Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 6:09 PM
By Randall S. Newton
Editor-in-Chief
Autodesk and Bentley Systems today announced a wide-ranging agreement to cooperate on interoperability issues by exchanging file format code libraries and providing access to each other's application programming interfaces (API's). While the deal is a win-win in the long run, it gives short-term competitive advantage to Autodesk.
The two companies will directly exchange software libraries, including Autodesk’s RealDWG, to improve the ability to read and write the companies’ respective DWG and DGN formats in mixed environments with greater fidelity. In addition, the two companies will facilitate work process interoperability between their AEC applications through supporting the reciprocal use of available Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Both firms say their common goal in the agreement is to improve AEC workflows by enabling broader reuse of information generated during the design, construction, and operation of buildings and infrastructure, and by enhancing the ability of project teams to choose among multiple software sources.
Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley called deal the “most significant announcement” in the 25-year history of the company, adding “the world needs this.” Jay Bhatt, senior vice president for AEC Solutions at Autodesk referred to Bentley as “Autodesk’s largest development partner,” and said “this agreement will help to better support” the many firms who use products from both companies.
Autodesk gains the most in the short run. It has been unsuccessful in creating a complete “clean room” version of the MicroStation DGN file format—so far Autodesk has only been able to reverse engineer the 2D aspects of the file format. Bentley leads the market in civil and plant design, requiring AutoCAD-based users in these fields to support both products. Bentley, on the other hand, gains a lesser immediate advantage since it has been using the well-crafted OpenDWG libraries from the Open Design Alliance. Since the release of MicroStation V8 in 2001, Bentley has been claiming full fidelity for DWG files in MicroStation. As Keith Bentley has said more than once about importing AutoCAD files to MicroStation, “if it doesn’t work, we consider it a bug in MicroStation.” In the long run, I believe, access to Revit will prove to be the strategic advantage in this deal for Bentley.
Both companies have been aggressive in acquiring smaller firms in recent years, with the result that both Autodesk and Bentley have assembled a portfolio of design and engineering products that are popular with ‘the other.’ Many Bentley users, for example, rely on NavisWorks (acquired by Autodesk) for construction site planning and BIM-based project review. At the same time, many Autodesk users, and Revit users in particular, rely on RAM and STAAD structural engineering software products, both acquired by Bentley.
Neither company will become members of the other’s third-party developer networks; this is a direct technology-sharing agreement between the two firms.
Greg Bentley said during a press conference that Bentley would not be updating the OpenDGN library now distributed by the Open Design Alliance, and avoided directly answering a question about the future of Bentley as a ODA member. The ODA changed its name from the Open Drawing Alliance in 2003 when Bentley upgraded its membership, and at the time made a big fuss about the forthcoming availability of DGN libraries for ODA members. But the libraries were never quite as robust as expected, and ODA member interest in them quickly waned.
Two AEC industry executives participated in the teleconference announcing the deal. Both Greg Bentley and Autodesk’s Bhatt thanked Norbert Young, FAIA, president of McGraw-Hill Construction and Patrick MacLeamy, FAIA, CEO of global architectural firm HOK, for their years of lobbying the two organizations for improved interoperability.