Am I in The Cloud or Not?

The better question is, “How much of what I do with my Autodesk solution is in the Cloud?”

Today everyone throws around the word “cloud” and assumes it always means the same thing. When it comes to your Autodesk solution, the answer is, “It depends on which license you have, which product you use, and the type of subscriber you are with Autodesk.” See my previous blog post, What’s up with Autodesk Licensing? for an explanation about the different licensing types.

Today there are three types of cloud functionality from Autodesk:

1. License Management - Autodesk Desktop products use a license manager in the Cloud.

2. Data Storage and Collaboration - Autodesk360 products offer cloud-based data storage and sharing. This enables designers, clients, engineers, architects, and contractors to review, share, and comment on 2D and 3D models, floor plan markups, and budget spreadsheets from their desktops and mobile devices. The viewer supports more than 50 2D and 3D design file formats, including those from Autodesk, Solidworks, CATIA, Pro-E, Rhino, and NX.

3. Cloud Services - By adding Autodesk Cloud Services to your subscription, you get virtually infinite computing power and, for select products and suites, exclusive access to cloud-based services, such as rendering, energy analysis, design optimization, and robust collaboration. By performing computer-intensive functions in the Cloud, you can explore and visualize more design options, streamline collaboration, and optimize your designs without investing in expensive hardware.

Contact me if you’d like to discuss the options and determine which is the most cost-effective for you. And keep an eye out for my next blog post, “How Suite It Was.”

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John Souza

Director of Sales

John Souza started on the ground floor with Autodesk CAD, selling solutions since release 10. In the nearly 30 years since, he's worked to grow his expertise with each Autodesk solution, weaving a career around cutting-edge 3D design software sales.

He has proven success in building high-performing sales teams in the Civil Engineering and Government sectors, he's managed and led business development and sales teams for Autodesk and Advanced Solutions. Joining Ideate, Inc. in 2003, he was initially the Manufacturing Solutions Director then worked to expand reach within the AEC community as Director of Business Development. Today, as Sales Director, he leads a dedicated team working to connect architects and designers with best-fit design technology education and implementation solutions.

What’s up with Autodesk Licensing?

Almost one year into the Autodesk Business Model Transformation, many customers still have questions about licensing. Lately, Autodesk has been using a lot of Autodesk-speak to describe their licensing options. I’m going to help you make the right choices for your company by explaining the options and sharing my thoughts on the best path.

First let’s take a step back. Most likely, unless you just purchased a desktop version of Autodesk software, you have a Perpetual License. You should have received notice that Autodesk will not offer Perpetual Licenses after July 31, 2016. This doesn’t mean that your favorite cad tool is going away; it means that the way you purchase and receive new software from Autodesk will change.

Here’s a quick overview of the three options:

• Perpetual License – Although not offered after July 31, 2016, those with existing Perpetual Licenses can continue to run the specific versions as long as their computers and operating systems allow. Many Perpetual License holders subscribe to a Maintenance Plan to keep their software current.

• Maintenance Plan (Formerly called “Subscription”) – Under this plan, which you can renew annually, you will automatically receive all updates to a Perpetual License. You can stop paying the annual maintenance fee at any time, but then your Perpetual License will remain at the last version. There are additional benefits to this plan, such as support and access to previous versions.

• Desktop Subscription – This will be the only way to purchase Autodesk software after July 31, 2016. It is term-based, and it allows you to operate the software for a specific length of the term. During that term, you will receive all updates. This type of licensing is also called time-based, on-demand, or rental.

I recommend that longtime users keep their Maintenance Plans active, because this option offers the lowest annual recurring cost. To get added protection against increases in annual costs, you can renew your Maintenance Plan for two or three years.

That said, there is no one-size-fits all. Depending on your situation, you may need only Desktop Subscriptions, or you may need a combination of Perpetual Licenses/Maintenance Plans and Desktop Subscriptions.

Contact me if you’d like to discuss these licensing options. And keep an eye out for my next blog post, where I will talk about how the cloud is impacting Autodesk software.

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John Souza

Director of Sales

John Souza started on the ground floor with Autodesk CAD, selling solutions since release 10. In the nearly 30 years since, he's worked to grow his expertise with each Autodesk solution, weaving a career around cutting-edge 3D design software sales.

He has proven success in building high-performing sales teams in the Civil Engineering and Government sectors, he's managed and led business development and sales teams for Autodesk and Advanced Solutions. Joining Ideate, Inc. in 2003, he was initially the Manufacturing Solutions Director then worked to expand reach within the AEC community as Director of Business Development. Today, as Sales Director, he leads a dedicated team working to connect architects and designers with best-fit design technology education and implementation solutions.

