Autodesk redefines its business

By N. N. Sachitanand

SAN FRANCISCO: Eighteen years ago, a small start-up in Northern California radically altered the business space of computer aided design by developing a software package - Autocad - which enabled the humble PC to accomplish tasks which were till then the preserve of expensive computers called engineering workstations. Today, that start-up, Autodesk , Inc., headquartered in San Rafael near San Francisco, has grown into the world's 32nd largest software services provider with revenues of $820 million for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2000.

It is the world's leading design industry resource with four million customers spread over 160 countries. It serves a host of engineering and design disciplines including building design and drafting, land development, mechanical design, geographic information systems, design visualisation, production and editing tools for broadcast, special visual effects, 3D animation and game authoring.

In a series of moves initiated by its shrewd and feisty Chairman and CEO, Mr. Carol Bartzd, Autodesk has in the last couple of years made another quantum jump in its business space by joining the Internet bandwagon. This has been accomplished through a 3- part strategy.

The first was by re-engineering its desktop products so that they can seamlessly integrate with the world wide web. The second was to develop suites of tools that deliver enhanced Internet collaboration and communication capabilities to users of Autodesk products. The third was to establish an e-business model by creating a network of information resource portals and industry- specific B2B marketplaces closely aligned with the company's core desktop business.

According to Autodesk's Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Scott Borduin, the new paradigm is a world of digital information being exchanged by digital devices using standard formats. Design today is not confined to the office, in its creation and its use. The Internet has changed everything. An enterprise is now no longer an island but a link in a network connecting suppliers at one end and customers at the other. Enterprises now need to be able to create designs in as short a time as possible through the collaborative efforts of widespread resources at both ends and to channel the relevant information wherever and whenever it is needed and on whichever device it is needed. This can only be possible by converting design information into digital data and leveraging the Internet for cheaply and conveniently transferring such data.

Explaining why Autodesk is changing its products and services to suit the Internet, Mr. Carol Bartz refers to the famous quote of Intel Chairman Andy Grove that in effect states that in the next five years every business will be an Internet business or not be in business at all. ``We want to help our customers enhance their competitiveness by enabling them to leverage their design information through the extended enterprise," says Mr. Carol.

In line with the above strategies, Autodesk has come up with the web-enabled version of its flagship design product AutoCAD 2000, that offers wizard-based web publishing tools, collaboration utilities and design-sharing capabilities. That was followed by the launch of Autodesk OnSite, the first enterprise solution for bringing design and location-based information to the point of work via mobile devices. This has been enhanced by OnSite View, for viewing design drawings on mobile devices.

As part of its strategy to enter the e-business space, Autodesk launched in November 1999, Buzzsaw.com, a B2B marketplace and collaboration workspace for the $3 trillion global building design, construction and real estate management industry. Buzzsaw.com offers a comprehensive set of web-based project collaboration and management tools, news and information, materials and equipment directories and e-commerce services.

This marketplace will enable a fundamentally more efficient and profitable procurement process by streamlining communications between trading partners and delivering real-time pricing and inventory information to buyers and sellers.

According to Mr. Carl Bass, President and CEO, Buzzsaw.com has raised $90 million through two rounds of venture financing. It has been a runaway success with 17,000 projects hosted in less than a year of is existence, of which 15 per cent are from outside the U.S.

In April this year, Autodesk announced the launch of two more e- business initiatives. One was Autodesk Point A, an Autodesk-owned and operated portal serving a broad range of designers, engineers and architects in North America.

The second was another Internet spinoff, RedSpark, which will provide a broad range of services for the manufacturing sector. It will provide an online collaborative environment where supplier to buyer and engineer to engineer information exchanges can take place.

Autodesk's new initiatives to expand its marketplace have already started yielding results. In the first quarter of the current fiscal, Autodesk reported a net income of $25. 6 million, compared with a loss of $17.1 million a year ago. In the second quarter ended July 31, sales jumped 11 per cent and net income was $20.8 million.

After a disappointing 1999, the company seems to be on a roll again, thanks to the changed business strategy.

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