At this time of year the teams gather in the warmer climate cities for Spring Training.  It is a time when the veterans get back into shape, coaxing their bodies into one more season.  It is the time when rookies try hard to make the squad.  It is time when player selections are made, work on the fundamentals is renewed and strategies begin to take shape that prep teams for the regular season.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

This is also the time of year when new software starts rolling out from Autodesk and we start prepping for the new releases.  Older software that is replaced with new releases.

It is time to start thinking about your CAD environment and the health of your veteran software, the value of the rookie programs and the strategy of how you will embrace this possible change.

Here is a little chalk talk about what you need to do to get in shape for the coming season of rollouts.

Listen for the start:

First you will hear from Autodesk about the official kickoff of the season with the lifting of the embargo on discussions. There have been hints and nods and winking of the tech eyes at what might be in the shipping products,but no one is really allowed to discuss it openly yet.  Autodesk requires Alpha and Beta testers to be under a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in order to participate.  One requirement is that the person respect the date that Autodesk sets of official discussions to begin.  Start talking early and you might suffer the disdain of Autodesk and a lot of others who are respecting the “gag order”.

Let the talks begin:

You will soon start hearing from the reviewers about the next release of software. Some have spent countless hours fiddling with Alpha and Beta releases of the platform. Some have taken the time to test and retest the software. They do not move forward with the reviews until the embargo is lifted but once it is, they unleash their pent up wealth of knowledge and experience with the newest release.

Look for the best at places where you typically find discussions.  Bloggers, press outlets, Social Media, AUGI and many more will start sharing the info.

Look for the Leaders:

Once the spring training is well underway you will start hearing from the early adopters.  These are the folks that buy early and implement quickly.  They will spot the bumps in the road and the potholes to avoid.  They will soon be sharing.or ranting, on the virtues and foibles of the software in the real world.  Go to the AUGI Forums to find these people chatting it up over the next month or so.

As the new release takes hold and starts to move forward,we will move from Spring Season in the Regular Season.  That is when you start thinking about adopting it yourself.

1.  Autodesk listens to its customers.  They pay close attention and they produce on the input they get. I know this because of the new features that they add to the software.  Every release has things that I never thought of. Things that collectively make the products more mature.  Some are obvious, but the ones that were added to the base platform, AutoCAD, are small refinements that enhance the product even when we all think it is mature.  Actually some of the enhancements to AutoCAD 2011 are huge – depending on your use of the tool.

You may disagree with me and think that the major changes that need to be made are missing.  You may think that the product has major holes that still remain unfilled.  But if you look at the general progress of the tools, there is much progress.  They may not have fixed the items you may be looking for, but there are some major upgrades and enhancements to just about every product.   Somewhere out there is a very happy user (probably many) that are very pleased with this upgrade.

2.  The software is not perfect and they know it.  I am not saying that they ship flawed software – far from it (see number 3).  What I mean is that they know they have to continue working on it and they are.  No product has been left to languish.  All of them have focused teams who look for improvements and deliver.

3.  They go to great lengths to ensure that the shipping products are stable.  I spent some time with the Q&A team for AutoCAD 2011. They are devoted to the product and have an extensive process of weeding out the issues that will impact end users.  Rigorous testing goes into the product.  Extensive testing and retesting.  All of this to help make the products stable.

4.  Autodesk is mixing and matching software.  They realize that you use several differing tools to get the job done.  They are moving to provide cross pollination from one product to another.  They have moved toward interoperability between products as an effort to assist end users. They have bundled products that users tend to use together.  They have bundle 2d with 3d packages as an incentive to move to 3d.  They now offer Suites of products under one collective product line, bundling AutoCAD to the vertical products like Revit and Inventor.  We should be looking for these encouragements to continue.

There may be more perspectives that  come up as I review more of my notes.  I will keep you posted.

For AutoCAD 2011

76,000 man hours in QA testing ( I talked to the QA folks at the event) which includes:

• 6000 total code reviews
• 2000 commands tested
• 4600 Beta customers

1.4 million lines of code were removed (did you get that? – REMOVED)

I look forward to seeing how this much effort, testing by so many, makes for a stable product that has a reduction in footprint based on less code bloat.

Published in AUGI Hot News for September…

There may not be a “perfect time” to move forward with an upgrade. Will there be a time when all of the positives draw you forward and none of the negatives are there to slow you down? Here are some points to consider.

May require registration for AUGI to read…  but hey – you can sign up for free!

When is the right time to upgrade your software release?