Top Ten Autodesk Software Support Queries: Requests 6-10

On Monday we published the first five of the top ten support requests that come into Ideate Technical support. Today, the long-awaited, highly-anticipated 6-10 requests present themselves for your reading pleasure (and bookmarking reference convenience):

As Support manager here at Ideate we see a lot of general Autodesk cases come in, some of which are repeat questions or issues. Bradley, Ideate’s Technical Support Dispatcher, and I have come up with a list of our top ten.  The first line of support often deals with new Features, Network Licensing setup as well as troubleshooting Installations. Please take a look at the most common issues we see:

6. Cross Platform Licensing Designating Mac/PC for AutoCAD Autodesk supports a mixture of Operating Systems to run the software as standalone or network on workstations including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Complete the Cross-Platform Licensing form to designate the mixture you would like to run. This will allow a download of the preferred version of the software.
7. Network License of Software Requires a Server Setup The most versatile license type by Autodesk is the Network license. This allows unlimited workstation installations to pull a license when needed from the pool of available seats. This requires the install of a License Manager on a designated Server hosting the license file. The License Manager must be setup before the software on the workstations so it can point to the Server during a Network installation. Use Ideate’s Step by Step Autodesk Network Licensing Guide for help on setting everything up properly.
8. Installing the Software as Standalone, Network or Trial During installation there are three specific choices to make – either Standalone, Network or Trial. After downloading the software or using media to run the .exe and click Install you are asked to designate the License Type. Standalone only requires the Serial Number and Product Key. Network needs to be able to see the Server that is hosting the license and Trial is a fully functioning version of the software for 30 days that reverts to a viewer after this time. It’s helpful to reference the Autodesk software installation steps with screenshots.
9. Invalid Serial Number or Product Key During Installation The first issue many of our customers run into is a red X indicating the Serial Number or Product Key is incorrect. The most common mistake is caused by the wrong software or version being installed. Serial Number and Product Key for 2012 is different than the one for 2013 and AutoCAD is a different installation than AutoCAD MEP. Always be sure to download the correct software from Subscription Center or use the correct physical product box. Also, have a look at the Autodesk licensing issues knowledge base.
10. Downloading the Trial Revit as the All-in-One Version Customers occasionally need access to software immediately and are unable to download software from Subscription Center or the media has not arrived yet. Downloading the trial is a quick and easy way to get the software going and can easily be converted into a full version. The trial download uses the same prompts and can be activated using a valid Serial Number and Product Key for Standalone or Network. The issue with Revit products is that only the Building Design Suite version with the all-in-one features is available. This means you cannot download a trial of Revit MEP or Revit Architecture to activate, it must be from the media or download. Here is a link for the free Autodesk Revit trial.

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Derek Wielkopolski
Ideate Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

Bradley Cooley
Technical Support Dispatcher
Bradley earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, the Portland, Oregon campus, where his special research and design emphasis was on production facilities including wineries, breweries and distilling. Bradley’s professional experience has a design build services for residential construction and environmental graphics focus. Within his community, he volunteers as a youth athletics coach. As an Ideate tech team member, Bradley provides customer service by phone and online assistance for software installation and functionality. He is based in the Ideate Portland, Oregon office.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

Top Ten Autodesk Software Support Queries: Requests 1-5

As Support manager here at Ideate we see a lot of general Autodesk cases come in, some of which are repeat questions or issues. Bradley, Ideate’s Technical Support Dispatcher, and I have come up with a list of our top ten.  The first line of support often deals with new Features, Network Licensing setup as well as troubleshooting Installations. Please take a look at the most common issues we see:

1. License Cascading What’s license cascading? License cascading is the ability for network licenses to float from one product to the other. For example, my license file has seats of AutoCAD and seats of the Building Design Suite Premium. My install of AutoCAD is from the BDSP; and because of license cascading it will pull from the pool of AutoCAD licenses first until all seats of AutoCAD are taken. Once all of those seats are in use it will then cascade up to the BDSP licenses. In general, cheaper products’ licenses are pulled first then cascade up to the more expensive ones. Be sure to bookmark Autodesk’s official license cascading order list.
2. Autodesk 360 Setup and Configuration Autodesk 360 is a cloud-computing platform with various features such as storage, collaboration, visualization, and simulation tools. It’s available for Subscription and non-Subscription customers and its features vary by different products. More information can be found by reading the Autodesk 360 FAQs.
3. License Switching Between Standalone and Network Occasionally users will need to switch their current installation from standalone/trial to network or vice versa. The best practice is to do a complete uninstall/reinstall. But there are some instances where this isn’t an option. There is a workaround that involves going into the registry and can be used in a pinch if need be. Keep in mind – Ideate does NOT support this method and advises only users who are comfortable and knowledgeable about the registry to perform the Standalone to Network workaround.
4. System Requirements Technology is a fast paced industry and computer hardware is changing constantly. As a result software requirements are changing just as quickly to take advantage of all that new computing power. Make sure your machine is up-to-snuff. And keep in mind; minimum system requirements are just that – minimum. Future-proof your purchase by going above and beyond, make sure there’s room for expansion – i.e. extra slots available for more RAM. It’s also helpful to get familiar with the System requirements for Autodesk products.
5. Supported Graphics Hardware We’re discovering more and more often the importance of a properly matching OS, video card and video card driver. Issues you wouldn’t even think would be related to graphics hardware like crashing are often resolved by checking the driver version. See if your card is certified and where to find the accompanying certified driver.

