Eric D. Colburn, PLS

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Upgrade is Ready for Download!

This morning I was quite happy to see an email in my inbox from Autodesk telling me that my AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 upgrade is available for me to download! One of the benefits of being an Autodesk Subscription Customer is being able to download your upgrades as soon as they become available.

While Autodesk touts this as an environmental initiative, which of course it is, and you can still select to receive yet another box and DVD to add to your already mountainous collection of Autodesk boxed software, I think employing a digital download delivery system may have more to do with a certain court case Autodesk is involved with with one of its users who has tried to sell an older version of his software on eBay than environmental altruism. Color me cynical.

Digital Download is User friendly, Environment Friendly, and Adds Value Read the rest of this entry →

PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

Are you Satisfied With Autodesk’s Services & Support?

Autodesk Services and Support includes their knowledge base, documentation, and online help, in addition to your submitted support request if you are enrolled in the Autodesk subscription software maintenance and support program.

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Cost of Business?

I just finished reading an interesting post on another Civil 3D blog concerning the one year release cycle and Autodesk subscription plan as it relates to Civil 3D users. In large part, the post and conversation centered around: backwards compatibility, reliability and cost, among other things.

What I Said

I left a comment, too, which was inspiration for this post. My comment was as follows:

In general I like the annual upgrades with the following exceptions and issues kept in mind:

1. The 1 year subscription program benefits Autodesk monetarily more than users benefit by any increase functionality and usability. Autodesk would be better served if it separated the versioning issue from the payment/cost/budgeting issue. They are not related at all and if the next issue is taken into account they can be divorced and the yearly upgrade will make better sense from a payment/cost/budgeting standpoint.
2. It’s old-fashioned, but, don’t release a product unless it works 100 percent. Users did not pay top dollar for the opportunity to be guinea pigs. Then to force them to pay more after one year for another less than 100 percent piece of software is a bitter pill to swallow.
3. Backwards/forward compatibility is a complex issue with serious business and financial ramifications. First, alienating your paying customer who paid for a so-called “older version” (a year, really?) is a questionable practice. Second, it can be a trap for those who are “early adopters’, if you will, when trying to work in the real world where due to the yearly upgrades, cost, stability issues, and integration of those upgrades, many organizations don’t implement upgrades (perhaps smartly) concurrently, if at all. This creates more work and cost money for the person using the “latest and the greatest” when delivering or sharing a digital work product. Third, even within the smallest of organizations, backwards incompatibility can be burdensome.
4. It seems counterintuitive but I think Autodesk would get a lot less flak about annual renewal if they allowed, and even encouraged, monthly payments throughout the year. Then, they could concentrate on producing a flawless software solution with long-term purposeful improvements to functionality and usability making their software a better business and technical tool.

Just a few thoughts.

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Here are a  few quick links to the Professional Land Surveyor Forum. At the Forum you’ll find a few new topics of discussion and a new Winter Olympics 2010 Board, too.

If you’re a surveyor who has mining experience, or have worked on underground tunnel projects, then maybe you can help out a fellow surveyor with a vertical shaft problem (see link below).

Professional Land Surveyor Forum Updates:

• Vertical Shaft Problem
• Copan for Windows — free COGO tool — ver 09.11 out
• Is AutoCAD Civil 3D Good for Surveyors?
• Continuing Education Requirements – Should they be mandatory?
• What Did You Think About Winter Olympics 2010 The Opening Ceremony?
• Are You Satisfied With The Autodesk Subscription Maintenance & Support Program?
• How Do I Start Geocaching?

If you’re not a member of the Professional Land Surveyor Forum it’s quick and easy to sign up for by following the link below.

Follow This Link To Register for The Professional Land Surveyor Forum

PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY

In this week’s PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR SURVEY I’m asking the question:

Are You Satisfied With The Autodesk Subscription Software Maintenance And Support Program?

For those of you not familiar with Autodesk Subscription, subscription members, for an annual fee, get automatic upgrades including subscription advantage packs.

You also get access to training videos, podcasts, e-Learning courses and Autodesk University courseware.

Additionally, you get direct technical support from Autodesk and can get technical solutions for subscribers in the Autodesk Knowledge Base.

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13 October 2009

Company Endeavors to Help Both Large Organizations and Individual Practitioners to Expand Information Technology Adoption in Response to Economic Challenges

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards – Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced, at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe, the immediate availability of Country-Level License Pooling and Passport Subscriptions. Country-Level License Pooling, Bentley’s latest SELECT subscription enhancement, expands the benefits of site-level license pooling. Passport Subscriptions provide, for named users, an affordable alternative to perpetual license purchases. The value created by both of these subscription innovations is passed on to the users’ constituents in the form of higher-quality projects delivered in less time and at a lower cost.

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