Think about these things… (portions originally published in AUGI Hot News 2005)

Before the next Project begins.

Many people want to prepare and move before a major project starts. Rather than move the whole company at one time they take one project into the next release and manage the process like a Project Manager. This can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The Good – It sets you up to use the increased productivity in the new release to be applied to the new project. It also places you on focus for the future since the project will outlast your prior release use. By taking a project into the next release, you can control the tools used on a small scale, selecting which new tools to apply. Sheet Sets? Project Navigator? Vault? No need to expect to use all of the new improvements, just select the ones that will impact the project for the better.

The Bad – Your upgrade troubles may slow down the project schedule. Training and tech support issues may impede project timeline. Productivity may (will) take a slight dip until users get up to speed. All of the this impacts the project

My Advice – make sure the Project Manager is supportive. Let him or her know the issues surrounding the use of the new software. Make them your ally. If not – he could turn into your worst critic.

Lessons Learned – Make sure you track the troubles you have.  Document anything that is a concern.  make a definite process of expanding it to the next project.

After Training

Most firms want to do some form of training.  It may be formal, informal or just a handout.

The Good – When you have completed training your users are hopefully excited and ready to use the software. Training can create momentum for the migration.

The Bad – Training takes time away from project work. Productivity loss from training time may need to be recovered as users return to the project environment.

My Advice – you need to train before the migration begins, but you may want to wait a week or two so that all the projects are caught up from any time lost during the training.

Lessons Learned – Training does not stop when the class ends.  Keep in touch with the users.  Make handouts that can be used as reference material.

When demanded by clients

Sometimes the client sets the pace for upgrades.

The Good - May force your team to make a move if you are having difficulty making progress. It is often hard to get the migration started. After I was prepared, I have used a clients demand for upgrades to get my team moving.

The Bad – The demand may come before you are ready. You may not have trained. You are forced to move and may be reluctant. Bad morale may creep in since it was not your choice

My Advice – The whole issue of when to move may or may not be in your hands. If it is, then you should carefully think and plan for the move. If it is not, you should prepare for it because it may be inevitable. Be prepared!

Lessons Learned – Be prepared before they ask you.  Get everything set and migrate your content prior to the question being posed.

This seems to be true for those on subscription and those that are not.  When the financial portion of the upgrade decision is taken out of the mix, they are still waiting.   If you have to pay for upgrades then it take a little more to get you to move, but when the cost of an upgrade is not a factor, CAD Managers are still jumping over a release.

What are you doing?  Is your firm jumping on the band wagon as soon as the newest release is shipped?  Do you wait one or even two releases?

Take a look at the full lists of “Updates & Services Packs” for AutoCAD.

These are what Autodesk calls “Maintenance Releases”.  They use to be called Patches and before that Bug Fixes.  Now they have a more generic name.

There are service packs for just about every software title.  They may be kind of hard to find…

When you go to the Autodesk site – go to the Service & Support pulldown > Technical Support…  then select the product that you are looking for.  Once inside the product area click on Data & Downloads nav on the left side.  This opens another nav and page.  Select Updates & Service Packs and there you are…

——

Running under Windows XP:

• Microsoft Windows XP SP2 operating system
• Intel® Pentium® 4.3 processor or AMD Athlon®, 3.0 GHz or greater – Dual core supported
• 2 GB RAM – 3GB Recommended
• 2.5 GB free hard disk space for installation
• 1024×768 VGA with true color
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (SP1 or higher)
• DVD Drive

—-
64-bit AutoCAD 2009
(The 64-bit software cannot be installed on a 32-bit operating system)

• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system
  or
  Windows Vista 64-bit operating system
• AMD Athlon 64 processor
  or
  Intel EM64T processor
• 2 GB RAM – 4 GB Recommended
• 3.5 GB free hard disk space for installation
• DVD Drive

Here is the crux of it…

32-bit AutoCAD 2009

Running under Windows XP:

• Microsoft Windows XP SP2 operating system
• Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or AMD Athlon®, 2.2 GHz or greater
  or
  Intel or AMD Dual Core processor, 1.6 GHz or greater
• 1 GB RAM
• 750 MB free hard disk space for installation
• 1024×768 VGA with true color
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (SP1 or higher)

Going to 64 bit?…

64-bit AutoCAD 2009
(The 64-bit AutoCAD cannot be installed on a 32-bit operating system)

• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system
  or
  Windows Vista 64-bit operating system
• AMD 64 processor
  or
  Intel EM64T processor
• 2 GB RAM
• 750 MB free hard disk space for installation