Scott Berkey Takes on New Role as North America Managing Director for Dassault Systemes

Dassault Systemes named Scott Berkey, CEO of SIMULIA, as its managing director for North America.

Most people know Scott Berkey as the man in charge of Dassault Systemes SIMULIA brand, but that is about to change. Scott will remain CEO of SIMULIA, which he’s shepherded since 2008. But he’s also assuming a new role, as managing director of North America. In addition to the simulation products, he’ll oversee the North American operations for GEOVIA, BIOVIA, ENOVIA, CATIA, 3DEXCITE, and the other of Dassault Systemes 12 brands.

Dassault Systemes CATIA and ENOVIA brands are well established, with strong roots in manufacturing. Its GEOVIA products for mining operations, BIOVIA for life sciences, and 3DEXCITE for visualization represent expansion into new areas, made possible by a blend of in-house technologies and acquisitions. GEOVIA was spawned from Dassault’s acquisition of Gemcom in 2012. BIOVIA stemmed from the acquisition of Accelrys in 2014. 3DEXCITE was built on RTT, a visualization software supplier the company acquired in 2013.

“Dassault Systemes finished 2014 with a 20% currency growth in the Americas, which includes North America, so it’s quite a healthy growth,” Scott explained. “In manufacturing, we continue to expand our footprint, so the opportunities will get bigger.”

In 2008, when Scott took the helm of SIMULIA, CAD and simulation software were still largely driven by the horsepower of desktop workstations. Today, on-demand high performance computing (HPC), cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and virtualization have crept into the market.

Scott observed, “Those technologies expand the availability of our products to users. HPC is our heritage in solving some of the most complex simulation challenges. Our vision is to bring simulation to a wider audience. It needs to be practiced much earlier in the product lifecycle, must be accessible to the non-experts. The new computing models make it easier for these users to gain access. It’s up to us to expose the capabilities in our software in a way that’s intuitive and natural for the non-experts.”

Aside from the computing models, the emphasis in engineering and design also seems to be shifting from mechanical components to electronics and software, putting pressure on software vendors like Dassault Systemes to adapt.

“Inside CATIA, we have CATIA Systems, which deals with control software and systems,” said Scott. “Our CATIA and SIMULIA R&D need to work together to provide customers systems simulation capability, so they can design not just mechanical devices but products with sensors and software. We have the technology to do that.”

Moving beyond the proliferation of 3D, Dassault Systemes now bets on technologies that allow consumers to experience products and goods in a virtual world. The rebranding of its offerings to 3DEXPERIENCE is a sign of the company reinventing itself for what it describes as “the experience economy.”

Scott said, “In today’s economy, having the best product isn’t good enough. You have to be able to put your products in the context of the users’ experience. We’ll continue to deliver our 3DEXPERIENCE products in the new computing modes to allow our customers to create experiences.”

For Dassault Systemes' official announcement, read the press release here.