CADDManager Blog

I have heard a lot of talk from a lot of CAD Managers about skipping a release of software.  They have decided that it is better to not upgrade every time a software release comes out and have settled into a double jump process.  This means that they are not upgrading when a new release comes out, they are waiting a release or sometimes two before they move forward.

This seems to be true for those on subscription and those that are not.  When the financial portion of the upgrade decision is taken out of the mix, they are still waiting.   If you have to pay for upgrades then it take a little more to get you to move, but when the cost of an upgrade is not a factor, CAD Managers are still jumping over a release.

What are you doing?  Is your firm jumping on the band wagon as soon as the newest release is shipped?  Do you wait one or even two releases?

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From the Fool:

Everyone loves a great comeback story. And in the stock market, few things are more enjoyable than owning a stock on the cusp of its own massive turnaround. After all, many fortunes are made by the investors who succeed in buying great businesses:

1. during times of maximum pessimism,
2. while they’re being ignored and forgotten, or
3. when they’re being beat down to bargain-basement levels.

See the Fools list and more info on Autodesk stock here

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Just published…

Upgrading hardware and controlling software is part of every day life.

What do you do to keep things moving forward and keep users satisfied?

Hardware Wars

Software Collectors

June Poll Results

See the whole thing…

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Having trouble with your AutoCAD version?  Do you think it might be a “bug”?

Take a look at the full lists of “Updates & Services Packs” for AutoCAD.

These are what Autodesk calls “Maintenance Releases”.  They use to be called Patches and before that Bug Fixes.  Now they have a more generic name.

There are service packs for just about every software title.  They may be kind of hard to find…

When you go to the Autodesk site - go to the Service & Support pulldown > Technical Support…  then select the product that you are looking for.  Once inside the product area click on Data & Downloads nav on the left side.  This opens another nav and page.  Select Updates & Service Packs and there you are…

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The LAB is always a place to check for new items…  like this one.

A new tool that went live on Autodesk Labs on July 10. The MEP Analysis Extension is a set of 25 utilities that MEP engineers can use to better understand how a building system will perform before it’s built. With these analysis capabilities, engineers can review the energy costs of the design and make changes to improve the performance of building systems and reduce its overall environmental impact.

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Autodesk Investor Day and Presentations were held way back on Thursday, April 24, 2008 - but I just stumbled onto this site.  You can see what the investors saw at the Investor Day event.

Here are the presentation slides that Carl Bass used to present.

Here is a slide from the presentation on AutoCAD.

There are many, many others - take a look

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“At a joint press conference, Autodesk, Inc. and Bentley Systems, Incorporated, announced an agreement to expand interoperability between their portfolios of architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) software. Autodesk and Bentley will exchange software libraries, including Autodesk RealDWG, to improve the ability to read and write the companies’ respective DWG and DGN formats in mixed environments with greater fidelity.”

Read more about it

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Boy - talk about a wealth of knowledge…

I took a quick look at the Autodesk Investor site and found a lot of interesting stuff. With the volatility ion the US stock market and others, many of you may be curious about what an investor may want to know about Autodesk.  We all “invest” in their software, why not take a look at investing in the company.

http://investors.autodesk.com/

Ever want to see the Autodesk Annual Report?  Here is a link to the 2008 report or all of the reports they have posted back to 1997.

You can keep an eye on their stock price here.

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There are some down sides to Thought Leadership.  They come if you don’t pay close attention to the whole process.    They can be negative because the balancing act can sometimes go badly.  It can go badly when you say or do something that brings disrepute on yourself or your firm.  Thought Leadership comes with a lot of responsibility.  You take into your own hands the reputation that you espouse and the reputation of all the people and groups you are associated with.

You might get the wrong reputation.

Do not enter into this arena lightly.  There are great rewards, but there are also great consequences.  If things take a downturn because you have misrepresented yourself, then it can take a while to get back on track.

CAD Managers are thought leaders. They lead others just based on the positions that they hold.  They lead others based on the processes they refine.  They lead others by documenting and unifying their firms.  This leadership is granted beyond the position when CAD Managers earn the respect of others.

The down side of leading may happen when you lose the respect and trust of others.  This can happen if you do not think about other peoples perspectives and agendas.  CAD Managers are in the customer service business.  The customer may not always be right, but getting them to understand that may be tricky.  Adjusting their perspective is often a delicate dance.  Respect them at all times.  Seek to understand them.

Never Forget…

The down side of thought leadership is that is places you in a position that requires you to never forget that when you speak (on anything, or everything) people listen. They listen and think about you words.  When you place your words out there for others to consider, you are placing yourself in a position for critique.  If you fail to constantly respect the fact that others may be listening, then they may determine that your words are not sincere, not candid and not to be respected.  Then they will turn away and find another.

Your reputation is a delicate thing.  If you do not develop it, nurture it and respect it, it will be compromised and sullied.  Reputation is what makes a Thought Leader.

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