AutoCAD Users Voice Opinions as Certain Versions Face Retirement

By Consulting Specifying Engineer Staff December 6, 2004

Bentley Systems, Exton, Pa., last week released the initial results of its open, ongoing survey of AutoCAD users facing software phase-out.

Autodesk, the producer of AutoCAD, recently announced it will no longer sell upgrades or crossgrades from any AutoCAD 2000i-based products or Autodesk Inventor Series 6, nor will it provide technical support, apart from existing maintenance patches, after January 15, 2005.

Bentley, a competitor, received responses from more than 2,000 users—from the building, geospatial, industrial, civil and other markets—in under a week. The following results were obtained in regards to four statements:

• 87% agreed or strongly agreed: “I want my software vendor not to disrupt my project workflow by forcing me to upgrade or retire my software product.”

• 90% agreed or strongly agreed: “I want my software vendor to supply my team with free viewers so we can easily access and exchange project data.”

• 93% agreed or strongly agreed: “I want an open solution that allows me to participate in all types of projects and work with all CAD file formats and versions.”

• 92% agreed or strongly agreed: “I want to create PDF deliverables of my projects so I can freely share engineering and construction information.”

Additionally, 89% of respondents indicated that they were interested in a platform that supports both DWG and DGN projects.

Bentley is currently studying the survey’s results and developing a program to address user concerns. All AutoCAD users are invited to offer their opinions at bentley.com .