Autodesk today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Constructware, an online project management and collaboration ASP (Application Service Provider) for $46 million in cash. Privately held and based in Alpharetta, Georgia, Constructware provides Web-based collaboration solutions for design, construction and facility project management.
Constructware is one of the few survivors from the dotcom boom and bust in online project management, for two good reasons: the company started before the boom (1994) and its management team didn’t get a big head or an infusion of venture capital in the late 1990’s. The development team there is like a band of monks: intense in their depth of knowledge, totally devoted to the product, and constrained by cash flow. Now that Autodesk can fund continued development, I think we’ll see a flood of new features in the coming months.
Constructware has done well in landing accounts with general contractors and sub-contractors, especially on government and education projects. This will be a good fit with Autodesk’s Buzzsaw, which is popular in the home building, retail, and hospitality construction markets. Constructware also offers cost, bid, and risk management tools not available in Buzzsaw.
Constructware has worked hard to make their products universally compatible. A tight integration with Autodesk products shouldn’t be too hard to achieve.
Constructware, founded in 1994, currently has around 29,000 users; Buzzsaw has 137,000. Last December at Autodesk University, Autodesk claimed Buzzsaw was the second largest ASP on the Web, Salesforce.com being first.
--RSN