Autodesk takes BIM to Cloud at AU

Autodesk, the makers of AutoCAD, announced this week at Autodesk University (AU) new cloud-based solutions for AEC and BIM professionals.  The suite of solutions and technologies consist of many tools that Autodesk previously had available, such as Autodesk Buzzsaw.

Autodesk’s BIM solutions are part of Autodesk 360 for BIM, a comprehensive set of on-premise and in the cloud solutions that enable more efficient and document and project management of AEC projects.  These solutions consist of:

• Autodesk AEC Vault —  This solution lets teams manage and track digital models without leaving their BIM design tools, including Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, AutoCAD Civil 3D and Navisworks.
• Autodesk Buzzsaw – A cloud-based project collaboration solution that provides secure exchange of designs, documents and information with external partners.
• Autodesk AutoCAD WS – a web and mobile platform based solution for reviewing DWG documents with multiple particpants across a range of platforms, including Apple’s iOS devices like iPad
• Autodesk 360 Nexus — introduced this week at AU, and initially ready for the manufacturing industry, it is also planned to support AEC workflow and business process management needs.

To learn more about Autodesk’s new 360 BIM initiatives you can read the released information online here.

Architosh Analysis

We think Autodesk’s cloud-based solutions are aimed in the right direction but this announcement consists of existing solutions stitched together rather than a completely new and integrated new software offering. Make no mistake about it, these tools combined do amount to opportunities for AEC businesses to streamline complex scenarios and information. But the solution many may be dreaming of is centralized, efficient, simplified and truly platform open and neutral. Vault for instance only runs on MS Windows. Parts of the collection of tools work on certain platforms and not others.