A couple of months ago I saw a Bentley software press release that announced that a couple of their civil engineering software products would now include support for the National CAD Standards 4.0. Ooooooo.
I'm rolling around on the floor laughing. Trust me. It's not a pretty sight.
Autodesk Did Not Even Notice
Autodesk didn't have to do anything to respond to this. An Autodesk Developer Partner has already done in-depth NCS support for AutoCAD Civil 3D for YEARS and for multiple releases of AutoCAD Civil 3D. Those products already in use in the US and many other countries too.
The Jump 4 Release supports the NCS 4.0 inside AutoCAD Civil 3D for releases 2010 and 2011. The Jump Release 4 products for Civil 3D 2011 even already run in Civil 3D 2012 and did on product release day.
Our soon to be released Jump Release 4 products for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 do even More. Lot's More.
OK. It's been a really bad couple of years for Microstation. First, they lost the Florida DOT.
I have to correct this statement and be a bit more accurate.
Technically, FDOT is pursuing a more "diverse" CADD platform where they support both Bentley and Autodesk deliverables. (see the Comments below).
That practical approach recognizes that many civil engineering organziations must deal with this issue in the real world every day.
California declared independence right before the 4th of July. They lost the California DOT (CalTrans) Roadway Design software contract. My educated guess about CA is that contract's thousands of seats of software and a lot of support contract money too. It was only a matter of time. Better is better.
Is it really a wonder that cadpilot.com takes a lot of hits and regular sign ups from many state dot.gov users?
Why announce NCS 4.0 support for key civil products now?
Support for national, recognized, and published CAD Standards matters More today.
BIM or CIM or whatever you want to call it matters. It is all about the Benjamins. This is real money in real world construction projects. Better communication is essential to reducing all the costs, improving project quality, and overall efficiency. We simply all cannot afford to build any other way.
Welcome to the New Economy
Gone are the days when large departments, companies (no matter how big), and even software vendors can ignore interoperability issues and pretend it's their way or the highway. Hit the road, Jack.
In case you didn't know, NCS 4.0 compliance is now mandated for use by anyone doing work for any GSA (General Services Administration) project, US Department of Defense, and most other Federal contact work too. CAD Standards compliance matters because the actual work really does cost less. NCS CAD Standards will matter even More tomorrow.
Hey...You use AutoCAD Civil 3D.
Don' worry 'bout it
Your home built Civil 3D templates and Civil 3D Styles use all those example layers and styles from the generic "ncs" templates that came with your Civil 3D right? They say "ncs" in the name right? Does that makes them compliant?
You spent years learning and understanding both the complexity of AutoCAD Civil 3D and the National CAD Standards (NCS), Uniform Drawings Standards (UDS), and all the rest before you started right? Not. That would be a waste of time. No one pays us to do that.
The Jump Release NCS 4.0 products can suck up your customizations, greatly aid your NCS compliancy problem, and add to your staff Civil 3D user productivity inside Civil 3D while they do it. Really? Really. This is not rocket science.
Let's See?
Let's see? Do we spend thousands and thousands of dollars reinventing the wheel or purchase and inexpensive Open Platform product that supports the NCS 4.0 in-depth and out of the box.
Let's see? Do we ignore the mandated and necessary push for BIM Infrastructure and civil engineering interoperability? Do we build and rebuild our templates, styles, and projects to meet our personal preferences developed in old software?
Do we then spend More money to convert all the Public project we do? That's what we've always done before, isn't it? Oh yeah. We owned both pieces of software and had two different organizations doing the same thing in totally different ways. Now that made sense.
Let's see? Do we as a government agency develop or own new set of CAD Standards for AutoCAD Civil 3D? Do we pay someone else to do that and then keep doing all that work year after year? Is that in today's budget? Is that in next year's budget?
Will the voting public see that as a waste of time and their tax dollars? Will your customized templates may become next year's $50K hammer? Not a chance.
What if...
I know (and this sounds crazy)...but what if you could have your preferences and even publish to multiple different standards on demand - even to DGN? What if that solution already existed?
What if it didn't cost you a bundle to find out?
Get InstantOn Basic
Personalize Don't Customize...
It Simply Makes More Sense
You can now go ahead and laugh until you cry along with me.