Thoughts about new Graphisoft Learn Program

[Reinhard Copenraid]

I have a question that has been bothering me for quite a long time.

I'll start far away.

As a user of Archicad, I am very concerned about the fact that recently, in large building corporations, Revit's knowledge is more and more needed. Archicad becomes a solution for small architectural practices, it means a different level of earnings (at least in my country).

However, I invest a lot in training with Archicad.

Recently, Graphisoft introduced the new Graphisoft Learn Program and the new Model Authoring Bundle. Now, paid training courses are held not only for BIM managers but also for ordinary modelers. So a modeler applying for a not the most profitable position for small architectural practice has to pay almost the same price for the Model Authoring Bundle as for a BIM Manager applying for a more profitable position.

In the end I caught myself thinking that an ordinary user does not make money with Graphisoft, but only Graphisoft makes money from users?

The thought that instead of winning the competition with Revit on the market, Graphisoft only thinks about how to get more out of users who still remain is very crushing.

I make such an assessment because I can see that you can earn more with Revit.

Do you find that we are not making money with Graphisoft but only Graphisoft is making money from users ?

[DGSketcher]

As a Forward/SSA/Select/UAS subscriber I think there is a simple line to draw here...

All documentation on the Learn Portal should be free to access to subscribers. In some cases e.g. the Workflow Guides, they merely serve to make up for the shortfall in the Help Guides, but they also help to remove some of the mystery behind GS's expected Workflow processes. If you want people to adopt your product you need to make it easy to use or provide a place where there is reliable informed guidance free of charge. GS should think of it less as an educational resource and more of a marketing tool. Show us how to get the best out of the software and we can tell our friend how great it is. Charging us at every opportunity for "Help Manual+" will fail as we won't buy stuff we can't afford and will just complain to our friends and make the competition stronger.

Interactive training is no different to attending a tutorial / seminar where there is obviously a cost associated with the Tutor being available to respond to questions and I have no problem with that scenario.

[Reinhard Copenraid]

It may seem strange to someone, but a person will not buy things that he/she cannot afford, that is my point. Moreover, you wrote that you think  this courses overpriced for an employee. In this case, I'm talking about a worker, why would I count the company's money, right? Perhaps you live in a world where the employer invests in employees, yes it is present in large companies or a corporation, but in small practices this is not always the case, sometimes the employer prefers to take a more experienced user at a slightly higher salary, since such an investment is always a risk that the employee will quit or go into maternity leave in half a year. And not always agreements with amortization period help in this case.

As for skills, I'm not writing about myself, I'm writing about a common problem.

[Pantelis_Ioannidis]

Thanks for your kind words Reinhard. I am very proud that I have been part of the Graphisoft community for the last 20 years, both from the user/customer, as well as from the vendor side. I am glad you feel I have things to offer to the community and equally I am learning a lot in my role at Graphisoft during the last few years.

In my view, training should be looked at as an investment, which while it may have a big upfront cost, it will gradually bring such benefits which would outweigh the cost of the initial investment. Our prices are calculated taking in mind, the duration and level of courses, hence the BIM Manager and BIM Author Programs have the same price, while the one offers half of the training hours compared to the other. At the same time, I also understand your point of view, about the amount of the investment, that's why the BIM Author Program is also broken down into individual courses and learning paths, which customers can buy independently if they only want to deepen their knowledge in one area or the other. The BIM Author Program (bundle) of course, is the most cost effective option, if one wanted to go through the entire curriculum.