We just left SE and went to SW, mostly to gain PDM. To be frank, I don’t know that one is better than the other, each has it’s own things. Things to make you smile and things to test your humanity. To those that can use more than one CAD system or jump back and forth (nice use of the emoji!) I’m envious.
I’d say you’re right…with some qualifications. It all depends on your business model and the type of work you do.
For us, the big draws to SE were:
-Synch (better workflow than anything SWX will ever have)
-BOM control (lightyears ahead of SWX)
-sheet metal is very, very good- especially with Synch
-drafting functionality and stability (things like dimension tracker and the way it handles model views)
-rules are enforced much better to allow less user error
-and of course the direction SWX is headed
The drawbacks of SE are:
-UI is much more cryptic and harder to learn
-fewer window dressings and bells than SWX
-configurations are stored in external files and not all-in-one like SWX. This is a double-edged sword, for sure.
-API programming is more difficult for many reasons
-Frame (weldment) environment is behind SWX, IMO
Still easily worth it though. I enjoy using SE and find it less frustrating overall.
If you check out Teamcenter Rapid Start, you’ll find out that it’s not a bad way to go at all. The only real drawback is their named-user licensing model. Otherwise it is extremely capable and tightly integrated with SE (or SWX if you want).
To me, the driving factor isn’t the features in the product, but the quality of the company. Siemens appears to be embracing this market, while DSS is doing everything they can to alienate the traditional SW user.
DSS to SW users: “Hello, we’re from Dassault and we’re here to help.”
If you get it you get it…