Custom Residential Architects Network

I just got an email from my Autodesk reseller, informing me that, as a current Revit suite customer, my subscription was recently automatically migrated to the Building Design Suite Premium subscription (whatever that is), and that subscription costs will be going up to $975.00/year from $750.

Does Autodesk understand that one-person firms like mine have a very hard time coming up with this kind of money?

I am so frustrated right now.

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Dawn Zuber AIA
Owner
Studio Z Architecture
Canton MI
-------------------------------------------

Dawn,
I can relate! They must be rolling that out in stages. We got our notice a few days before Christmas (Merry Christmas to us!). I spoke with our reseller about it and let him know that we (a 3 person firm) chose to go with the lower cost package for a reason and now we'll be paying the extra grand/year just in the subscription cost difference!

I know that they are giving us more software - but I'm not sure that we would use all of those programs. Our reseller will be having a free event in the coming weeks to review all the programs, and since we don't have a choice, we're going to see if they can become assets to our business. I know that the 3D Max program would be nice in theory, but it also means taking a lot of time to learn (yet another) complicated software program.

I'd love to hear how others might be incorporating these new software programs into their businesses - since we've been given no choice in the matter!!

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Brenda Nelson Assoc. AIA
Woodruff Design, LLC
Ankeny IA
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 A friend of mine has been happy with the new Revit Lt.  I tried Revit a few years ago and did not find it very suitable for residential. It was really weak on standard templates and symbols in the libraries. I'd like to hear what others are using for residential software with 3D and/or BIM - Revit, Softplan, Chief Architect, Graphisoft's ArchiCAD, DataCAD with SketchUP, etc.

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Debra Rucker Coleman, AIA
Architect
Sun Plans Inc.
Mobile, AL
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Dawn and all,

I attempted to respond yesterday, but for some reason my message didn't go through. I would suggest looking into ProgeCAD which is an (extremely similar) alternative to Autocad.  I purchased a full seat of their software for around $350 when I started my sole proprietorship and wasn't willing to part with thousands of dollars for Autodesk's strangling software platform and continuous subscriptions. Granted, I am a firm believer and user of Autocad and Revit, but when I started my own one-person operation, ProgeCAD was a huge benefit to get me started. They have several programs available including a BIM platform. I'm not sure how that platform compares to Revit, but for much less you may have something you're quite satisfied with.

Best wishes!

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Stephen Flickenschild AIA
Michael Baker Jr., Inc
Rocky Hill CT
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Hello Dawn & Stephen,
I believe that if you check with your AutoDesk reseller that you will find that if you already own AutoCad and/or Revit, that you do Own it.  You should not have to continuously subscribe to their constant upgrades if you do not wish to do so.  The only risk you take is that your version will one day become outdated and then you will have a hill to climb to get up to speed on whatever version is out at that time.  But that can be your choice.  I know plenty of people still on a 13 year old AutoCad version and they are happy with that.

The only reason that you might need to or want to upgrade these days is if you are upgrading from a 32 bit computer to a new 64 bit computer.  Once you do that, you have to upgrade all your software, including CAD and BIM.  Personally, I never liked the idea of a forever subscription to anything.  I guess if your consultants can continue to interpret and use whatever version of your software you have, you should be okay.  And share your frustrations with the CEO of AutoDesk.  She/he should understand that their actions antagonize us folks out here in the trenches.  You are not alone. 

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2013 08:05
From: Stephen Flickenschild
Subject: Autodesk rant

Dawn and all,

I attempted to respond yesterday, but for some reason my message didn't go through. I would suggest looking into ProgeCAD which is an (extremely similar) alternative to Autocad.  I purchased a full seat of their software for around $350 when I started my sole proprietorship and wasn't willing to part with thousands of dollars for Autodesk's strangling software platform and continuous subscriptions. Granted, I am a firm believer and user of Autocad and Revit, but when I started my own one-person operation, ProgeCAD was a huge benefit to get me started. They have several programs available including a BIM platform. I'm not sure how that platform compares to Revit, but for much less you may have something you're quite satisfied with.

