Autodesk is directly entering the marketplace for facilities management (FM) software with today’s purchase of FMDesktop and related assets from Applied Spatial Technologies, a Londonderry, New Hampshire startup.
FMDesktop is a fairly new application in the crowded FM space. It focuses on ease of use, and uses Autodesk’s DWF publishing format to transform floor plans and other drawings from AutoCAD into lightweight files that can easily be accessed and shared through a simple desktop application. This approach allows direct use of drawings without knowledge of AutoCAD.
FMDesktop users Jimmy Niles, a space manager at Virginia Commonwealth University, is quoted in the official announcement: “FM Desktop is much easier to use than other FM products on the market. With FMDesktop we were able to quickly and dynamically connect our Autodesk DWF floor plans to our FM Desktop database. The ease of use and flexibility of FMDesktop allowed us reduce the amount of time it takes to create space utilization reports from 3 months to 3 days."
The privately held Applied Spatial Technologies was founded in 2003 by three veterans of the computer design software industry. Two of them, Robert Fahlin and Dusty Smith, will become employees of Autodesk. Henniker River Group, LLC is an investor in AST.
Autodesk says it will support FMDesktop customers and honor all existing subscription agreements.
In a product FAQ written before the acquisition, AST likens FMDesktop to a pickup truck in a market filled with 18-wheel trucks. Making specific comparison to ARCHIBUS, Tririga, and Apeture, AST says:
“FMDesktop actually does less than those packages do. Through our long experience in the CAFM field and many in-depth discussions with prospects and users, we determined that there is big need for an easy to use, "does the basics", reasonably priced, and easy to implement CAFM solution; that's FMDesktop. If you have a job that needs a pick-up truck and somebody offers you an 18 wheeler instead, it's likely that you'd find you'd still rather have the pick-up truck most of the time... that's how to think about FMDesktop. FMDesktop is plenty powerful and versatile, but it is very easy to set up, learn, and use.”
FMDesktop uses Microsoft Access as a database platform, making it easy for new users who store data in Microsoft Excel to import to FMDesktop.
Before adding drawings to the FMDesktop database, users must first identify them in AutoCAD using polylines and supporting text. FMDesktop’s Facility Link module includes add-in AutoCAD tools for this purpose. The tools also automatically populate the FMDesktop database using a room identifier and a unique polyline identifier also created in AutoCAD. Any drawings referenced in FMDesktop are viewed using DWF, Autodesk’s lightweight document publishing format.
-- RSN