With Release 13 hitting the streets, it's a good time to look at upgrading AutoCAD in the work environment. I've decided to share the experiences of three of my friends as the tool for this examination. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Jane, Jim, and John are all CAD managers at different small to mid-sized firms. They all manage three average users and do production along with their managerial duties. All three are what you would call power users, that is to say that they know how to get the most out of their computers, AutoCAD, and their employees. Jane is currently using Release 12 c4 for Windows. Jim is still using Release 11 due to circumstances beyond his control (his boss wouldn't spring for the upgrade to R12), and John is still running on Release 10.
Each manage has had their share of upgrade problems with AutoCAD. Jane found out the hard way when she upgrade to AutoCAD Release 12 for Windows that it is not a good idea to purchase the product and install it into production right away. The driver bugs and other undocumented features caused loss of production for her people and almost caused a mutiny. Her bosses were not amused when deadlines were missed. She had to pull back to Release 11 for production and play with the new version off-line until she was satisfied that it was stable. Then she implemented Release 12. Part of her near mutiny came from the fact that no one had any experience with the new product, and when problems ocurred, it was a paintfully long process of trial and error to fix them.
Jim could not get his upper management people to upgrade from Release 11 to Release 12. His problem have been increasing because his outside sources have gradually moved to Release 12. Recently, he got files that had locked layers in them, and he could not unlock them because Release 11 does not handle locked layers. That finally convinced his boss that it was time to upgrade.
Until now, John thought that he had it easy by skipping upgrades. He was plodding along in Release 10 and chukling over Jane and Jim's upgrades blues. Now John is begin forced to upgrade because of circumstances. He has had some turnover in his group, and it is getting hard to find people that will work with Release 10. He has looked at the productivity advantages of Release 12, heard the promises of release 13, and realizes that his people would be more productive with the proper training. He feels that if he doesn't make the move soon, his current employees will have too much of a training gap and that would cause even more loss of productivity than usual in an upgrade. So, reluctantly, he has convinced his superiors to purchase Release 13.
Now let's look at the strategy of all three for upgrading. There will be some similarities and many differences.
Jane has decided she is a good enough user that she will place Release 13 on her machine and teach herself all of the new features before putting in on the other user's machines. Then when she feels comfortable with the software she will train her people herself. She will then pick a small pilot projet and have her most trusted user do it on Release 13. Once any potential problems are identified and addressed, she will introduce R13 to production.
Jim would never consider placing Release 13 into production until he and his group were all properly trained and he is sure the product is stable. I think he talked to Jane and learned from her error with R12. His approach to the new release will be to purchase and install one copy on his machine and then take an upgrade class from an Authorized Training Center or his dealer. Then, he will practice the new features and decide how to fold them into the work flow of his company.
Once he feels comfortable that the process will run smoothly, he will send his employees to the formal upgrade training classes and install the new release on their machine while they are at the training session. When they return, they will be given the new procedural manual on how he wants them to work with the new features. Jim is the only manager that has the additional problem of interfacing with outsides vendors. Several of his clients are still using Release 11, and he plans on keeping the current version on his personal system and doing the projects that require R11 himself.
John, now that he is committed, is jumping in with both feet. He had planned on purchasing Release 12 right away and taking upgrade training. That would have given him time to learn the productivity tools that had been added since his Release 10 version. Unfortuntely, his management was slow in getting approval and now Release 13 is out. John has been forced to jump right to Release 13 upgrade training. He will purchase the first edition of Release 13 for all machines and allow the users and himself to play with the product in its rawest form until it stabilizes enough for production. He will still keep the Release 10 on the systems to finish currently running projects, and he will ease the newer version into production, using a pilot project, once his people are ready.
Summary
In all three cases, the managers have decided to run Release 13 out of production in the begining. Each manager has devised their own path that they feel works best for their talents, people, and company. Each path has pluses and minuses.
Jane teaching herself and then teaching her people is questionable. She could pull it off without a hitch or she could miss some important features that would increase her productivity. She might be an excellent user, but not a good teacher.
Jim is taking a well worn path for his upgrade. Getting proessional training for himself and his people has the advantage of letting experts fill in on the information they have through their own training and from their other students. Jim can concentrate on the important subjects like the right timing to ease Release 12 into his production schedule, how best to use the new features in everyday production, and letting his outside clients know that his company has moved ahead with the times and that they should join them.
Jonh is taking a difficult situation and doing what he can to make an easy transition. The technical training supplied from an outside source will help him get up to speed as quickly as possible on Release 13. This approach allows him to ease into the new release. By keeping the newest version off-line until he is sure it is stable, he gives himself and his users time to practice the new productivity tools.
Given the new features of Release 13 and the reality that compatibility with the outside world is becoming a requirement, it's likely that many of you will be upgrading to Release 13. Step back, and see if your situation is similar to Jane, Jim, or John (at least in some elements). Perhaps, it will help you assess your situation and your priorities. You will still have your own issues including hardware, compatibility, and budget. It's probably a good time to start making a couple of lists, including what you absolutely have to have in terms of AutoCAD upgrades and new equipment, and what you could really use for a smooth upgrade. Give the second list to management, hope for the best, and get started making the items on that firts list happen. Good luck with Release 13.
- John Gibb