As more companies turn to product lifecycle management (PLM) tools, more than half of the respondents (55%) said innovation, not cost savings (30%), is now the key driver in adopting PLM principles inside their organization, according to a survey by CapGemini US LLC, one of the world’s leaders in consulting, technology and outsourcing services.

As the global PLM market matures, more early adopters are beginning to focus more on aligning their processes (40%) and organization (40%) than people (15%) or technology (5%) to optimize their PLM strategy for the long run. In addition, more than half of respondents (55%) said the PLM was their "#1 priority" or of "major importance" to the success of their business. Another finding: six in ten respondents said flexibility (60%) is the most important feature of a PLM tool, compared to only one in six for ease of use (15%) and scalability (15%).

"As PLM has arrived on the scene as a leading enterprise software solution to drive business value in recent years, survey respondents told us that PLM reduces time-to-market and leads to cost savings through improved cross-functional and extended enterprise collaboration," said Mark Heidenreich, principal at CapGemini. "The benefits case for PLM adoption has never been stronger, and we expect industry shapers to continue to grow rapidly as more organizations take advantage of the flexibility of PLM tools to grow their business."

For more on the results of this study, go to the CapGemini Web site at www.us.capgemini.com/news/PulseSurveys/ugs_042407.asp.