There is an worthwhile article in Cadalyst by Marcia Carillo which reports on a return on investment (ROI) analysis comparing AutoCAD, a pure CAD platform, to AutoCAD Map 3D, a data-management and interoperability platform.
To do this you need to understand the workflow for which the new software will be used. The costs that Marcia considers are
- Training cost
- Software cost (cross-grade)
- Labour costs
- Effort (hours per month)
- Time required for training
- Productivity loss during training
Some workflows that Marcia identifies that Map 3D can assist with are
- Working with coordinate systems
- Working with vector and raster data such as ESRI, digital orthophoto quarter-quadrangle (DOQQ), digital raster graphics (DRG), Web Map Service (WMS), and Web Feature Service (WFS)
- Drawing cleanup such as duplicates, undershoots, and overshoots
- Creating thematic maps
- Managing databases or linking to databases
- 3D rendering of survey data
- Multiple users accessing or editing one DWG file at the same time
- Publishing data and maps to the Internet or creating map books
To do an ROI analysis for a typcal workflow, Marcia looked at basic workflows including data input, data management, data analysis, and publication of deliverables. She then aggregates the results and concludes that it is fairly easy to save a bit more than two person-years (3,800 hours) over a five-year period. Assuming an average labour average cost of $70 per hour, this means moving from AutoCAD to AutoCAD Map 3D can result in savings of $266,000 per seat over five years.
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