CAD Marketshare : BIM Marketshare : Installed Seats : Installed Base : #BIM #CAD
Posted by Jim Foster in 3D, BIM, CAD, economic trends, Installed Base, Installed Seats, Revit on October 22, 2009
I thought I’d share some numbers here since I find it difficult to find them openly out there on the interweb. I included a Market Share Pie Chart which appears to be from Gartner Research circa 2007. Using the 55% AutoCAD figure for the total market share and using the AutoCAD installed base via 2008 of 4,162,000, which is right from an Autodesk Press release, we then can approximate the total installed seats for CAD (2D, 3D, BIM) to be around 7,567,273. However, this figure could be derived by revenue which will distort the total installed seats figure.
If we assume that 7,567,723 figure is correct, as well as the 7% figure for Revit provided by Gartner we get installed seats of Revit to be 530,000, give or take. That seems kind of close to the back of the envelope estimates I was coming up with by getting published accounts of installed Revit seats to be around 400,000 end of 2008, and they were selling new seats of Revit at around 20,000 per quarter, would have them around 480,000+ by the end of this year 2009. If installed seats of Revit have not surpassed the installed seats of AutoCAD Architecture, previously Architectural Desktop, it has to be getting close, as of 2008 there was an installed base of ADT/ACA of 503,000.
Using the report as a guideline they had BIM growth at approximately 12%, if Revit is adding seats at approximately 20,000 per quarter that is a 15% gain from FY 2009. In 2008 they had an increase in revenue from Revit from the previous year of 23%, which could be attributed to sales of subscriptions and on going maintenance contracts above and beyond the 15% I came up with here.
Another interesting fact is that as a percentage of revenue 3D Products and AutoCAD itself were getting very close to parity, with AutoCAD and AutoCADLT at 32% and 3D Products at 30%. I am not privy to how they break out all the figures but Civil 3D, Navisworks and Revit are all thrown into that bucket. So 3D solutions has gone from 23% of FY 2008 revenue to 27% of FY 2009 revenue to 30% at the Q2 FY 2010 watermark.
Some other information I found in an article at Architosh, and I have posted some of it here.
Revenue and Growth
According to JPR’s research, CAD software vendors saw combined revenues of $5.2 billion (USD) in 2007 globally. The CAD software market grew by an astounding 20% in 2007 compared to 2006. Despite a very poor US economy and the threat of US recession, the CAD industry will continue its positive economic trend and will grow to over $6 billion (USD) in 2008. Looking out five years the global CAD software market will reach and exceed $8.2 billion (USD).
2D and 3D
In 2007 the worldwide installed base of CAD users reached 5.31 million. In 2007 the majority of CAD users (63%) are still working in 2D, while 37% work in 3D. However, revenues for 3D CAD surpassed 2D CAD taking 53% of the market. This trend will continue but JPR makes note that not all 2D CAD users will make a transition to 3D CAD.
The article was based on the research from Jon Peddie Research.
To look at the 2007 figure of installed seats as reported by Jon Peddie, of 5.3 Million and a 15% Growth Rate we would get approximately 6.09 Million Users in 2008 and 7.00 Million in 2009.
Hope this was helpful for those of you at their searching for this stuff, and if you weren’t I don’t know how you got here and why you’re still reading.
BIM: Do you use it on a house? Do you use it here or there? I won’t use it Sam I am! :#BIM
Moral of the story, Sam likes it. Trolling through the variety of posts and discussion boards I came across this one about Is BIM the Future. And if we take a step back we should ask is 3D drafting the answer, which I think everyone would answer with a qualified yes. Working in 3D just makes everything faster, for presentations, for communicating with the clients, renderings, etc. Hell I even heard the comment that architects who would not touch CAD, are using SketchUP, and since they are SketchUP is gaining traction in the marketplace. BIM it is not, but communicating in 3D, it’s a snap and who wants to be against google. So if we are going to work in 3D, why not implement all these great tools and data which is essentially what BIM is. However, everyone is trying to jump, well not everyone, but most are trying to jump from a 2D world to try and fully implement BIM, and without getting your bearings in 3D first it’s a bit harder. Trying to implement a fully realized BIM, 4D-5D, Google-D, much tougher.
