CAD program poll - BIM is not that pervasive yet

[mike m oz]

There is a poll running in the PushPullBar2 forums titled Which CADD software do you use?. The poll has been running for a while now and is beginning to reveal trends

The 5 main BIM programs are polling as follows:

- Archicad = 21%

- Architectural Desktop = 12%

- Revit = 11%

- Microstation = 6%

- VectorWorks = 15%

The non BIM versions of Autocad = 59%.

NB: The percentages don't total to 100% because people are able to vote for more than one category. Take into account the other programs and the fact that not all users will be using their software in a BIM way and the reality of BIM usage is not as pervasive as some would like us to believe.

http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5091

[Christiaan]

... the reality of BIM usage is not as pervasive as some would like us to believe.

Except that it's a transitional process for many of us. Our office is graduating towards BIM but it will take some time I think. That doesn't make it any less a reality though.

[Petri]

the reality of BIM usage is not as pervasive as some would like us to believe.

And? Is there a point here?

[mike m oz]

An observation by me based on the poll data so far. My opinion if you like.

I have to say I am a little apprehensive about the sudden fervor of Government departments to jump on the BIM bandwagon. My experience has been that Government Departments have a tendency to be early adopters of concepts in the misguided belief that they are doing public good. Often the opposite is true because the concepts are still developing and are yet to be tempered by the realities of life. When the whole BIM debate is still in flux how can we be sure that they will opt for the best solution? I would much prefer that the debate and programs became more mature first.

[Petri]

Well, what's the news there! They jumped on the CAD bandwagon just the same way and opted, several times and always with an amazing accuracy, for the worst solution.

However, this time there is a chance of getting it right: there is a substantial body of research, including pilot projects and what have you. These point quite clearly what the model should be like. Modeling software is another thing and it is up to the sofware companies to produce programs that meet the requirements. Then it is up to the users which one they prefer.

Would the obvious incompetence and near-corrupt practices of government agencies go away with more time? I don't think so. The sooner we have a standard, the better a chance there is for alternative programs.

[islandmon]

Basically, when industry consortiums get together and set the standards everyone wins.

When self-serving government bureaucrats set the standards pursuant to intensely lobbied and restrictive RFP's everyone loses including the government agencies.

Usually, the only real winners are the lobbyists and the few qualified suppliers of the tin cans with the lead soldered seams.

Eventually the consumer is poisoned by the product.

[matto]

Good to note the third highest method used in the poll was Pencil/Pen and paper.

[panthony]

But they left out hammer, chisel and rock???

[ThreeDot]

AutoDesk now requires that users purchase either AutoCAD+Desktop or AutoCAD+Revit. You can no longer purchase a plain vanilla AutoCAD subscription. I'm only guessing, but it seems that this, more than anything, allows them to say to their share holders and the industry that this year they've sold x number of BIM licenses, whether they used are using it or not is irrelevant. Our office for example now has dozens of unused (and paid for) Revit licenses.

ThreeDot

[jan15]

Is that survey statistically reliable? 132 hard-core Sketchup users to represent the entire CAD market?

Other numbers posted recently suggest that VW has 4x the user base of Archicad, whereas the Push-Pull poll suggests VW's user base is much smaller than Archicad's.

[mike m oz]

Jan15, it is probably not reliable statistically because it is not a true random sample.

Using license numbers is not a particularly accurate way of determining who is using what program either because there is no way of establishing actual useage. For example:

- VW has more licenses out there than Archicad, but how many of the users are in architecture?

- How many of the Archicad Licenses are actually free student copies?

- How many of the Revit licenses are gathering dust because they are inactive subscription copies, or they came bundled with Autocad?

This poll is at least of real users, and it does give an indication of who is using what amongst that particular community.

Another way to interpret the results is that it may indicate who is unhappy with their program and are looking for a low cost simple to use alternative. This may explain why more ArchiCAD users are looking at the alternative of SketchUP than VectorWorks users - it may reflect their need for a capability to model the unusual (something that is not particularly easy in Archicad for most users).

[Petri]

Keep in mind that in this case & at this time the software is not as important as it was last time. While one government may develop its standard "around" one program and another "around" something else, the IFC-based model can be created and manipulated with other programs just as well.

In fact, the whole point of IFC is that is software independent and allows entirely different types of programs to view or modify objects (classes) in different ways. Hopefully the self-serving bureaucrats realise this...