Customers in the digital era are seeking a new type of product life-cycle management (PLM) system with major potential for business, product development, R&D, quality and compliance, and engineering stakeholders. But implementation requires domain expertise, careful planning, and change management that only a services provider can offer. VPs of product development, VPs of engineering, CTOs, and CIOs should understand the changing dynamics of the PLM space and proper strategies for engaging with a PLM services firm before embarking on a PLM implementation.