Graphisoft Corporate Management

[archislave]

I was wondering how Graphisoft is managed. Is it still controlled from Budapest. Is most all development done in Budapest still? I am wondering if it still has the same leadership that it has for years. I asked because it feels like Architect is developing very slowly. I have not seen any software developed for iOS devices except of r BimX viewers.

Part of me wishes Archicad would be bought out by a more progressive company or managed by a younger team perhaps.

[Laszlo Nagy]

Yes, Graphisoft continues to be controlled from Budapest and development is located in Budapest as well in Graphisoft Park:

http://www.graphisoftpark.com/buildings-list

It still has the same leadership. Here is the Board of Directors and the Executive Team of Graphisoft. Most of these guys have been with the company for 15-20-25 years.

http://www.graphisoft.com/info/about_graphisoft/board_of_directors/

http://www.graphisoft.com/info/about_graphisoft/executive-team/

The pace of ARCHICAD development of course could always be faster. That is the case with almost any software.
What is your exact concern? Number of apps for iOS or something else?

[archislave]

My concern is the lack of development of Archicad and the absence of any creation oriented iOS apps. I asked about Graphisoft management because I have long suspected that they are like a dynasty or the old Kremlin who whistle past the graveyard and deny the world is changing around them. I think most executives have been in control for many years and are close to retirement. They have no incentive to really push development. They have given themselves a lifetime right to this company and are chasing the easy way.

I hope they are grooming internal leaders to take over some day. Maybe these younger people are itching to change Graphisoft. I think the market will continue to erode for Graphisoft. It is a shame they are not challenging Autodesk. It seems like Autodesk is the only serious cad company these days. However, they only evolve Revit and focus on engineering software. Take for instance their MCAD Fusion 360. They have an small attempt with

Architectural software in FormIt. It is very basic at this point. Not sure if they intend to make it the Fusion 360 for Architecture...

I first bought archicad in 2005 and stopped upgrading at v16. I see no reason to upgrade for my small practice. I was active on here years ago In fact I see you have the same profile picture from over ten years ago

[Laszlo Nagy]

The generation change in leadership happened at Graphisoft a few years ago. The original executive team are now in their 60s. Only founder Gabor Bojar and one other person is in the Board of Directors (which is not the executive team).
The current executive team is mostly in their 40s. Yes, some of these people started working at GS 20 or so years ago but they became senior executives 4-5-6 or so years ago. So you think a person in their 40s is already pushing for retirement? And think they have lifetime rights to the company? Have you met or ever talked to any one of these people? I know almost all of them personally.

I would also be curious to hear about some facts that back your statement that market share is eroding for Graphisoft. Then I will tell you why I think it is not eroding. We will see. (What will happen in the future neither of us knows).

Autodesk is a huge firm. They are doing all kinds of stuff, including iOS-based apps like FormIt and browser-based CAD like Fusion 360. I see GRAPHISOFT as a firm very strongly focused on the architectural BIM space and trying to be the best in that space and not trying to be a jack-of-all-trades of a CAD company (my opinion).

I am sorry you have not found any of the advancement in the last 3 versions of ARCHICAD useful. I sure think Building Materials and Priority Based Connections, 3D Cutting Planes, the CineRender Engine, Revision Management, TABs, background processing, multiple Labels and the Dimensioning enhancements, just to list my favorites, were helpful additions in these versions.
Hopefully future versions of ARCHICAD will have enhancements useful to your practice as well.

[archislave]

Laszlo Thank you for your insight into the management. I was just stating my impression of the company based on the progress I see. I do think they need a lightweight iOS or web based app like FormIt but much better and capable of course. It could have the 3d modeling and presentation abilities with the architecture tools of archicad. Then for documentation and further development it could be pass on to archicad.

Wouldn't that be a nice revenue stream for Graphisoft since some people don't need full documentation. They could even play nice with exporting the model to Revit or other platforms for documentation. Consider how much preliminary design is done by architects and designers then it is handed off to cad pros to complete working drawings in Autocad or Revit.

The management is indeed still young and should be more aggressive in creating such a program. Do you work at Graphisoft or just hang out there often?

[Laszlo Nagy]

Yes, I work for Graphisoft as a freelancer. I go to their campus quite often (I live about 35 minutes walk from them - I usually walk across the Danube as it is a nice walk). Nowadays I go there a few times a month for meetings on current projects we are working on.

So if I understand right you would like to see an iOS application from GRAPHISOFT specifically for the preliminary/conceptual design phase of the building lifecycle. It is true that ARCHICAD does not have all the conceptual design tools it could have.
I think the best thing to do would be for you to make a wish out of this so we could see who else thinks this would be a good idea. (I will not vote on it because I am probably a bit biased at the moment )

However, just one thing I wish to mention: what I am gathering from following what is happening in the iOS space is that it is not particularly easy for developers to create successful and profitable products for mobile. Two main reasons are:
1. Most people using mobile apps except them to be totally free and very few of them are willing to pay any price to use them.
2. Apple does not allow trial versions for iOS apps. So people have to take a leap of faith by buying the app and just hope that it will be worth its price.

