Tekla, SketchUp, & now Vico… Trimble keeps gobbling up BIM and proto-BIM applications
I guess this is a week for exciting corporate purchases.
It’s all over our corner of the internet. Back in April 2012 Trimble bought SketchUp from Google. And now In November 2012 Trimble has acquired Vico. And this of course all comes just a year or so after Trimble bought Telka.
I don’t really have any additional commentary. It’s all just VERY interesting. I wonder who they’ll buy 6 months from now.
Stefan Boeykens
Maybe they can buy ArchiCAD from Nemetschek? And merge it with VICO again?
Jared Banks
🙂 I think that would be a VERY interesting turn of events!
amonle
Interesting indeed. If the end-game is a BIM (which is what it looks like) then ArchiCAD might fit nicely. AC users have been talking about unrealised potential in this area for ever.
Perhaps Trimble can do what Nemetschek decided was not necessary.
amonle
… “BIM suite” that is
Graabæk
This is also interesting, because most of the drive behind BIM authoring tools, have been dedicated to architects and in smaller scale engineers. – Now the BIM drive is for constructors!
Djordje
Hm … maybe good, maybe not.
What is sorely needed is the rebirth of the Constructor, last seen four or five years ago built on top of ArchiCAD 13.
Contractors have the power and the money – what is the design fee compared to the value of the project? Max 10%? So, how can you influence the whole project? If contractors don’t push BIM, it won’t fly.
The suite that Trimble is building needs “only” that – a construction modeling BIM tool. With all due respect to SketchUp, it is not that, and IMHO more’s the pity it is trying to be something it should and can not be.
Paul Lee
Very few people seem to understand that BIM is quite a simple concept that includes everything that can be used to produce construction-related data.
Even 2D CAD which is an antiquated tool cannot be termed “non-BIM”
In relation to SketchUp, I use it for the following:
Design modelling
Geomodelling
Construction costs (5D BIM)
Energy analysis (7D BIM)
Construction Sequencing (4D BIM)
Construction Documentation (Pro version)
3D details
Automated construction (Dynamic Components)
Specification Data
Photo visualisation
Video Tours
Presentations
Jared Banks
Without a doubt BIM (the process and concept) is bigger and separate from any particular program. This is not a secret known to only very few. It’s a topic discussed a lot here and all over many, many other places on the web…
BIM can be anything from a complex ArchiCAD or Revit model to a well organized spreadsheet in Excel. And yes even a smart AutoCAD file can have BIM qualities. But that does not make AutoCAD a BIM program.
To me there is a clear line in the sand when you look at BIM purely through a software lens (which is a narrow view). Yes in Sketchup people can do all sorts of fantastic things (and by that list you are doing a ton of awesome things). And with plugins those abilities extend even further. But SketchUp is not yet in the same category as ArchiCAD, Revit, or MicroStation (no teamwork, no IFC…). In that regard to me it is a proto-BIM software. I think with it being bought by Trimble there is a huge opportunity for it to grow into a full BIM application. Whether or not that’s a good direction for the software is another issue.
I know that the conversation about whether SketchUp is a BIM application or not is much discussed on the web as well. And I don’t have much interest in getting into that conversation here; there are much better forums for that. So the above is just a quick snippet of my thoughts on a complex and interesting topic.
Paul Lee
Jared, your points are valid. I would like to see all software companies playing “nice” but very few unfortunately do.
In this software game I think it will eventually be that nice guys finish first. I think there are signs that Trimble understand this (Free software: Tekla BIMsight, SketchUp ) I hope I’m right about this..
Jared Banks
Amen! I couldn’t agree more. Trimble has already shown us the path of great free software and I hope they keep it up. And while we all (definitely me) can get snarky sometimes, it’s all about nice, open, share, collaborate…
Whatever software you work with, I want to be able to work with you and exchange data! Otherwise, we’re in trouble.
Jared Banks
(and I’ll fess up) many of us probably give SketchUp such a hard time partially because of jealousy of some of the great add-ons and huge following you have. And huge credit goes to Google for giving it away for free and making it easy for others to build off and into it. A lesson the other software shops can learn from.
Marc Goldman
My money is on Trimble acquiring Bentley in the next 12 months. Trimble recently grew their war chest with a $1.4bil line of credit (for acquisitions?). Global reach and reputation of a top-tier AEC modeling and analysis application whose execs must have a solid succession plan in place by now. Apply Bentley towards construction and at least keep or the grow the current base. Sounds good on paper.
Bret Sutton
Don’t give Google too much credit. @Last was giving away SketchUp, and supporting plug-ins, long before Google swallowed them up. It would hardly have been in Google’s interest, from a PR point of view, to change that.
Warunyoo Songkran
Sketchup is easy and fun (and also small price). It means that all of my engineers can pick it up for their regular work with no problem at all.
The time is back to the day when the master of builders used free hand drawing to express their design and ideas of work. But now it is in Sketchup. I have done the same thing as Pual Lee have done and the result is great!…….easy and fun! Hope Trimble makes it to be something like” EASY BIM FOR EVERY ONE”
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