… baby steps get on the bus, baby steps down the aisle, baby steps…
But still I think you got to get started somewhere, because the expectation is you will have to deliver BIM, even if a lot might not be able to define it, but at least 3D. Recently someone asked us for a proposal on 120,000SF building to an existing conditions / as built survey to which I gave him a quote, he then asked what file type to which I replied that it was for 2D CAD / Floorplans. He then said I’d like in Revit. To which I replied, that would be more. His response, “Why?”
It will be the the coming expectations of everyone out there, and what’s tough, even with the all the ROI Case Studies of spending more money on the front end, very few want to do it. We are very early in the process of selling BIM / Revit to the masses so education is still going to be a big part of it. To get back on topic, is the future BIM? Yup, but were going to have to do a lot more selling and educating for it to pay for the firms creating them.
Acquistions in the BIM Space: ARC acquires RCMS Group: #BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in Adoption, BIM, economic trends on October 14, 2009
ARC a publicly traded company focused on document and digital management has acquired certain assets of the Atalanta based, RCMS Group. While on the macro level its good to see the markets waking up with acquisitions, etc. but a document management company acquiring a CAD/BIM Production shop. This backs up an earlier post when I spoke of the building as the operating system, and as companies have been creating running inside salesforce, and facebook, we will see a centralized BIM become the hub for a variety of services and value added services, from bidding on construction, to energy anaylsis, etc. and it seems to make a lot of sense that a company that focused on Digital Document Management is getting into the space. I wonder when Iron Mountain makes a play? Additionally, how many BIM production shops are out there and who is creating and maintaining content? With the official announcement by the GSA for the BIM awards, those prime contractors and their subs provides a good who’s who in the US BIM market.
Official ARC Press Release Here:
#MassTLC Unconference : Part Deux
Posted by Jim Foster in Uncategorized on October 5, 2009
So this was my second time at the unconference, this was with a different focus though from the on e in the spring, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. What the unconference does is to increase your chances of serendipty. I hear you saying, “what kind of drivel is that, you sap.” And rightly so but give me a minute. We have all had those moments whether you are an entrepreneur or selling insurance or designing a product that you meet someone or speak to someone and they either give you an idea, or a lead, or some help that either, at worst makes your day, or better gets you a sale or starts a business relationship and you just don’t know sometimes where that is going to happen.
So you’re on the grind going to conferences and tradeshows, presentations, lunch and learns, etc. and man is it a slog sometimes. At the unconference, because of the tenor and how it was set up, people are there to connect, some are still better than others and it is such an amalgamation of talent that the chance of hooking up with someone who gets what you are talking about, or has useful advice or wants to hook you up with someone who could help is greater than at any conference I have been to. So get your game on and giddy up.
Checking out Wrightsoft : #MEP #BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM on October 5, 2009
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Bill Wright of Wrightsoft the other week, and although my focus has been squarely on the creation of architectural BIMs, specifically from an existing conditions / as built perspective I was really impressed with what they are doing. While working in 2D the amount of meta data contained in the lines is amazing, along with the inherent logic of their drafting tools makes it an impressive package. Bill was driving through the software and showed how spaces without an adjoining space was assumed to be an exterior wall, and the levels, which has a very similar hierarchical/navigation structure uses information from the other levels to create its calculations. This is powerful analysis and HVAC design software that can provide what type of plant you might need and if you throw a window it will automatically make the duct wider for increased airflow and then create the build list. With all the talk about BIM, Bill and his crew have been providing its benefits in 2D for years. Meta Data, Analysis, Scheduling, Build Lists, etc.
Project Twitch : #Revit #SaaS #Cloud, Cool
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM, cloud, Revit, SaaS on September 25, 2009
So I had been ruminating in a post awhile back about using Revit and or BIM authoring tools as a service, Saas , or computing in the cloud. If you have been to any business or venture conference in the last 18 months+ inevitably someone will ask you what your SaaS model is, or you’ll hear the word cloud more than it’s repeated on the weather channel. Well sometimes you can tire of this chatter and discount it but this makes sense, rather than devoting your time and resources managing hardware boxes and upgrading software, etc. it makes more sense to just go to work. Wit regards to the BIM world, you want to have the BIM centrally stored and distributable, I mean this model makes more sense to me for BIM than most. So in comes Project Twitch from Autodesk, which is the “remote delivery of (Autodesk) application over the internet..” and included in the test is Revit Architecture 2010. For latency reason they say you should be within 1000 miles of the test lab in San Fran…really? slackers. This is a very good thing.
