Some CAD software developers are meeting the requirements of architects better than others with Autodesk’s Revit and Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD having the most satisfied users, said a CAD User Survey report by the UK’s Revelation Research.

“The Middle East tends to follow European trends in technology and workflow, and studies have shown strong statistic similarities,” says Victor Arcos of atOne Software, a Middle East CAD Software provider.

The research was conducted in November 2008 and included responses from 925 architects based in the UK, representing a statistically valid sample for the survey.

The survey measured the architect’s experience when using different CAD software and their associated support services.

In terms of product functionality, Autodesk’s Revit and Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD had the most satisfied users. Revit scored slightly higher on collaboration while ArchiCAD was rated higher on its ability to evaluate design alternatives easily and overall ease of use.

The survey measured architects’ satisfaction with the technical support, training and communications provided to users by the CAD software developers and their resellers.

Across each of these areas users gave ArchiCAD the highest scores though Bentley Microstation and VectorWorks were also rated well for technical support.

AutoCAD, the CAD product with the largest market share in the UK received some of the lowest ratings on service, though users were indifferent towards the service provided for AutoCAD rather than significantly dissatisfied.

A combination of good product functionality and service meant that 83 per cent of ArchiCAD users would recommend the product to fellow architects, the survey showed.

By comparison, 62 per cent of Revit and Bentley Microstation users and 57 per cent of AutoCAD users would do the same for the products they were using.

AutoCAD is the most widely-used CAD product (58 per cent of architects) followed by ArchiCAD (22 per cent) and Revit (11 per cent of users).

Of all the CAD products covered in the research it was evident that overall, ArchiCAD users were the most enthusiastic towards their CAD product and considered it best aligned to meeting the needs of the architectural community.-TradeArabia News Service