Best wishes!

-------------------------------------------
Stephen Flickenschild AIA
Michael Baker Jr., Inc
Rocky Hill CT
-------------------------------------------

We had finally switched to/purchased the suite package last March. We only needed three copies, since we are a small firm and opted for the Building Design Suite with subscription upgrades. We spoke to three resellers and each of them gave me a subscription price for less than non-subscription. Autodesk is basically forcing everyone to a subscription level.  When  we received our upgrade notice, I asked our reseller if we could stay with what we already had and I was told no - that was not an option. So if others are getting this option with a current subcription license, I'd be interested to know.

Also, for those contemplating this upgrade and getting Revit. We found a good resource at lynda.com for Revit training files. For a single user, I believe the cost was $25/month for unlimited access to all the files on that site. We found the free ones we watched to be very professional and well done and more helpful than the youtube videos we had previously been watching. We forced ourselves to do our own "lunch n learns" where we designated every Wednesday and watch training videos. While it's more money, this cost is a lot less than the training options resellers like to offer.

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Brenda Nelson Assoc. AIA
Woodruff Design, LLC
Ankeny IA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2013 08:53
From: Rand Soellner
Subject: Autodesk rant

Hello Dawn & Stephen,
I believe that if you check with your AutoDesk reseller that you will find that if you already own AutoCad and/or Revit, that you do Own it.  You should not have to continuously subscribe to their constant upgrades if you do not wish to do so.  The only risk you take is that your version will one day become outdated and then you will have a hill to climb to get up to speed on whatever version is out at that time.  But that can be your choice.  I know plenty of people still on a 13 year old AutoCad version and they are happy with that.

The only reason that you might need to or want to upgrade these days is if you are upgrading from a 32 bit computer to a new 64 bit computer.  Once you do that, you have to upgrade all your software, including CAD and BIM.  Personally, I never liked the idea of a forever subscription to anything.  I guess if your consultants can continue to interpret and use whatever version of your software you have, you should be okay.  And share your frustrations with the CEO of AutoDesk.  She/he should understand that their actions antagonize us folks out here in the trenches.  You are not alone. 

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------

If you're on a 64bit machine you do not have to upgrade to 64bit software. There is a separate folder on your C drive called "program files x86" specifically for this purpose.

That being said, Autodesk is making it near impossible to survive with their software without subscription. Considering each new version is upwards of $5k per license, if you skip more than two upgrades you have to buy a new license. It's a complete scam.

A better solution would be to simply dump Autodesk in favor of cheaper and, in my opinion, better software. Vectorworks is half the price of any Autodesk software and is incredibly powerful as 2D, 3D, BIM and Rendering. 

All this coming from a 14+ year veteran of Autocad/Autodesk.

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Jeremiah Russell Assoc. AIA
Ruby Architects, Inc.
Little Rock AR
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2013 08:53
From: Rand Soellner
Subject: Autodesk rant

Hello Dawn & Stephen,
I believe that if you check with your AutoDesk reseller that you will find that if you already own AutoCad and/or Revit, that you do Own it.  You should not have to continuously subscribe to their constant upgrades if you do not wish to do so.  The only risk you take is that your version will one day become outdated and then you will have a hill to climb to get up to speed on whatever version is out at that time.  But that can be your choice.  I know plenty of people still on a 13 year old AutoCad version and they are happy with that.

The only reason that you might need to or want to upgrade these days is if you are upgrading from a 32 bit computer to a new 64 bit computer.  Once you do that, you have to upgrade all your software, including CAD and BIM.  Personally, I never liked the idea of a forever subscription to anything.  I guess if your consultants can continue to interpret and use whatever version of your software you have, you should be okay.  And share your frustrations with the CEO of AutoDesk.  She/he should understand that their actions antagonize us folks out here in the trenches.  You are not alone. 

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------

From what I understand Autocad is automatically upgrading all subscription clients to Building suites UNLESS they decline it by email.

