Autodesk and Trimble have entered into a multiyear agreement to exchange sets of their architectural, engineering and construction software products, together with the native application programming interfaces (APIs), software licenses for development and testing and support to help the companies build and market interoperable products.
The agreement is similar to a 2008 agreement between Bentley Systems and Autodesk and a 2014 agreement between Bentley and Trimble that are widely credited for improving interoperability between their respective AEC products.
In a joint release on June 14, the companies stated: “The agreement will allow the two companies to improve on existing data exchanges, as well as open up new workflows between their products. Tighter product-to-product integration can enable design and construction professionals to share models, project files and other data between select Autodesk and Trimble solutions both in the office and the field, and allow for the reuse of information during design and construction throughout all phases of the project.”
两家公司表示，数据交换的最直接简化可能是文档管理，数据管理和BIM到现场工作流程。AUTODESK AEC，行业战略和市场营销副总裁Nicolas Mangon说：“我们致力于该行业，我们将通过整个产品组合进行大量工作。这不仅仅是一小部分软件。这真的很大。”
Mangon says the companies have been working on the agreement for about a year. While public APIs for some products have been available, the native APIs and development tools to be exchanged will create the opportunity for much more significant, efficient and flexible integration. “In the past we were not doing it,” Mangon says. “Whenever customers—or ourselves—wanted to integrate products, we have had to reverse-engineer them.”
Trimble的GC/CM部门总经理Mark Sawyer表示，该协议“是一项协议，彼此提供命名且非常长的软件产品及其随之而来的API。”他说，每家公司都会决定要优先考虑哪些产品以进行增强功能，以使其能够触及对方软件创建的文件，并获得用户生成的元数据进行互操作。
“It provides a very broad capability to each of us to do what we see fit,” says Sawyer. “If there is some metadata in Revit that we want Tekla to know or we want Trimble Connect to know, we can access it now via the API.”
Sawyer补充说：“供应商随着时间的推移如何扩展和增强自己的计划的方式，一个发达和记录的API可以是如何扩展和增强自己的计划。”“这不仅仅是一个薄的贴面，使您能够以有限的功能来伸手。”
Sawyer, whose division focuses on general contractors and construction managers, gives an example of how access to Autodesk Revit’s API and software might be used to improve Trimble products. He says many GCs get models from architects and MEP firms to use for quantity takeoff and estimating, but they have difficulty getting the data out of them that they need.
Sawyer提供了一个估算器的示例，他需要计算30层高层楼层的地板板中的穿透数量。他解释说：“这是一个手动过程，图纸上有荧光笔。”“并非所有的创作工具都会计算平板中的穿透数量，但是我们的成本估算器和GC需要知道，我们可以使用计算该模型的模型编写接口。”
Both Sawyer and Mangon describe the agreement as customer-focused and customer-driven and say it will help both companies improve their software to better serve the industry. “If it’s really important to the industry, these AAPIs will help us address it,” says Sawyer.
Both also add that the agreement is a complement to—rather than a replacement for—continued work toward development of BIM industry standards such as the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange and the Industry Foundation Classes.
Sawyer says the companies expect to begin an electronic transfer of the software and APIs soon. “Picture a wide T1-line downloading a bunch of software between San Francisco and Sunnyvale, Denver,” he says.
Autodesk的Mangon补充说：“我们将与客户和用户合作，说‘缺少什么？当您从一家公司的建筑，工程，建筑或运营产品转到另一个公司时会丢失什么样的信息？’这就是我们将大部分时间花费的地方。我们将分配资源并迅速确定最关键的工作流程，”
“第一大步是完成协议。实施将需要一点时间。无缝工作流程：下一步即将到来。”曼贡说。
