A couple weeks ago, Eagle Point announced that it will no longer sell its civil engineering and surveying software after the 2012 release. This means that in approximately one year, Eagle Point products as we have known them will cease to exist.
Instead, Eagle Point will become a “national dealer” of sorts for Civil 3D, bundling its Pinnacle solutions as part of the Civil 3D purchase. The company’s Web site says it will be “standardizing on Civil 3D as our development platform.”
So what does this mean for Eagle Point software users? I suggest that this is a time for introspection because it isn’t a matter of IF you will move to another solution—it’s a matter of WHEN. But moving to another solution could mean several benefits! Consider:
- Eagle Point, Autodesk, Carlson and Bentley Systems will all be vying for your business. In doing so, they will likely end up steeply discounting the pricing and offering other benefits. Take advantage of these offerings as you select your next-generation solution. No one knows how long these discounts will be offered.
- Don’t simply look at cheap introductory prices; rather, consider the entire package being offered. Does the tech support and implementation match the needs of your company as you move to a completely new application solution? Are the quality, experience and credentials of the trainers what you were hoping for?
- If you have old (perhaps unused) Eagle Point licenses and would like to add a few seats of something else to your repertoire, now may be the best time to do so as competition for you as a customer will be aggressive among the remaining vendor solutions.
- You as a customer will now strongly benefit from reviewing the marketplace to research which of the remaining three manufacturers offer the solution that will best fit your needs.
- Some Eagle Point customers use the software on multiple platforms such as both AutoCAD and MicroStation. For the MicroStation users, Bentley Systems is the only clear choice. Bentley’s PowerCivil does virtually everything the standard Eagle Point offering does and more. For AutoCAD users, it would seem that AutoCAD Civil 3D or Carlson Civil Suite is a good choice. However realize that advances in the AutoCAD and MicroStation worlds now allow DGN’s to be used in AutoCAD and DWG’s to be used effectively in the MicroStation platform. So the plot (and your research) thickens.
- AutoCAD’s Civil 3D offers an opportunity for Eagle Point customers to see what Autodesk has been introducing to the market for the past six years or so. Autodesk’s Intellisolve and Boss acquisitions of late add hydro/hydra capabilities to this product that surpass those found in the Eagle Point software. Alternatively, Bentley Systems’ PowerCivil offer an excellent, low-cost, multiplatform solution that has embedded within it, an upgrade path to Bentley’s top-of-the-line DOT solutions of GeoPak and InRoads. They also offer an excellent opportunity to enter the world of infrastructure project work for those users previously in land development who wish to expand into the USACE and DOT work. Bentley’s Haestad Methods water products offer high performance and will prove to be a great addition to any organization’s tool kit. And Carlson Civil Suite offers a solution primarily suited for the DWG design environment and contains strong land development tools that are well tuned to the industry. The company offers a relatively inexpensive implementation path, free tech support and a workflow similar to what Eagle Point users are used to.
Take a few moments to assess what you are doing and consider what you would like to do in the near future as well as the funding you have available to accomplish these goals. Look at this change as an excellent opportunity to refresh your capabilities with products that are truly state-of-the-art. And don’t forget to avail yourself of as much leverage as you can from your previous licensed installations. Competition for you as a customer should prove to be fairly significant.
I would be interested in hearing from you if you have thoughts and comments. Confucius said “May you live in interesting times.”
By: John Biver
Posted: November 24, 2009 6:23 PM
First, let me give a very brief overview of my background.
As President/CEO of Eagle Point Software Corporation and one of the two founding Civil Engineers of our company I have over 26 years of experience in the civil engineering and surveying software market. Additionally, as the primary programmer of RoadCalc, our oldest and all-time most popular software product, I have vast amounts of experience working with the leading CAD systems (AutoCAD and MicroStation) through the years. And, from personally conducting hundreds of training sessions, I have learned a great deal about the practical use of technology from thousands of end users.
To say that Eagle Point will become a “national dealer” of sorts for Civil 3D isn’t really accurate. In fact, Eagle Point is, and has been, a member of Autodesk’s Independent Software Vendor (ISV) program. We are an authorized Government Reseller and we have been a member of the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) for approximately 20 years.
It is true that we are standardizing on Civil 3D as our civil/survey development platform. However, it is not totally accurate to say that “…in approximately one year, Eagle Point products as we have known them will cease to exist.” In fact, we will continue to offer our LandCADD (landscape architecture products) as well as our Data Reduction modules. These products are integrated within the Civil 3D platform and will continue to be offered.
Recently we released LandCADD for Revit, Landsketch for Subdivisions and Landsketch for Highways. And, within about 15 days we will issue a press release announcing details of our next Civil 3D product - a new survey application that interacts directly with the Civil 3D data model.
The major reason that we are retiring some of our products is because the old AutoCAD and MicroStation platforms have become antiquated. Just as the methods of completing civil engineering/surveying projects on the drafting board became antiquated with the advent of CAD, these older platforms have now lived their life. Civil 3D with its integrated building information modeling (BIM) capabilities provides a more robust, modern solution.
We are proud of the Eagle Point legacy that has been built through our older, CAD based products. Now, as we continue to evolve, we pledge to continue that legacy by bringing you even better solutions running on Civil 3D, the most modern and powerful civil design system available.
By: T. R. Dudley
Posted: December 3, 2009 4:30 PM
By: Jay Staby
Posted: December 9, 2009 2:05 PM
By: Deral
Posted: December 14, 2009 8:07 AM
I wish Mr. Bivers the best but I'll sure miss the old days of EP and their support.
It will be a tough call for Michael and my city but in these economic times then another 40k per year is just not feasable.
Deral in Lawton
By: Tom Lazear
Posted: March 30, 2010 2:28 PM