As India moves on the fast track to becoming a major international business
destination, there is considerable activity in the infrastructure development
space. Capitalising on this opportunity is digital design and content companies
like Autodesk: planning to increase headcount in India from 80 to 200, over the
next three years.
Autodesk has recognised the business potential in cities such as Ahmedabad,
Kolkata, Chandigarh, Pune and Coimbatore and is working on expanding its
reseller network into these geographies.
"It is important to remember that building and construction is a complex
business. Customers are demanding project completions in shorter time frames and
the builders are committing to time frames of nine months or less, from concept
to completion. Solution sets that deliver visualisation and parametric modeling
help reduce time and errors while enabling all participating groups to talk to
each other in real time and have access to the most up to date drawings and
data. These benefits lead to significant cost savings to both the customers and
the various groups engaged in the entire construction process," says Andre
Pravaz, vice-president with Autodesk, South Asia Pasific.
New tools
Some of the products the company has developed for the building industry
are:
Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series: Autodesk® Revit® 7 and AutoCAD® 2005
give customers a powerful parametric building modeler with the widely used 2D
software program. It gives architecture and interior design firms a competitive
business advantage while leveraging their existing investment in AutoCAD,
AutoCAD-based workflows and personnel trained in the use of AutoCAD software.
Autodesk Revit: Building industry professionals don't have to deal
with tedious documentation coordination because the software does it.
Autodesk Architectural Desktop: Designed specifically for architects and
built on AutoCAD® software, Autodesk® Architectural Desktop offers efficiency
and immediate productivity, flexibility in implementation and use and versatile
file-based collaboration.
AutoCAD: It is the design and drafting software that
allows one to create a single drawing efficiently and deliver an entire set of
coordinated drawings.
High in India
Autodesk has a few success stories in India and a prominent one would be the use
of its solutions in the National Highway Development Project. The extended team
at NHAI needed a solution that would not only address their needs but be easy to
deploy and quick to master by both their team and their associates.
"The NHAI, its consultants and contractors have been
using Autodesk solutions since 1997. They include AutoCAD, Autodesk Map and
Autodesk MapGuide," informs Pravaz. Its solutions were also used for live
data transmission during two key phases on the NHDP: the Delhi to Kotputli
stretch on National Highway 8 connecting Delhi and Jaipur and a part of National
Highway 2, near Kanpur, connecting Delhi and Kolkata.
Goutam Das
in Bangalore