MDM PIM: Product Information Management: E-commerce Strategies

PLM or PIM? The difference is more than a Letter
  

Forrester just released a new report on the state of the PLM market in 2010.  A question that often comes up is, “What’s the difference between product lifecycle management (PLM) and product information management (PIM)?  Why do I need PIM if I already have PLM?”  

PLM and PIM were developed to address different business requirements.  PLM manages data about product design and engineering in order to improve product quality.  It focuses on design and development rather than on marketing and merchandizing. Further, the data used in a PLM application is typically entered directly into the system.  

In contrast, PIM arose from the need to supply distribution channels with the most current product information, and focuses on integrating and managing product data from multiple sources.  Further, it enables you to enrich product data with search-friendly marketing attributes and to push that information out to publication systems, sales channels, supply chain partners, and others who need access to your most current product information. 
 

While PLM systems store item data, they don’t have a PIM system’s ability to aggregate product data from many internal (and external) sources, manage and attribute the data, then output the enriched information for publication as catalogs and Web content.  Thus, the product data in a PLM system needs to be integrated into a PIM application in order to ensure that consumers of product information and assets have access to all the information they need.