Autodesk Trims One Area, Grows Another

Autodesk is shedding weight in one area, but also gaining in another. The design software titan is trimming 7% of its workforce, which works out to approximately 500 positions. But, according to Noah Cole, the company’s senior PR manager, “We are planning to hire approximately the same number of positions as will be eliminated.”

The cutbacks follow the announcement of lower-than-expected Q2 results on Aug. 23.  Autodesk CEO Carl Bass said, “Our own execution challenges, combined with an uneven global economy, resulted in disappointing revenue results for the quarter. Organizational changes we made within the company earlier this year slowed us down during the quarter.”

Autodesk’s Cole said the reductions are “across the company and will impact all levels and all parts of the organization.”

As part of the company’s profit-margin improvement plan, Bass said he has “taken a prudent approach to spending in fiscal 2013.”

Nevertheless, just as pinks slips are being delivered, Autodesk did spend an undisclosed amount to acquire a new company. Inforbix, cofounded by PLM analyst and blogger Oleg Shilovitsky, was acquired by Autodesk today. The transaction is a clear signal that, even as the company trims fat in its operations related to traditional software, it continues to invest in cloud-hosted products and services.

Bass describes Autodesk’s restructuring as “continued transformation and shift to more cloud and mobile computing.”

Autodesk’s Cole said the new positions created will be to support “Autodesk 360 services, mobile service, and future products and services that will be mobile- and cloud-based.”

Inforbix, a cloud-hosted product data management system, fits squarely into Autodesk’s shift. With an emphasis on web-based search technology and mobile apps, Inforbix adds to what Autodesk plans to offer through its Autodesk PLM 360, a comprehensive series of apps delivered through the SaaS model.

Joining Autodesk as the senior director of PLM and data management, Inforbix cofounder Shilovitsky will report to Buzz Kross, Autodesk’s senior VP of design, product lifecycle, and simulation. In a strange twist of fate, the acquisition puts Shilovitsky, who once worked for Autodesk’s rival Dassault Systemes, in charge of Autodesk’s PLM initiatives.

From his Beyond PLM blog, Shilovitsky broke the news of the acquisition and left a message to his readers. He wrote, “I’m excited for Inforbix, the team, and looking forward to new challenges and opportunity at Autodesk.” He plans to maintain his blogging activities, independent from his new role at Autodesk. (To read his post, go here.)

It’s not yet clear what role Inforbix’s current COO Vic Sanchez will play after the acquisition.

With deep roots in professional design software programs, Autodesk has historically been associated with AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor (mechanical design), Autodesk Revit (architecture), Autodesk 3ds Max (entertainment), Autodesk Alias (industrial design), and other powerful desktop products. The shift to cloud-hosted software and services, which rely on volume usage and comparatively lower price tags, is a dramatic departure from the company’s previous business model.