICITY: EDA COLLABORATION

Editor Joel Orr spoke with Trent Poltronetti, director of corporate marketing. For more information, visit http://www.synchronicity.com.

Electronic design automation is characterized by enormous files, high structure, and mind-boggling complexity. This is where the full effects of Moore's Law—the observation that device density on chips doubles every eighteen months—are observed. Whereas the chips of thirty-plus years ago had thousands of active devices on them, today's have hundreds of millions.

How do you design something with so many parts? How can projects be subdivided so that more than one engineer at a time can work on them? How do you test and perform quality assurance? While a number of companies address some of these issues, only one is successfully helping leading-edge chip manufacturers collaborate on these huge designs: Synchronicity.

"There is a growing productivity gap between what you can design and what you can make, and you can't close it by throwing more people at it," said Poltronetti. "You've disaggregated the design chain and spread its parts out. You need systems and tools to help them stay connected. Our products helps engineers work together. Our customers all design electronic stuff. Most are semiconductor manufacturers; but that includes software today."

 

Synchronicity's Developer Suite helps connect engineers in different locations into a team. All the design data, which is often very voluminous—on the order of many gigabytes—is managed by this suite. Access is appropriately provided, based on identities and roles. Version control is maintained. Bugs and issues are tracked, with email notification. And re-use of design components is facilitated.

 

While the electronics industry as a whole has been shrinking since the collapse of the dotcoms, intellectual property (IP) in the form of design libraries is growing. "That's why we grew 30% from last year to this year, despite the state of the economy." Some companies use Synchronicity's products for delivering their IP to customers.

 

The 100-person company, founded in 1997, is privately held, with an unusual cast of investors that includes Intel, Synopsys, and Cadence, who compete with one another in various ways. "We need to be neutral, like Switzerland," said Poltronetti.

 

Our take: The world of EDA presents unique collaboration challenges, more complex than those of mechanical and AEC in some ways. Vendors of collaborative software and services can glean interesting lessons from what has worked for this company.

 

Meanwhile, Synchronicity occupies a unique place in its market, with no real competitors—an enviable position.


2. THE LIST

Total companies: 257 (see who's on The List at http://www.extranetnews.com/).

ADDED:

  • Entrada, document management and object tracking software;
  • Mangosoft Mangomind Web-based file-sharing service;
  • Visiprise SCE, Web-based MES (manufacturing execution system).

 

3. FROM OUR READERS

We asked our readers if they knew of any uses of extranets in transportation applications, other than the Chicago Transit Authority's. Here is one more response, from Forbes Johnston, a senior transportation engineer with Mott MacDonald (faj@mm-winc.mottmac.com; thanks, Jon Malam):

A good example of flexibility would be its use on the Portsmouth (UK) Highway Maintenance PFI. All tender documentation and any data which is in electronic form, has been mounted on the 4Projects site (http://www.4projects.com) allowing rapid dissemination of information and instructions to the various bidders in the project. Procurement savings have been achieved because the need for paper copies of tender documentation and their associated expensive postage costs are no longer required.

Each of the bidders has a secure section of the project web, allowing them to share commercially sensitive information with the client in a secure environment.

Forbes

4. TIDBITS

·         Project Extranets – An Introduction to Collaborative Working Online. This one-day conference will discuss the continuing development of extranets within the construction industry. Expert speakers include Stuart Cowperthwaite of Arup, Jon Malam of Mott MacDonald and Louise Townsend of Masons. Topics will include understanding extranets, choosing a specific extranet system for your business, and why extranets can benefit your business. Registration is £265+VAT before 27th February 2003 or £325+Vat thereafter. Thursday 27th March 2003 at The Salford Suite II, Old Trafford, Manchester. http://www.ajplus.co.uk/events/projectextranets.

·         "The Dandelion Principle: Structuring for Greatness." Preview Joel's upcoming book at http://www.dandelionprinciple.com, and sign up there to receive a series of "seedlings" from "The Dandelion Principle" via email.

·         COFES2003. Keynotes: Alan Kay and Jeff Harrow. May 15-18, 2003, Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Scottsdale, AZ. We've revamped the program with much more "how do we actually apply this stuff?" Go to the website to see who has registered to date. http://www.cofes.com


5. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle".

-- Winston Churchill

 

Entire newsletter copyright © Cyon Research Corporation 2003

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