Please also consider that any effort put into creating a new iOS app will take development time and funds away from ARCHICAD.
So making these kinds of development decisions is never easy.

[archislave]

Ah! The Danube. I went to Budapest over ten years ago. I would love to go back! Beautiful City....

I see the issues with iOS as a concern. I think apple will need to start offering free trials or higher prices will be accepted as they try to grow iPad Pro. There is the route of offering basic functions in an app or using in app purchases to get more money from users. I think Adsk offers a cloud service and collaboration for many of it's apps.

If resources are that constrained then I would say not take resources away from Archicad. But, one has to ask why resources are that constrained and why there is no vision to create something new and put some money behind it. It could be lack of vision and being comfortable in holding your own and not declining too much in archicad sales.

I don't know the history of development of Archicad in the 1980's but imagine what vision it took to conceptualize such futuristic application. It would have been easy to make just another 2d cad program tailored a bit more to architecture than Autocad at the time. And to thing Hungary was under communist control at the time. Now you have all this freedom but are just bidding your time until some startup somewhere gets a new vision and creates something to eclipse the paradigm of 3d BIM in the vein of Archicad and Revit. These are established platforms with their similar metaphors slowly evolving over the past few decades.

It is similar to how we could not imagine a better computing experience than Mac or Windows (similar Archicad or Revit). The along comes iPhone and iPad and the resulting imitators in Android. So now we have two very useful approaches to our computing needs.

Currently Archicad is a heavy PC centric app which requires a huge outlay of expense of $5000 US dollars This increasingly looks ridiculous in the current approach of renting software on subscription. Adobe has made the flagship Photoshop and Lightroom a reasonable $10 a month. Autodesk also has gone all subscription and the bar to entry is much lower. I am done with paying big money to buy software. That is why I make use of my older Archicad. So this is how Graphisoft will slowly loose out even if there is no revolutionary new architectural software product.

[archislave]

To answer your question about the design software I would like to see: I see it as like the most popular sketchup but with architectural tools. Many projects are conceptualized in Sketchup but there is no intelligence in elements like wall or doors.

This product would not necessarily need to run on iOS. I just imagine a much more fun and modern user interface. One could look at Fusion 360, Formit or Sketchup as examples.

This product would export to Archicad or even Revit. Imagine if it was good enough then many firms would buy it as a front end to Revit. Later they could convert to Archicad. All the revenue you gain from this product could fund more development of Archicad.

It think you underestimate the strength of Revit in the US at least. Is is similar to how so many firm standardized on Autocad. All job opening now require Revit experience. So many architectural professions have not idea of Archicad. Getting Revit is like getting the internet and looking progressive. Then they struggle to make it work and wonder if they are really that much more efficient. Still they can't give it up.

[Laszlo Nagy]

archislave wrote:
If resources are that constrained then I would say not take resources away from Archicad. But, one has to ask why resources are that constrained and why there is no vision to create something new and put some money behind it. It could be lack of vision and being comfortable in holding your own and not declining too much in archicad sales.

Unfortunately I am not in the position to be able to know what would be a correct course: keeping with existing products or developing something new.

Currently Archicad is a heavy PC centric app which requires a huge outlay of expense of $5000 US dollars This increasingly looks ridiculous in the current approach of renting software on subscription. Adobe has made the flagship Photoshop and Lightroom a reasonable $10 a month. Autodesk also has gone all subscription and the bar to entry is much lower. I am done with paying big money to buy software. That is why I make use of my older Archicad. So this is how Graphisoft will slowly loose out even if there is no revolutionary new architectural software product.

So you are saying that you are willing to pay a lot more money on the long run with subscription? Just to give you some concrete data: A perpetual license of AutoCAD is USD 4195. An annual subscription is 40% or that (USD 1680). So you pay the price of a full new perpetual licence every 2.5 years. Also, if you stop paying you immediately lose the ability to start the application even if you just want to make some small change, you will have to buy at least a monthly subscription. Is this something that you would prefer to perpetual licence which you buy once and it will be yours forever, and it costs much less on the long run?

[Laszlo Nagy]

archislave wrote:
I think you underestimate the strength of Revit in the US at least. Is is similar to how so many firm standardized on Autocad. All job opening now require Revit experience. So many architectural professions have not idea of Archicad. Getting Revit is like getting the internet and looking progressive. Then they struggle to make it work and wonder if they are really that much more efficient. Still they can't give it up.

Yes, I am fully aware of Revit's dominance, especially in English-speaking countries. But that doesn't mean ARCHICAD's market is shrinking. From Nemetschek's financial reports one can see that the group is in a very healthy financial situation, growing nicely every year (even during the big recession of 2008-09), in part attributably to the growing business of ARCHICAD. This is a big market, there is room for many players.