Novatech Stayed on Centric PXM and Left On-Premise

Novatech International stayed with Centric PXM. They left the on-premise Contentserv install for the SaaS version, with a redesigned product data model, after an independent look at alternatives. The decision followed a shared definition of what PIM is for. PIMvendors did the work with Master Data Partners.

Client Introduction

Novatech International is a family-owned Belgian company. It develops and distributes adhesives, sealants and surface treatments, sells through a portfolio of specialised brands, and operates in more than 25 countries. The buyers are professionals in construction, industry and maintenance. Several product lines, several languages and market-specific requirements sit on the same product record.

The Challenge

Novatech had run Contentserv, now Centric PXM, for several years. The implementation had gone rigid. The product data model no longer matched how the business worked, workarounds had piled up, and the on-premise system was getting harder to maintain.

Teams also disagreed about the boundary. Some treated PIM as content management. Others wanted workflow automation, or wanted PIM to take over parts of the ERP. Without one boundary, a vendor demo would have been judged against different jobs.

They wanted to look at the market themselves before committing again. Several years with one vendor is not a comparison.

The Solution

The engagement had four phases. Education came before strategy, and strategy came before a tool.

• PIM education. Sessions with the wider Novatech team on what a PIM is for, and where it sits among the other systems. The boundary drawn in those sessions was explicit. A PIM does not take the job of a DAM, a CMS or an ERP extension.
• Stakeholder alignment. Workshops across marketing, product management, e-commerce, IT and the local market teams. Each team had real needs. The work was to rank those needs into one future state, so one team's list did not become the requirements by default.
• Process redesign. The product data flow was mapped from creation through enrichment, translation, approval and syndication, across the brands and the markets. Bottlenecks, repeated work and quality gaps were marked on that flow. The redesigned process became the requirements.
• Independent exploration. A shortlist of alternatives to the platform they already ran, evaluated on scenarios from Novatech's own workflows.

The Results

Novatech chose the SaaS version of Centric PXM and started a new implementation, with a new product data model. The old on-premise setup was not carried forward. The choice fits a multi-brand, multi-market operation. It was made with the market in view and the teams aligned. The maintenance problem was the on-premise install. Moving to SaaS answered it, and the new model follows the process designed in the engagement.

The trade-off is time. A market look can end on the system you already run. That feels wasteful until you see that the new data model is the change.

The order is what transfers to another selection. A shared boundary, then the process, then the shortlist. What PIM is is the definition those education sessions were building. Where ERP stops and PIM starts is the boundary the teams had been arguing over. How to select a PIM is the comparison that starts once the process is written down. On-premise versus SaaS is the hosting decision Novatech made at the end, not at the start.