PTC Channel Chief Stuart Heavyside discusses the ‘big-scale’ SaaS opportunity and why digital marketing is key to partner success.

Stuart Heavyside, PTC’s Senior Vice President and Channel Chief, in a software sales and leadership position for 20 years, leads the $2 billion IoT software provider’s Software as a Service initiative.

“Moving to SaaS is going to generate huge revenue and the channel will get more of it,” he said. “As the pie grows, so should the channel.”

PTC partners account for about one-third of the company’s annual revenue, Heavyside added.

Based in Boston’s Innovation District, PTC’s portfolio includes manufacturers creating and servicing products.

Windchill, PTC’s PLM software, is expected to be the first traditional PTC product to move to SaaS, followed by Creo. PTC is also working on new channel program incentives to encourage the move to SaaS, he said.

Heavyside joined PTC in 2011 and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Worldwide CAD Sales in 2019. After leaving the company for a short time, the SaaS engineering software provider joined Jama Software as Chief Revenue Officer. He returned to his PTC where he oversaw Onshape, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based cloud CAD company that PTC had acquired, as Senior Vice President of Sales. He assumed his chief position at the Channel in February.

“I’ve been puzzling over SaaS for three years now,” he said. “We are using that experience as we make the transition. [to SaaS]”

in an interview with CRNA self-described tech geek discusses PTC’s sales strategy, its evolution to SaaS, and the different ways channel partners can monetize their technology.

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.