( SNUG 10 Item 1 ) ---------------------------------------------- [04/22/10]
Subject: How 238 users rated the Best and 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. All answers have been scaled to 100 users.
"Which Synopsys product(s) are you *most* satisfied with? (write in)"
Design Compiler : ######################## 47%
PrimeTime : ##################### 42%
VCS : ######### 17%
IC Compiler : ##### 9%
TetraMAX : ### 5%
Astro : ### 5%
HSPICE : ## 3%
Synplify : ## 3%
Star-RC : ## 2%
PT-SI : ## 2%
Zroute : ## 2%
DFT Compiler : ## 2%
Formality : # 1%
VCS-MX : # 1%
Milkyway : # 1%
Sentaurus : # 1%
LEDA : # 1%
UPF : # 1%
VMM : # 1%
Yup, that's a total of 146%! That means customers, on average, named 1.46
Synopsys products that they were MOST satisfied with.
As far as individual tools go, it's no surprize that DC, PT and VCS get
such good ratings -- they're generally seen as best-in-class in their space.
Even though it's being phased out, Astro seems to still have a following.
The one controversial tool is IC Compiler (9% positive). Watch below:
"Which Synopsys product(s) are you *least* satisfied with? (write in)"
IC Compiler : ############## 27%
Formality : ####### 14%
Design Compiler : ####### 13%
LEDA : #### 8%
PrimeTime : ### 6%
UPF : ### 6%
Hercules : ### 5%
Synplify : ### 5%
PrimeRail : ### 4%
VCS : ## 3%
PT-SI : ## 3%
VIP : ## 3%
TetraMAX : ## 2%
Astro : ## 2%
DFT Compiler : ## 2%
HSPICE : # 1%
Star-RC : # 1%
Power Compiler : # 1%
Milkyway : # 1%
DesignWare : # 1%
Custom Designer : # 1%
Oops! That IC Compiler (9% positive) also has a (27% negative) -- which is
discussed in depth in SNUG10 #10 -- let's just say that a lot of users see
ICC as a "problem child".
Formality getting a 14% negative is nothing new; it's always had issues.
Same for LEDA's 8% negative.
What's a little troubling is Design Compiler getting 13% negative. There's
been some atypical user comments about DC's quality that I found:
"Reduce bugs in Primetime and DC. Their quality has dropped over
the last few years. Before we never got bad logic out of DC."
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
"dc_shell. Why do I still have to wait until SP4 or 5 before it
is safe to use the latest release?"
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
"Overhaul the whole DC? More and more, it looks like the whole tool
is growing cancer tissue..."
Count up all the "positive" percentages and you'll get a total of 146%,
That means customers, on average, named 1.46 Synopsys products that they
were MOST satisfied with.
Count up all the "negative" percentages and you'll get a total of 109%,
That means customers, on average, named 1.09 Synopsys products that they
were LEAST satisfied with.
To measure an EDA company's portfolio overall, I track the RATIO of total
"positives" over total "negatives" -- for this year 146% / 109% = 1.34X.
Synopsys
"Best" "Worst"
tool votes tool votes ratio
------------ ------------ -------
2001 306 144 2.13X
2002 344 131 2.63X
2003 371 172 2.16X
2004 351 155 2.26X
2005 351 167 2.10X
Today ---> 2010 146% 109% 1.34X
Cadence
2004 142 115 1.23X
From this survey, it appears that customer happiness for Synopsys tools has
dropped significantly -- down to the same levels Cadence had back in 2004.
Maybe this is a function of SNPS overtaking Cadence's #1 position in EDA
since 2004 and that supporting a larger customer base is much harder now?
"Moderate Sell -- I see Primetime and DC being (finally) seriously
challenged. If SNPS loses the edge there, their licensing will
suffer. They brought this on themselves with their crappy support."
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
"I'd change their customer support. Their AEs are invisible. One
AE per million customers?"
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
"Change the size of the support organization and their responsiveness.
I'd double or tripe the support capabilities."
Or maybe the fact that two main SNPS tools, IC Compiler and Design Compiler
are the lion's share (27% + 13% = 40%) of the "negatives" and their issues
alone are dragging SNPS' average down overall? (i.e. the rest is OK.)
"I've never professed to be anything but an average student."
- Dan Qualye, 44th Vice President of the United States
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