( SNUG 02 Item 4 ) --------------------------------------------- [ 5/15/02 ]
Subject: Customers Rate The Best & The Worst Synopsys Tools
READING THE TEA LEAVES: The best way to find out what's hot and what's not
is to directly ask the users. Out of the 485 users at SNUG'01, 321 answered
the 2001 survey. Out of the 451 users at SNUG'02, 269 answered this year's
2002 survey. So to compare apples to apples, I scaled up the 2002 answers
by 19.3% -- the 321/269 scaling needed to make this year's 269 proportional
to last year's 321.
"6b.) Which Synopsys product are you *most* satisfied with? (write in)"
Design Compiler '01 #########################S S#################### 143
Design Compiler '02 #########################S S#################### 132
PrimeTime '01 #################################### 72
PrimeTime '02 ############################################# 91
PhysOpt '01 ########### 22
PhysOpt '02 ##################### 42
VCS '01 ############## 28
VCS '02 ##################### 41
Vera '01 ## 4
Vera '02 ####### 13
TetraMax '01 ###### 11
TetraMax '02 ###### 12
*Mill/AMPS '01 # 2
*Mill/AMPS '02 ## 4
Module Compiler '01 ### 5
Module Compiler '02 # 2
SystemC '02 # 2
FPGA Compiler II '01 ## 4
FPGA Compiler II '02 1
Scirocco '01 # 2
Scirocco '02 1
Formality '01 # 2
Formality '02 1
DFT Compiler, FPM
CoCentric, TC
Module Compiler '02 1
Looking at these numbers, Synopsys customers appear to be happier this year
(compared to last year) with PrimeTime, PhysOpt, VCS, and Vera. Hmm...
Vera's up 4X. I didn't expect to see them in this "happier" category.
"6c.) Which Synopsys product are you *least* satisfied with? (write in)"
Formality '01 ###### 12
Formality '02 ############ 23
Design Compiler '01 ######## 15
Design Compiler '02 ####### 13
Chip Architect '01 ####### 14
Chip Architect '02 ####### 13
PrimeTime '01 #### 8
PrimeTime '02 ###### 12
TetraMax '01 ## 4
TetraMax '02 ##### 10
PhysOpt '01 ##### 10
PhysOpt '02 ##### 10
VCS '01 ##### 9
VCS '02 ### 6
BSD Compiler '01 # 2
BSD Compiler '02 ### 5
Power Compiler '01 # 1
Power Compiler '02 ### 5
Scirocco '01 ## 4
Scirocco '02 ## 4
FPGA Compiler II '01 ### 6
FPGA Compiler II '02 # 2
ECO Compiler '01 ## 5
ECO Compiler '02 # 2
Vera '01 # 2
Vera '02 # 2
PowerMill '01 # 2
PowerMill '02 # 2
VirSim '02 # 2
Lib Compiler '01 1
Lib Compiler '02 # 2
Design Analyzer '01 ## 5
Design Analyzer '02 1
Test Compiler '01 ### 6
Test Compiler '02 1
VSS '01 ### 6
VSS '02 1
Floorplan Mgr '01 #### 9
Floorplan Mgr '02 1
CoreConsultant
SystemC, DWPCI
Clock Compiler
DW, Route66
MemPro, LEDA
PrimeTime-SI
RTL-Analyzer
CoverMeter
DesignVision
FPM '02 1
A quickie analysis: first off, I ignore the negative votes on DC, PrimeTime,
and VCS. There are 10 positive votes for *each* negative vote that appears
here. For example, DC has 132 positive & 13 negatives. Washes out.
PhysOpt appears to be doing even better this year. Last year PhysOpt had
10 detractors and 22 advocates (a 2.2 ratio.) This year PhysOpt again has
10 detractors but it now has 42 advocates (a 4.2 ratio.) Happy PhysOpt.
Formality is still in trouble, though. Only 1 or 2 people have ever
rated it as the "best" Synopsys tool. Last year 12 people hated it.
This year 23 people hate it -- roughly a 2X gain. Bad Formality.
Those unexpected 2.5X and 5X jumps in negative votes for TetraMAX and Power
Compiler indicate that something's going on. Keep an eye on those two.
Last year, Floorplan Mgr had 9 negs. This year it's only 1 neg. Either
Floorplan Mgr is getting better, it's being used less, or a little of both.
Lacking any positive votes, Chip Architect (13 negs) and BSD Compiler
(5 negs) are again seen as damaged goods by users. Same as last year.
Overall in the eyes of EDA users, Synopsys tools appear to be good and
getting better. Last year there were a total of 306 positive tool votes
and 144 negative tool votes, a ratio of 2.125 to 1. This year it's 344
positive to 131 negative making 2.626 to 1. What's also noteworthy
here is that users were asked to list one positive and one negative
Synopsys product in the survey question, so these ratios *should* have
been 1 to 1. That is, the users went out of their way to list extra
"best" Synopsys tools in the survey.
|
|
