Project Butterfly - just the latest SaaS installment

At Autodesk Software as a Service (SaaS) is not just a set of buzz words. For over a decade, Autodesk has been a leader in SaaS applications for the design industry, starting with Buzzsaw, the world’s largest project hosting service. Many of you might remember it as ProjectPoint as it was called back in the day when I worked on it. Our Project Butterfly Technology Preview adds to Autodesk’s long tradition of investment and operational experience with SaaS solutions.

As Carl Bass and Jeff Kowalski noted in their AU presentations, our view is that desktop software and online services will interact and that the lines between desktop applications and Web applications will be a blurred continuum over time. We are excited about the possibilities for cloud computing to potentially introduce new users to our software or allow firms to use specific software tools on demand. A cloud computing approach frees companies from installation as well as opens up access to more powerful computing than would be available on a single desktop or laptop.

The Project Butterfly Technology Preview is an on demand software tool aimed at the individual AutoCAD user who wants to view, edit, and collaborate in real-time on his or her DWG files with colleagues and clients over the Web. This is our latest foray into the world of SaaS. Examples of Autodesk’s other SaaS offerings include:

• Project Twitch, which began September 18, 2009, offers some of our design applications via remote access over the Internet. It is a user alternative to traditional product trials for AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Maya and the Autodesk Revit Platform. This test marks the first time Autodesk has run its products in the cloud using a new delivery technology. Hosted trials are only available to those with sufficient bandwidth - typically those who are located within 1,000 miles of the Santa Clara data center where the applications are hosted.

• As far back as November 1999, Autodesk Buzzsaw was delivered as an on-demand service that helps organizations simplify, centralize, and streamline all project-related documents and information. Although some customers originally used it as "glorified FTP," they soon came to realize its full benefits by taking advantage of its forms based workflow processing for bid collection and analysis, construction administration, and facility management.

• Project Freewheel is a technology preview to experiment with the idea of design visualization and collaboration. Customers post 2D and 3D designs as DWF files to an Autodesk server. Project Freewheel then allows users to view and markup the DWF files. This service became so successful that a production version of the viewing portion is available as Autodesk Freewheel.

• Project Draw provides a versatile, web-based vector drawing application. It could be used to create simple floor plans, electronic circuit and network diagrams, user interface mock-ups, and more. Diagrams could be saved in a variety of formats on the Autodesk Labs server or locally.

• Project Dragonfly is an easy-to-use home design application delivered over the web, providing an intuitive and highly engaging experience that makes home design accessible to anyone. Using Project Dragonfly, homeowners can design, visualize, and experiment with changes to their living space, while building product manufacturers and professional designers can take advantage of the application’s flexible web delivery to engage with this targeted community of potential customers. Whereas our design applications are geared towards design professionals, Project Dragonfly is for the average consumer.

• Project Showroom is a web service that provides scalable, on-demand delivery of synthetic photography on home and building product manufacturers’ websites. Using Project Showroom, manufacturers can create immersive photorealistic experiences that allow homeowners and designers to experiment visually with different combinations of products. This type of visual engagement drives sales by boosting customers’ confidence in their product selections. In 6 words, it helps them make purchasing decisions. Model-based synthetic photography is also less expensive for the manufacturer than photography of physical objects in scenes and vignettes - no more constructing a set and swapping appliances in/out as photographs are taken. So Project Showroom is for design professionals and consumers. See Dacor.com for a real life integration.

• Project Bluestreak is a relative new kid on the block. Autodesk Project Bluestreak is a web-based collaboration environment for accelerating building information modeling through the open exchange of design information and ideas between desktop applications, web-based services and people. Whereas Buzzsaw users are invited to participate by becoming a member of a Buzzsaw site, Project Bluestreak is different in that individual users sign up for the service and then aggregate as they work together. In one sense, Project Bluestreak is an experiment in community and social media. As such Project Bluestreak is oriented towards design professionals.

These examples show that Autodesk has a long history with SaaS.

Getting SaaSy is alive in the lab.