BIM Usage Increases 75% : Autodesk Stock Up over 100% in 6 Months : The Business of #BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in Adoption, BIM, Existing Conditions, Revit on September 25, 2009
Hey we can all bend statistics in our favor but the one that jumps off the page in the most recent McGraw Hill Smart Market report is that one-half, 50% of the industry is using BIM, or a 75% increase in usage in the last 2 years. That’s a ridiculous adoption rate. McGraw Hill’s method of analysis is through internet surveys and while you can question the sample population the broader market may have picked up on this as well as Autodesk, the defacto 800 lb gorilla with Revit and Navisworks, etc. , is off its 5 year low posted on March 9, 2009 of $11.79 to trading at $23.58, that’s 100% gain folks in a little over 6 months. If you are new to this world you think everyone has drank the cool aid but if principal, CM, PM, etc is making the decision on what/when/where to invest in BIM is becoming a too obvious choice even if its just to be on the bandwagon. Anyone who has pulled CAD lines until they cramped up and laments changes and design options knows the beauty of working in 3D.
So not surprisingly one of the most repeated benefits is “reducing rework” and “avoiding rework”, you see the trend and this jibes well with all the other reports we have seen and also noted here, including the estimated $16 billion to $34 Billion wasted on such things. But while that becomes the most apparent most immediately the effects of everything else downstream cannot be discounted, integrated disciplines, collision detection, scheduling, the “zero-defect” building. However, can’t get there until you start with BIM. Existing Conditions, Renovations, New Construction, it does not matter as there are technologies that will help get you there.
Report is Available Here through McGraw Hill
#GSA ’s Mentor-Protégé Program Is Here!
Posted by Jim Foster in GSA on September 17, 2009
Now if that headline didn’t grab ya you must be, well you could be narcoleptic from trying decipher everything the government kicks out because there are companies out there that all they do is decipher FedBizOpps and help you get on schedule, etc. and good luck trying to decipher it for yourself. Maybe this program is a step in the right direction, maybe it actually gets business to small business and then again, maybe its another floor to the tower of babel, so in this case I’m not making the news I’m just reporting it.
GSA’s Mentor-Protégé Program Is Here!
GSA Small Business Utilization :
www.gsa.gov/sbu
Revit and Rockband
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM, Built Environment, GSA, Revit on September 16, 2009
No the two do not have anything to do with each other but just describing my day. It started to get on the road early to get to a site an hour away where we are creating a Revit model of an existing building. The building has 5 structures inter-joined over the years with the oldest dating to 1761 and the youngest being a large addition in 1984. Multiple construction methods, floor levels, etc. make it a challenge but utilizing our PPLT (Point to Point Laser Technology) made the base model creation pretty quick, considering. I then realized I signed myself up for two engagements, one was the Boston Revit User Group meetup hosted by Shepley Bullfinch and the other other was a Tech Tuesday hosted at Microsoft’s NERD (New England Research Development) Center, clever, no?
I was impressed with the meetup group because you had a large amount of people from different companies and disciplines discussing Revit and best practices. While I was only able to stay for one of three presentations everyone was open in discussing the project and how they went about it, how to set up projects for programming and even rendering tips were coming out of the audience. I think any environment where people are freely sharing ideas a great place, and it seems Revit and BIM requires this kind of collaboration and it was refreshing. I then hustled across the river to Cambridge and the NERD center to see what was up, collect my free drink ticket and take part of the free pizza. Harmonix was there and had set up Rock Band- Beatles on the main part of the floor which was being displayed on a huge screen, I would recommend playing rock band in this format if you can swing it. Lively crew and I saw some gray beards walking around which I believe were some of the original engineers at BBN.
Also found out the first project from GSA award should be out by Friday. I feel fortunate to be part of the team that won one of the awards but its going to be interesting to see how the multi-disciplinary jigsaw puzzle is going to be put together. And got a call from Australia, at my house, from a person about PointKnown, the pencil scratched note from my wife mentioned ‘distribution.’ Saddle up.
Towards a BIM Paradigm
Posted by Jim Foster in Adoption, BIM, Uncategorized on September 12, 2009
Interesting article in Architecture Week, Toward a BIM Paradigm
