With regards to the deprecation of SS 10 products, we completely understand the need to embrace the connected environment and we as a business have already done that and are moving forward with any new projects on that platform. What the SS 10 deprecation does not address is the scores of projects across the country that were started in legacy SS10 software several years ago and will continue to be completed using legacy software, because it would simply be way too expensive and time consuming to upgrade existing projects to the connected plaform. (For instance upgrading a Geopak created project to an Open Roads project). Right now, I am thinking of a rather long & complex urban project that we are doing for our state DOT. While the Phase I is complete, Phase II will be completed in 5 different segments (plan sets) over the course of the next several years. This is due to the availability of programmed funding. These plan sets will continue to be produced using legacy (Geopak SS10) software. I can imagine that this same scenario will be playing out across the country and globe for many DOT's & users for years to come. Are we really going to lose support & security updates for software that will be widely used for the next several years??? I completely understand the need to move into the future (as stated, we already have), but this announcement does NOT reflect the fact that we as an industry are just not there yet.
I completely agree. As a consultant, my company is contractually obligated to design products using the software mandated by our clients. TxDOT is our biggest client, and Bentley's as well. If they aren't ready to upgrade, we literally can't upgrade ourselves.
Similar to what Jeff described, even if TxDOT officially made the switch today, legacy projects spanning multiple years would still be completed using SS10. There needs to be a lot of overlapping support for SS10 and ORD to cover this scenario.
If Bentley really wants to speed up the adoption rate for ORD, they need to raise awareness with DOT's and municipalities rather than applying IT policies that throw consultants into turmoil. The current messaging from Bentley comes across as pushy, pointless, and immature.
Is there a link to a recent public message/ post? This is all I could find... Desktop Applications Support Policy (bentley.com) I assume something was sent primarily to system admins.
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