The future architecture of Graphisoft
Graphisoft has customarily done this once a year, at the launch event of the most recent release, in order to inform the public about new features created for Archicad.
The focus of Archicad development is typically a surprise, save from for beta testers. This year, we experienced something entirely new. Not only was there a brand-new release, but there were also four focus-area roadmaps covering the years 2022 through 2025.
Huw Roberts, Graphisoft's CEO, is likely largely responsible for the move because he has been gradually changing the company's marketing and communication strategies. Additionally, Archicad is undergoing significant software architecture changes to better prepare it for tomorrow's hybrid computing requirements, as well as broader, more multi-disciplinary vertical developments. Revit, Archicad's biggest competitor, is also the subject of industry concern regarding its development futures. This marks the beginning of a transformation.
If an Archicad roadmap has ever been seen previously, it was probably only for one particular product. Multiple roadmaps are necessary since core Archicad will now serve as the home for numerous verticals and the offers will be enhanced through new products and services.
Were given a tour of the various roadmaps by Zsolt Kerecsen, vice president of product development, and Shesh Gorur, vice president of product success.
Architecture: which covers design, document, visualise and collaborate.
Multi-Disciplinary Design: featuring OpenBIM, integrated design and DDScad (Graphisoft’s MEP solution).
Design Team Collaboration: including BIMcloud, BIMx, OpenBIM & BCF, and CDE connections.
Productive Ecosystem: which is the support services – Graphisoft Forward, Graphisoft Learn and Graphisoft Community.
We received a roadmap from Graphisoft for each area of focus. The business will concentrate on offering BIM workflows that are well-connected, beginning with Architecture in 2022. In doing so, problems with OpenBIM and simple information exchange will be addressed.
In 2023, integrated BIM data systems, growing shared models, integrated design, and data reservation will be the major topics in architecture. The goal of integrated user experience development in 2024 will be to standardise interfaces, provide shared capabilities, and provide streamlined training. The company will address integrated enterprise management in 2025 and will focus on shared resources, multitiered management, and orchestrated administration.
Dynamic design editing tools, a design options and variants system, an attribute management system, reflected ceiling plans, design stage level of detail, and an analytic integration system are some of the planned capabilities highlights for architecture.
The year 2022 will bring us simpler information interchange, BIMcloud connectivity, and the DDScad viewer for the building systems category. Integrated data and processes that support common data models, integrated workflows, and a wider geographic reach will be the focus in 2023. Integration of user experiences, interface consistency, shared capabilities, and training simplification are all addressed by 2024. Integrated enterprise management will be realised by 2025, supporting a multi-tier management system, orchestrated administration, and a worldwide reach.
Graphisoft predicts a different future than certain companies, who believe that the cloud will become the central location for everything. It anticipates that users will switch between different devices during the day. It also holds the opinion that working on a desktop, on the cloud, or even combining both can be more advantageous at times. The technological stack of Archicad is now being redesigned by Graphisoft to better position it for this hybrid method of working.
The microkernel, referred to as the foundation layer by Graphisoft, performs fundamental functions like login, loading, licence management, and security. The generic BIM authoring layer sits on top of this, into which any vertical discipline application will be plugged. Among the verticals that Graphisoft envisions are architectural, mechanical, plumbing, structural, and electrical.
Additionally, Archicad will specify internal services, external services, and plug-ins that the basic BIM authoring layer and the vertical discipline layers can use.
Users can choose whether to conduct some processing locally or through cloud services. Archicad will be highly "integratable," allowing it to use desktop plug-ins, online services, add-on libraries, and customizations. The ability to process either online or offline will be a first for the sector and seeks to provide the most adaptable architecture for all user requirements.
As a result of this work, Graphisoft will have several entry points to add in new capabilities when disruptive technologies, such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, algorithmic design, generative design, and robotic process automation, emerge. These entry points can be through APIs, desktop or cloud services, third parties, or in-house resources.
Graphisoft has made a number of new personnel, including Ron Close, VP of marketing (ex Solidworks and Shapr3D). As a result, Graphisoft now has some experience in the business from corporate markets that are more competitive. These appointments, based on conversations at the occasion, seem to have given my approach to the competition more concentration and purpose.
This, together with the fresh opportunities that DDScad would open up for the multidisciplinary market, gave the impression of a new, more confident Graphisoft.
Perhaps it was expected that Graphisoft would come up with a different response to the challenges of future. The truth is that despite the opinion of some computer scientists working for software businesses that all software and services should be moved to the cloud, customers aren't rushing to do so.
In order to maintain its composure, Graphisoft deliberately designed their product to be as adaptable and expandable as possible. We eagerly await a demonstration of this when it is put into practise, choosing between local and cloud processing of the same data.
