Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/293694
30 The PCB Design Magazine • April 2014 Abby Monaco, CiD, is a direc- tor of products and marketing for intercept Techology. she can be reached by clicking here. EDA MyTHBuSTERS: TIME FOR A NEW ERA continues there are cheaper tools available. So they slash that budget, and project cycles suddenly double or triple, because the cheap software can't han- dle the complexity of the design at hand. Or worse, management enjoys getting fancy din- ners and vacations from the high-end tools, so they continue to pay far more money than nec- essary for a software package that may or may not actually satisfy users' needs. If you talk to a vendor, of course they'll tell you that his tool is the best thing for you. Quite honestly, what I know about all of the EDA PCB design tools could make me a free agent for every EDA software vendor out there. Sure, I'd love to see Intercept selling more Pan- theon and Mozaix, but the truth is that it's just not going to be a perfect fit for everyone. We have great RF capabilities, some really cool au- to-interactive routing options, the best design reuse blocks out there, and some great high- speed tuning functions. But do you need these things? You need to decide for yourselves, and work hard to keep the upper management in tune with you. Blind, line-item budget slashes are the stupidest moves a manager can make. Don't let them do that to you! Get the tool that is right for the job, whether it be cheap or expensive. It directly feeds the productivity of the company, and someone at a higher level in a company should darn well recognize that! Time is mon- ey, so don't waste time on the wrong software package. These are just some of the myths I've come across. Let's move past this sort of thing, and take EDA tools into a new era. PCBDESIGN realtimewith.com CliCk To View Video Interview iPC's greg Munie explains the association's focus on DFX, and the ongoing search for new, younger members who will carry the torch as baby boomers start to retire. Greg Munie Discusses DFX and Quest for New Blood by Real Time with... The Design Forum software bytes