-------------------------------------------
Cathy Benson AIA
Cathy F. Benson Architect
Ridgewood NJ
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2013 08:05
From: Stephen Flickenschild
Subject: Autodesk rant

Dawn and all,

I attempted to respond yesterday, but for some reason my message didn't go through. I would suggest looking into ProgeCAD which is an (extremely similar) alternative to Autocad.  I purchased a full seat of their software for around $350 when I started my sole proprietorship and wasn't willing to part with thousands of dollars for Autodesk's strangling software platform and continuous subscriptions. Granted, I am a firm believer and user of Autocad and Revit, but when I started my own one-person operation, ProgeCAD was a huge benefit to get me started. They have several programs available including a BIM platform. I'm not sure how that platform compares to Revit, but for much less you may have something you're quite satisfied with.

Best wishes!

-------------------------------------------
Stephen Flickenschild AIA
Michael Baker Jr., Inc
Rocky Hill CT
-------------------------------------------

Thanks for your sympathy and your suggestions, everyone. I am trying to decide whether to switch to the Revit LT Suite, which is $1,495 to purchase and the subscription is only $225. However, if I don't keep paying the subscription for the full "Building Design Suite Premium," I'll eventually lose the right to upgrade if my firm grows. And, according to my reseller, the only way I could "legally" sell my license for my "Building Design Suite Premium" would be to go out of business and sell my assets. That wasn't what I was told when I originally purchased it from that very reseller...

Right now, the only part of the "Building Design Suite Premium" that I actually use is AutoCAD. I would love to learn BIM but, as a sole practitioner, it's hard to find the time to learn the software and set everything up to work efficiently.

I've also been looking at other options, like Vectorworks and Softplan, but just don't know enough to feel comfortable switching. Has anyone made the switch from AutoCAD to a lower-priced system? I'd love to know how that worked out for you.

My subscription goes through June so I have some time to think about this.

Cathy, I wasn't offered the option to decline. My reseller told me that everyone is being switched over.

-------------------------------------------
Dawn Zuber AIA
Owner
Studio Z Architecture
Canton MI
-------------------------------------------

Hello Dawn,
If I were you, I would write e-mails and hardcopy letters to your reseller and directly to the CEO of AutoDesk and tell them that you have no intentions of paying a forced subscription to anything and that if you want such a thing you will let them know and that it is not legal for them to try to compel you to pay for something that you never agreed to when you bought your present software. 

You may want to attach a memo from your attorney to let them know that they can't push you around.  You could draft your attorney's note and suggest to them that you pay them $100 for the privilege of them putting your words on their letterhead and  them signing it. I have done that before and if you have a good relationship with your counsel, they should agree to that. 

My guess is that may be adequate to get AutoDesk off your back and return such decisions about upgrades back to you, which is where they should be. I don't appreciate big companies trying to push around us little firms and we should all band together and adopt similar tactics to resist such fascist attempts at extorting funds from us, especially in these challenging economic times.  You might even be able to engage the general counsel of the AIA in assisting your situation with AutoDesk.  Ask them.  Kathleen Simpson: are you still reading these?  Can you supply our General Counsel's contact information to Dawn, please? 

AutoDesk spends untold millions of $ each year to market their products to us architects and antagonizing 80,000 of us in the AIA and ArCH is no good way for them to enhance their marketshare.  I wish you well with this.

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner , ArCH, AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2013 10:43
From: Dawn Zuber
Subject: Autodesk rant

Thanks for your sympathy and your suggestions, everyone. I am trying to decide whether to switch to the Revit LT Suite, which is $1,495 to purchase and the subscription is only $225. However, if I don't keep paying the subscription for the full "Building Design Suite Premium," I'll eventually lose the right to upgrade if my firm grows. And, according to my reseller, the only way I could "legally" sell my license for my "Building Design Suite Premium" would be to go out of business and sell my assets. That wasn't what I was told when I originally purchased it from that very reseller...

