Through the Interface

8 responses to “Early bird tickets now available for the Forge DevCon in SF”

1. 

   James Maeding

   February 23, 2016 at 6:10 pm

   Kean,
   Does Autodesk really feel its main software titles are accessible via the cloud? Surely you do not mean licensing, or simple viewing of the drawings/models created. Its sounding like a marketing shift rather than a real one - which bugs me because it confuses things and sets up false expectations internally for your teams and externally for customers. How am I seeing that wrong?

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   1. 

      Kean Walmsley

      February 23, 2016 at 6:25 pm

      James,

      Of course not. This message is directional (which is appropriate for software developers). I will say that within n years, all our software will be accessible via the web (even if some people continue to use desktop software, as is their choice).

      (I'll try to remember to replace n with the actual number once we get there. 🙂

      Kean

      Reply
      1. 

         James Maeding

         February 24, 2016 at 4:56 pm

         but that conference is about utilizing autodesk provides online services, right? Those services are extremely limited at this point it seems. Is it that Autodesk is looking for markets to justify it developing certain products to work through the web? I guess I am confused because so little is offered. IO is the obvious one, but what other main services is Autodesk looking to have us use more? I'm also thinking this focus on the cloud is misdirected. Focus should be on what helps users, and that is related to software features, not how its delivered. The next big thing I see is the shift to VR visors instead of monitors. We have had the ability to put files on remote servers (the cloud) for years and we don't like it, so its off to me that Autodesk somehow likes online services so much.

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         1. 

            James Maeding

            February 24, 2016 at 4:58 pm

            meant "odd to me" not off...

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            1. 

               Kean Walmsley

               February 24, 2016 at 5:19 pm

               Over the coming months you're going to see a lot more in the Forge platform (we have lots more services available internally, for instance, that have yet to be made completely public).

               I don't think us having this discussion again (whether the cloud is the future) is going to convince you. Maybe we should just agree to disagree and see whether either of us has changed their opinion in a few years from now?

               Kean

               Reply
               1. 

                  James Maeding

                  February 26, 2016 at 5:03 pm

                  right, I don't want to convince you, just checking if maybe other products I do not use, like 3dsmax, maya, or video editing stuff autodesk does is going SAAS. Sounds like Carl is pushing for internet based stuff, and your teams are exploring that. I guess my point is it feels like we are not anywhere near having significant SAAS offerings from Autodesk yet, so I wonder if the cloud theme is more of a trend that will have some good spinoffs, but never impact the bread and butter apps that pay the bills for Autodesk. Time will tell, so I'll let this cook for a while. Ignore my speculative comments when I'm beating dead horses, it won't bother me. Have fun in the mtns.

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               2. 

                  Dro

                  February 29, 2016 at 2:35 pm

                  What does Autodesk avoiding having this discussion with customers mean? I know that the greed-driven C level board room meetings look at subscription as a slam dunk revenue padding exercise but the reality is that this leaves a bad taste in the majority of customers mouths. (From what I see with the low level discussions with people that use/rely on these tools)

                  I would wait a few years but by then I would be left with nothing but an expired subscription and nothing to show for it.

                  Yes subscriptions and SAAS could be used to complement the traditional software delivery method, for example to offer use of it for very specific time frames for specific projects with the upside being extra savings vs purchase due to these conditions. Instead companies are now rolling out subscriptions to hold customers hostage charging (effectively) near the same amounts for very limiting conditions.

                  As has happened many times over in history trying to limit peoples freedom (especially for greed driven purposes) never ends well.

                  Why not dump your focus into the next gen VR/AR tooling and get to the top of the market in that instead of wasting time trying to figure out how to screw customers most effectively. You have all the technology you need to dominate this area. We are going to need massive amounts of content created for this arena yet all I hear about are these stupid SAAS/subscriptions. Even the top level investor news from Carl highlights the subs more than any other topic.

                  I know you are not directly responsible for these decisions but every time this comes up it frustrates me. I hate watching a train wreck in slow motion.

                  Reply
                  1. 

                     Kean Walmsley

                     February 29, 2016 at 2:46 pm

                     I'm not even indirectly responsible for this decision, but that's beside the point.

                     This post (and the event itself) is about helping software developers plan their resource investment appropriately during a platform shift.

                     Feel free to express your frustration about business model changes via this blog too, if you have to, but I'm more focused on helping people with the technology shift (which is also happening now).

                     Kean

                     Reply