Microsoft and UGS Corp. today announced a multi-year, global strategic alliance meant to further unite UGS� suite of digital collaboration technology and the Microsoft platform � with the goal of helping companies transform how they develop, introduce, distribute and service innovative products. The alliance announced today marks the first time that a full suite of product lifecycle management (PLM) technology based completely on the widely used Microsoft platform will be available. Today�s announcement was made at the 15th World Congress on IT, held this week in Austin, Tex. The overall goal of the alliance is to empowering global team members, customers, partners and vendors with the ability to participate in the product lifecycle process, from creation to end of life.

The alliance between the two companies will deepen the technical integration between UGS� line of PLM solutions and a range of current and future Microsoft products, including Microsoft Visual Studio, ASP.NET 2.0, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 � all of which are based on Microsoft .NET, Microsoft�s Web-services strategy. UGS technologies to be included in integration efforts include Teamcenter, a digital lifecycle management solution and one of the world�s most widely used PLM portfolios, NX and Solid Edge, which create 3-D digital representations, and Technomatix, which simulates the entire manufacturing process.

UGS, a leading global provider of PLM solutions, has nearly 4 million licensed seats and 46,000 customers worldwide. UGS enjoys the leading position in three out of four discrete manufacturing sectors: automotive, aerospace and machinery. The company employs 7,200 people and is headquartered in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Tex.

To learn more about the alliance announced today, the significance of PLM to manufacturing and other industries � ranging from automotive to health care � and the vision shared by both companies of technology sharply focused on the roles people play in business, PressPass spoke with Tony Affuso, CEO of UGS.