Starting BIM

Sole Practitioners, Small Practices

Small practices are considered to be flexible in implementing new technologies because less money and effort is involved. We know this isn't necessarily the case. If you are a small business owner, you have the advantage of simply being closer to technology as you are probably using it yourself. Instead of convening meetings and trying to coordinate the interests of different members of staff, you are to weigh both the architectural and management benefits of introducing Virtual Building technology, and you make the decision yourself.

Switching systems in a small practice is certainly not without risk. A long implementation period, for instance, could even endanger the operational ability. Therefore, Graphisoft's development team pays particular attention to the system becoming productive as soon as possible without putting an extreme burden on the regular workflow.

ArchiCAD's intuitive interface and architectural intelligence enables the novice user to develop expertise fast. The wide range of easy-to-use features assures that the software can be used to generate valuable output from the time of installation.

Being an integrated solution, ArchiCAD both increases the efficiency at which your standard documents are generated and makes it possible for you to offer additional services at zero or minimum extra effort. ArchiCAD's compatibility with common CAD file formats allows for file exchange with other applications enabling you to undertake contract jobs from a wider range of business partners.

Medium-size Firms

Medium-size practices stand between small firms and large offices not only in staff size. If you work at or run a medium-size design firm, you probably know well that depending on the history, resources, clientele, development opportunities, management and marketing, the company behaves and operates like a small firm in one situation and like a large organization in another. Rather than having to face typical "medium-size firm type" challenges and showing typical behavioral patterns, these firms are special in their unique mix of small office type characteristics and large practice type features.

If you are a partner at a medium-size office, it is quite likely that you still practice architecture and also want to become an active user of new design technology rather than just making decisions on systems a large office manager would never use. On the other hand, decisions are probably made on multiple levels, and the final choice will reflect the influence of different groups.

Your firm may want to appeal to a wider spectrum of clients than any small or large business, accept small projects and compete for large jobs alike. Your practice can still be flexible enough to make a complete switch from one CAD system to another; however, you can also enjoy the advantages of introducing a new system by project teams. Because tasks are likely to be split between designers and draftspeople, using different CAD systems by different teams may be an acceptable solution.

Large architectural offices market their stability and reliability. You may want your firm to appear fashionable and upmarket, radiating style and vogue. Well into the Information Age, next generation technology offers not only productivity and quality improvement but also the opportunity to add state-of-the-art to your firm's marketing vocabulary.

Large Practices

Being a manager or partner at a major architectural firm, you don't need to be introduced to the complexity of making decisions on switching CAD systems or even just introducing a new application complementary to the current CAD environment. Technology issues always involve several groups of different priorities ranging from the daily use of the product through productivity benefits and quality improvement to organizational and implementation problems. You must always weigh the expected benefits of the new system against the potential implementation difficulties that may be caused by the mere size of the organization and its web of interactions.

While small firms and most medium-size offices survive without any serious management structure, you run the large firm by set procedures. Major projects require teams of dozens to be coordinated and controlled, office standards and databases maintained, consultants integrated and huge amounts of documents output by strict deadlines. The size of projects demands a quality assurance system to supervise the integrity of documents, manage revisions and issue document sets. All these procedures are built around the CAD system of the firm, and any significant change in the system involves partial or complete restructuring of the management of information.

Before introducing a new Information Technology system, you must be sure not only that the new software will bring productivity and quality benefits but also that the implementation will be relatively smooth and painless. Although procedures at reference sites offer you important hints, making the final decision about purchase and implementation requires extensive pre-purchase analysis and hands-on testing.

Staff Response

Initial reaction of CAD-literate staff to introducing Virtual Building technology show the most unexpected differences ranging from immediate affection to panic. Fortunately, anticipating some difficulties, the average CAD user looks forward to the benefits of the new system. Opinions usually swing to the positive as soon as people start using the software but there may always be one or two employees talking it down.

Not unlike when learning a foreign language or a new skill, getting trained on a new software requires some sacrifices, patience and persistence. Suddenly you are no longer an expert of the trade but a novice. People who like broadening their professional horizon enjoy this situation and greet every bit of knowledge with pleasure. Nevertheless, if you must discontinue practicing a skill you put a lot of effort into learning, you may feel deeply distressed by it.

Extreme experts of standard CAD systems such as AutoCAD or MicroStation often object to learning anything else because the software they use is part of their life. On the other hand, it is the open-minded CAD gurus who can develop ArchiCAD expertise with the blink of an eye because they immediately see the advantages. For them it's a new opportunity of immersing themselves in technology even deeper.

Average to good CAD users look at technology objectively, and make their opinion by the expected gains and the assumed investment of time and effort. They are aware how their job market value increases with new product knowledge. When it turns out that ArchiCAD liberates them from tedious tasks such as checking documentation integrity and drawing links, these users become avid supporters fast.

Narrow-minded CAD users only see the hassle of learning something new again, and they feel that the efforts they put into learning the other system were in vain. It sometimes helps when they realize how fast their colleagues accumulate ArchiCAD knowledge and how much more productive they become.