The president and CEO of Autodesk has responded to criticisms of its Revit software, admitting improvements "didn't progress as quickly" as they should have but rejecting claims it is too expensive.
Writing on Autodesk's website, Andrew Anagnost issued a point-by-point response to an open letter signed by 17 major British architecture firms, who complained that the building information modelling (BIM) software was costly yet underdeveloped.
"Many of you are aware that Autodesk received an open letter from several of our architecture customers sharing their thoughts about the pace of Autodesk Revit development, among other concerns," his post began.
While conceding there are "some areas where we need to improve and take steps to fix," he added: "In the interest of a full but respectful exchange of ideas, there were several assertions in the letter where I disagreed." Anagnost promised that investing in developing the software was a top priority, and insisted that switching to the pricier subscription model needed to happen to facilitate this.
He offered to share the details of its new BIM platform that will be "centred on a common data environment" with its customers under a non-disclosure agreement.
"Significant" increase in Revit investment
The company has only been able to invest in this new platform because of switching to the subscription model, he said.
"Autodesk spends more on research and development n...