New tools, new brand - KnowledgeSmart

Progress on our new suite of tools is coming along nicely. The i-Skills AEC web-based testing service will add a valuable range of flexibility to AEC firms wishing to capture knowledge across their organisation.

CADsmart has established itself as a reliable brand in the field of CAD & BIM skills testing, over the course of the last six years. More than half of the UK top 50 architects and engineers have assessed the skills of employees and new hires using CADsmart in recent years.

A recent industry survey, published in AEC Magazine, asked UK based firms how they test CAD skills (if at all). The range of options included Autodesk & Bentley certification, in-house testing and, of course, CADsmart. Among AEC firms with 20-49 users, 50-99 users and 100+ users, CADsmart was selected as the leading solution across the board - ahead of all other choices, including vendor certification.

With the recent push for BIM adoption, the way in which AEC firms are adopting and using technical software is rapidly changing. We've spoken to over 150 customers in recent weeks, and they collectively identified 107 separate software products currently in use in our industry!

We are regularly asked to cover a variety of CAD, BIM, modelling, analysis, civil, structural and design tools in our test modules. By implementing a web-based solution, we are able to cover many of these additional titles.

To go with the new tools, we will be launching a new brand, to sit alongside the established CADsmart brand. In the New Year, we will be adding 'KnowledgeSmart' to our portfolio of skills assessment solutions. This heralds a new phase in flexible, independent skills testing, never available before in our industry. AEC firms will be able to access a library of expertly-written test modules, edit and create their own material, tie results in to existing corporate learning resources, identify training and skills gaps across their teams, capture and disseminate knowledge throughout their business and benchmark performance against recognised industry metrics.

We'll keep you posted as we get closer to our launch date - scheduled for January 2010. We're excited about this new phase of business; as the world emerges from a deep recession, the ability for AEC firms to engage in reliable knowledge management practices is more important than ever before.

Rory

New BIM report from McGraw Hill

As more and more AEC firms embrace BIM in earnest, it helps to keep abreast of the latest news on the subject. One of the best annual updates is the SmartMarket Report from McGraw Hill Construction. This year's report focuses on the Business case for BIM.

Click here for a PDF copy:
http://www.nibs.org/client/assets/files/bsa/mhc_bim_smartmarket09.pdf

Rory