"We are a serial acquirer, and intend to continue acquiring".
-Keith Bentley, at the 2005 BE Conference
Sorry, Keith, I couldn't resist... :-)
If my memory is recalling correctly (which unfortunately, always seems an appropriate question to ask), it was at BE 2005 that Bentley's CTO spoke those words, and he wasn't kidding. Look at all the companies that have been taken into the Bentley camp since that time: MAPScript, Logos, GEF-RIS, KIWI, LEAP, Hevacomp, TDV, Design Power, Beilfuss, promise... The list since 2000 has included even more: companies like Interplot, HMR, IRAS, GEOPAK, Rebis, and Haestad. It's an impressive list, and still gowing at that.
But there is a certain unease I get about a company growing by gobbling up companies in such a manner. There's nothing wrong with it - I just get uneasy. I think part of it is that it's almost always a one-way trip - companies are not usually spun back off - and that it's so easy to get wrong. What made a company so attractive in the first place can have a way of being left behind.
However, at BE 2008 I got several hints that Bentley is doing things right. I saw demonstrations of what the future is likely to hold for the Civil side of things, and suffice to say it's impressive. But at the same time I was enthused, though, I also got concerned. MicroStation and ProjectWise are the platforms for this stuff; Projectwise is how the data is stored and managed, but MicroStation is where the data is manipulated.
And MicroStation might soon be where the data is stored. Okay, now... I have to bring up a dirty word:
Civil 3D.
That whoosh you just heard was the sound of me ducking. Anyone here ever use Civil 3D? A show of hands, please?
That's all? Okay, okay, you can put them down. If you have used Civil 3D you'll get where I'm coming from... if not, hold on. In Civil 3D, all your data - your drawing, your alignments, your surfaces, parcels, everything - is stored directly in th DWG file. That's cool in a way because it makes finding that data somewhat easier. Problem is, it's locked to that file. Period. That, unless you 1) start duplicating it, 2) start instituting workarounds for data access, or 3) Export the data to a generic format whch may or may not come in correctly to whatever else. All those options are not ideal. And the biggest problem is that DWG is a closed format - if you want access to the DWG , you generally need to go through Autodesk to do it. For just linework you have options - thank you, MicroStation! - but for the AEC objects you have to use Autodesk products.
And it is those concerns that got me thinking about Bentley's integration of all its recent acquisitions with its platform products. Yes, DGN is an open format, but given what I've seen of Civil 3D, I just don't like the idea of tying everything to DGN...
...and I may not have to. At BE 2008, I learned Bentley has some stuff in the works that may alleviate my concerns. My friend, MaryB, and I were able to talk at length with a Bentley employee about it and it looks like things will get to a point that not only will the data management aspect be better executed, it may well be that in the future, any Bentley vertical will be able to recongnize AEC data created by any other Bentley vertical. You'll probably not be able to edit it, but you can at least see what created it and what's there. I'm sure not going to complain about that. And all this without the hassles involved in tying the data directly to the DGN.
So I will eagerly await all of the Bentley acquisitions learning how to speak Bentley... and just how Bentley plans to make that happen. What do you think?
Interesting post. I to have concerns about all the "acquiring" Bentley has done and is continuing to do. To date they have not been particularly successful in integrating all of these products either from the software or licensing side. I do agree that it looks like athens will start to take care of some of this but at what cost.
As for data storage I also have some concerns about putting everything in one basket. Although from what I've seen Civil 3D seems to do a pretty good job of it. Can Bentley do as well with the dgn. I would say so but getting users to trust it is another matter. Using Projectwise as an example, I think there are a lot of users (and organizations) who what to chose products that fit their environments rather than having to use a specific one. Document data management is one area that this is particular true. Especially when you don't actually control your data (IT does).
I would feel better I if there where more 3rd parties out there who would provide additional data management tools to manage both DGN and DWG data. I also would like Bentley to be a bit more forthcoming on just exactly how they plan to integrate everything along with a realistic time line for doing it. Keep on posting..