Who got to choose their CAD software?

[Paul Munford]

I was discussing the merits of various CAD packages with my buddy the other day, and I was thinking about why I use the CAD software I do (AutoCAD & Inventor).


I have a question for the group - why do you use the CAD software that you do?


Did you get to examine a number of different CAD packages before you made your choice?


Thanks in advance for your time.


Paul

[Coloradomrg]

I took a drafting class in high school... and they had just purchased the newest version of AutoCAD (r13 I think). I never looked back, and after being so used to AutoCAD (15 years of use) I don't think I'd enjoy the change to another software package!

[Wanderer]

My last company was already an autocad house when I started there... oh, yeah, and I was hired with no experience in the MEP industry because I was good with autocad, from my time in high school (classes and competitions). I used some other packages in college, but, most classes were autocad.
I added Revit MEP there eventually, because it made great sense from a Facilities Engineering standpoint, but, didn't get rid of AutoCAD, cause, you know, archives
(had also dabbled in verticals, from map to aca to amep, but, my users remained on LT and viewers (either Bentley View or TrueView)).

Current place was, again, an autocad shop before I was hired. We don't do 'change' well and, Autocad is what works with Archibus Overlay, so, I wouldn't even try to switch to something else.

As much as I love autocad, from my years of immersion, I'm open to learning and supporting any software package my company needs me to.

[Paul Munford]

Hi Melanie.

So, did you evaluate a number of different CAD packages before you landed on Revit MEP, or did you find that you needed to use it in order to work with your contractors?

[cadtag]

My previous employer was originally an Integraph shop, running 2d CAD on pricey workstations connected to Vax minicomputers. Acad v2.5 snuck in the back door with the Purchase Order description reading 'Digitizer Software', at which point I came on board to run the $2K software package on the $5K AT clone computers. A lot cheaper than the $40K 'official' CAD setup they were using....

My experience tells me that large AE firms are too risk-averse to seriously look at using anything other than Autodesk products (or Bentley for the highways people). There's no real evaluation or comparison of software going on --- just keep signing the checks for subscription. The old motto used to be 'No one ever got fired for buying IBM" (even though better/faster/cheaper PCs were available. the mindset is still there, at least with the CIOs I've met and dealt with.

[duhvinci]

We're going back quite a few years to when I started up my business (1991). My only previous experience was with Unigraphics for about 6 months before I went off on my own.

My decision to go with AutoCAD at the time was based on cost and for the customization it provided.

[Wanderer]

Hi Melanie.

So, did you evaluate a number of different CAD packages before you landed on Revit MEP, or did you find that you needed to use it in order to work with your contractors?

There wasn't really anything else I could consider. Holistically, we had to have structure, architecture and MEP work together in BIM, to make it practical, so, I felt like the Revit products were our only real option.

I kept an eye on it for years (regarding features and industry adoption) before finally adding it to our requirements.

In facilities, any tech adoption is going to take about 20 years... you can't look at startups or narrow adoptions for that kind of timeline.

[Paul Munford]

To Cadtag and Patrick,

So - do you keep an eye out to see if there is other CAD software out there that might give you a competitive edge?

[duhvinci]

To Cadtag and Patrick,

So - do you keep an eye out to see if there is other CAD software out there that might give you a competitive edge?

I feel that with the customization I have in place I am very competitive. Any time I've been approached by Solidworks, which seems to have a good market share in my industry, I've asked for information showing how I can save time with what I do. I've got some pretty solid history on what I can do for comparison purposes but nothing ever comes through for me to make a comparison. Claims are one thing, facts and real numbers are another.

I've recently updated to 2015 (from r14) and I've taken a bit of a productivity hit but I'm very confident once I've got a few things ironed out some major gains will be made.

[KCM]

All but one company I've worked at have already had a long history of using AutoCAD.
Now that I'm in charge... we still use it.
There is a huge amount already invested by the company in AutoCAD. Not just licenses and support contracts and relationships, but experienced and trained staff and all of the existing drawing and model files. That is a lot of momentum to try and overcome.
It is the incumbent in industry, practically a standard. How to become a monopoly? Give your software free to schools & colleges.

When I brought in Inventor, a few years back, I did thoroughly review the alternatives (Solid Edge, Solidworks), invited reps to demonstrate and answer questions. Solidworks made a good showing for itself, but it was soon clear that Inventor was going to be chosen. It fit in with software we already had, workflows we already use. We could use the same supplier, minimising contract management, and supplying training.

Lets face it, we're all Auodesk's b*tches now. We were hooked on free samples at an early age, and now we couldn't give them up even if we wanted to.