Right now, the only part of the "Building Design Suite Premium" that I actually use is AutoCAD. I would love to learn BIM but, as a sole practitioner, it's hard to find the time to learn the software and set everything up to work efficiently.

I've also been looking at other options, like Vectorworks and Softplan, but just don't know enough to feel comfortable switching. Has anyone made the switch from AutoCAD to a lower-priced system? I'd love to know how that worked out for you.

My subscription goes through June so I have some time to think about this.

Cathy, I wasn't offered the option to decline. My reseller told me that everyone is being switched over.

-------------------------------------------
Dawn Zuber AIA
Owner
Studio Z Architecture
Canton MI
-------------------------------------------

Dawn, here's a link to a post from an AutoDesk reseller exactly about this subject:

http://www.mastergraphics.com/wordpress/2012/revit-suite-owners-a-change-is-coming-on-january-7-2013/

If you look down on their Q&A section, individual Revit based products will continue to be available.  I would assume this applies to AutoCad as well. Evidently this upgrade subscription applies to Revit SUITE products.  In other words, if all you presently have is an individual software product, it doesn't appear that this should be happening to you.  And, you can always cancel your credit card and simultaneously cancel any subscriptions you have with AutoDesk, informing them that you no longer want a SUITE subscription.  Cutting off any company's ability to charge you should go a long way to terminating the situation.  Then, if you ever want to upgrade AutoCad or Revit, you can ask your reseller about what offers they have for you, on your own terms and whenever you wish to do so.

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-18-2013 08:12
From: Rand Soellner
Subject: Autodesk rant

Hello Dawn,
If I were you, I would write e-mails and hardcopy letters to your reseller and directly to the CEO of AutoDesk and tell them that you have no intentions of paying a forced subscription to anything and that if you want such a thing you will let them know and that it is not legal for them to try to compel you to pay for something that you never agreed to when you bought your present software. 

You may want to attach a memo from your attorney to let them know that they can't push you around.  You could draft your attorney's note and suggest to them that you pay them $100 for the privilege of them putting your words on their letterhead and  them signing it. I have done that before and if you have a good relationship with your counsel, they should agree to that. 

My guess is that may be adequate to get AutoDesk off your back and return such decisions about upgrades back to you, which is where they should be. I don't appreciate big companies trying to push around us little firms and we should all band together and adopt similar tactics to resist such fascist attempts at extorting funds from us, especially in these challenging economic times.  You might even be able to engage the general counsel of the AIA in assisting your situation with AutoDesk.  Ask them.  Kathleen Simpson: are you still reading these?  Can you supply our General Counsel's contact information to Dawn, please? 

AutoDesk spends untold millions of $ each year to market their products to us architects and antagonizing 80,000 of us in the AIA and ArCH is no good way for them to enhance their marketshare.  I wish you well with this.

-------------------------------------------
Rand Soellner , ArCH, AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2013 10:43
From: Dawn Zuber
Subject: Autodesk rant

Thanks for your sympathy and your suggestions, everyone. I am trying to decide whether to switch to the Revit LT Suite, which is $1,495 to purchase and the subscription is only $225. However, if I don't keep paying the subscription for the full "Building Design Suite Premium," I'll eventually lose the right to upgrade if my firm grows. And, according to my reseller, the only way I could "legally" sell my license for my "Building Design Suite Premium" would be to go out of business and sell my assets. That wasn't what I was told when I originally purchased it from that very reseller...

Right now, the only part of the "Building Design Suite Premium" that I actually use is AutoCAD. I would love to learn BIM but, as a sole practitioner, it's hard to find the time to learn the software and set everything up to work efficiently.

I've also been looking at other options, like Vectorworks and Softplan, but just don't know enough to feel comfortable switching. Has anyone made the switch from AutoCAD to a lower-priced system? I'd love to know how that worked out for you.

My subscription goes through June so I have some time to think about this.

Cathy, I wasn't offered the option to decline. My reseller told me that everyone is being switched over.