Be sure to tune in on March 20th for Ideate’s Top Technical Support Requests 6-10!

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Derek Wielkopolski
Ideate Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

Bradley Cooley
Technical Support Dispatcher
Bradley earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, the Portland, Oregon campus, where his special research and design emphasis was on production facilities including wineries, breweries and distilling. Bradley’s professional experience has a design build services for residential construction and environmental graphics focus. Within his community, he volunteers as a youth athletics coach. As an Ideate tech team member, Bradley provides customer service by phone and online assistance for software installation and functionality. He is based in the Ideate Portland, Oregon office.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

Autodesk Product Keys – Understanding the Relationship to Licensing

One of the subjects that we handle a lot in our technical support department at Ideate, Inc. is software licensing. We take these issues seriously and realize that the ins and outs of the process can be confusing. We try and educate our customers to the way that licensing is handled so that they can feel more confident in managing their software. As a result I wanted to clarify a subject that comes up often in technical support, software product keys.

Since their addition with the 2010 version of Autodesk software, the product keys have caused some confusion. The largest problem has been that if the software is installed with a product key that does not match the serial number it will fail to activate. The error message that is generated does not specifically indicate that this is the issue. This usually solicits a call into technical support and the product key is one of the first things that we verify. The second frustrating thing with this issue is that the software has to be completely reinstalled to change the product key that was used to install it. This is a more time-consuming fix than verifying that you are using the correct product key in the first place.

In order to mitigate this issue, Autodesk started having the installation checking the entered product key in 2012. This was done to prevent the user from going through the installation using the wrong product key. Unfortunately this can create its own issue, especially for those who were comfortable with the product key usage in the previous version.

The issue with the 2012 and newer software is that since the media will only allow you to use the product keys that match it you can’t also enter the product key for the serial number you are using. This can be a problem for users that have purchased a Suite and a point product. It means that you may not be able to use the media of one to install the other.

In general we have found that you can use the installation for a point product with the product key of an advanced version like a suite that it is contained in. For example, if you have a serial number for Building Design Suite Ultimate, but you only want to install Navisworks Manage you can use the Navisworks Manage installation media.  This will tie all product licenses for the serial number to the computer it is installed onto, in this case the other products contained in Building Design Suite Ultimate, even though only one product was installed.

The opposite is not true. You can’t use a Building Design Suite Ultimate to install your Navisworks Manage specific serial numbers. This means that you need to have the media for both and use the one that matches your serial number. If you want to try and use the media on hand, you can go ahead and launch the install and try the product key. If it accepted you can go ahead and use the media. If it is not accepted you will need to download the media that does match your product key.

Now, all of this only applies to standalone type licenses. The network installations are much more flexible since they do not have to be activated. If you are using network licenses you can install using any media, using the product key that matches the media. The software will then pull the “cheapest” available licenses no matter what media or product key was used to install it.

There is one exception to this. The “one-box” version of Revit that comes with the Building Design Suites is only sold as a part of the Building Design Suite. As a result it will bypass “cheaper” licenses for Revit Architecture, MEP, or Structure and only pull Building Design Suite licenses. If you want to use the “cheaper” licenses first, you will have to install using that matching media.
 
For your convenience, we have compiled a list of product keys for the currently supported Autodesk software.

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Jesika DiGregorio
Ideate Technical Support Specialist
Jesika received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon where she worked on construction of a student-designed structure. Her work experience includes Junior Designer at an award-winning firm specializing in architecture and land planning, and Intern Architect at a firm that provides services in planning, design, construction documents and construction administration for projects of all sizes. Jesika provides online and phone technical support to Ideate clients from the Ideate Authorized Training Center in Portland, Oregon.

Get it. Know it. Use it.