Niche markets are hot.

Apart from the top five (Dassault, Ansys, MSC, Siemens PLM and LMS), Computer Aided Engineering company average size is as small as $5 Millions. Because big players don’t pursue such small markets before they eventually grow, niche software live a limited competitive pressure, i.e. bigger profits and growth.

Quoting Seth Godin “because everyone in Hollywood is trying to be George Clooney, there are a lot more opportunities for the few Danny DeVito willing to show up.” My advice then is to invest (your time) in niche software companies.

I just learned that Engineous, a competitor of mine, was acquired by Dassault Systemes.  Last year Engineous tied a partnership with IBM, and its acquisition by Dassault Systemes (an IBM company) was in the air.

A colleague of mine in UK writes: “In the interim we should be ok, Abaqus hasn’t bore fruit after being acquired by Dassault Systemes”.

Savvy, in the interim.