-------------------------------------------
Dawn Zuber AIA
Owner
Studio Z Architecture
Canton MI
-------------------------------------------

I made the switch from AutoCAD LT to Vectorworks and I am very happy that I did. There is a learning curve but the speed with which I can develop sections, elevations, etc from essentially just drawing "plans" is an amazing advance for me. Plus there are many other BIM features with the software.

-------------------------------------------
Daniel Alter AIA
Daniel Alter Architect PLLC
Brooklyn NY
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 01-17-2013 10:43
From: Dawn Zuber
Subject: Autodesk rant

Thanks for your sympathy and your suggestions, everyone. I am trying to decide whether to switch to the Revit LT Suite, which is $1,495 to purchase and the subscription is only $225. However, if I don't keep paying the subscription for the full "Building Design Suite Premium," I'll eventually lose the right to upgrade if my firm grows. And, according to my reseller, the only way I could "legally" sell my license for my "Building Design Suite Premium" would be to go out of business and sell my assets. That wasn't what I was told when I originally purchased it from that very reseller...

Right now, the only part of the "Building Design Suite Premium" that I actually use is AutoCAD. I would love to learn BIM but, as a sole practitioner, it's hard to find the time to learn the software and set everything up to work efficiently.

I've also been looking at other options, like Vectorworks and Softplan, but just don't know enough to feel comfortable switching. Has anyone made the switch from AutoCAD to a lower-priced system? I'd love to know how that worked out for you.

My subscription goes through June so I have some time to think about this.

Cathy, I wasn't offered the option to decline. My reseller told me that everyone is being switched over.

-------------------------------------------
Dawn Zuber AIA
Owner
Studio Z Architecture
Canton MI
-------------------------------------------

OK, Dawn you started this,

Years ago Autodesk convinced me to upgrade my two seats to "Desktop" with the promise that we could go back to standard ACAD if we didn't like it.  For the last four years we have asked them to go back to standard ACAD. Their response, sorry, SUCK WIND, buy the new LESSER cost subscription licenses at full price again with no credit for what I own.

Are you felling better yet?  Maybe this will help.  I heard a story about three years ago (from a pretty reliable source) that the AIA Large Round Firm Table negotiated a special reduced software rate (for their large firms only) on behalf of the AIA. I don't know what parts of that story are true, (I would bet all), but it sickens me knowing the huge percentage of small practitioners that make up the AIA.

Have a great weekend! ;^)

Dave

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David Andreozzi AIA
Owner
Andreozzi Architects
Barrington RI
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Every year I consider dropping my subscription but do the math and it winds up costing more without it if I want to upgrade every 3 or 4 years. The thing that sucks for me is I my ACA subscription is for my home office and I haven't had any work for the last few years. I am afraid to drop it. That will be when I get "the job" and will have to buy it all over again.  

My pet peeve with Autodesk is after spending considerable time and money on ACA, learning the project navigator oddities, entering data in ACE objects for schedules, getting fairly good at rendering etc.  they switch the industry to Revit just as I get proficient with ACA.

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Thomas Streicher AIA
Thomas Streicher, Architect
Monroe NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-11-2013 16:10
From: David Andreozzi
Subject: Autodesk rant


OK, Dawn you started this,

Years ago Autodesk convinced me to upgrade my two seats to "Desktop" with the promise that we could go back to standard ACAD if we didn't like it.  For the last four years we have asked them to go back to standard ACAD. Their response, sorry, SUCK WIND, buy the new LESSER cost subscription licenses at full price again with no credit for what I own.

Are you felling better yet?  Maybe this will help.  I heard a story about three years ago (from a pretty reliable source) that the AIA Large Round Firm Table negotiated a special reduced software rate (for their large firms only) on behalf of the AIA. I don't know what parts of that story are true, (I would bet all), but it sickens me knowing the huge percentage of small practitioners that make up the AIA.

Have a great weekend! ;^)

Dave

-------------------------------------------
David Andreozzi AIA
Owner
Andreozzi Architects
Barrington RI
-------------------------------------------