Autodesk has grown and prospered by always, as much as possible, placing the customer’s needs foremost.
John Walker, 1990, The Autodesk File
That was the dominant philosophy back in Autodesk’s ancient history, to the benefit of all. However, is that still the case today? I’m not going to offer an view one way or the other in this post. Instead, I will leave it open to the floor. Good or bad, please comment below using specific examples if you can. If you’re short of time, you can still use the poll on the right to express your opinion.
I guess it’s easier with a smaller company as Autodesk was back then. I know Autodesk to some extent has customer focus but it could certainly be better.
I’ll respectfully disagree with Jimmy. It is much easier to do quality customer service in a large organization than a small one. There are more resources available for one thing, and in the case of an established, entrenched application like AutoCAD, a huge pool of experienced users who act as the de-facto first line of support.
the problem with larger organizations is that mnagement develops a blind spot towards existing customers. Subscription has only exacerbated the problems. The net result is that the group who _used_ to be the most passionate supporters, and the best sales team Autodesk had, are expressing their disillusionment, and encouraging their management to look at options with a fresh eye. Remote help being just one of multiple disappointments.
Lets just say that the yearly release cycle sums up their focus.
Now that programs like Bricscad are mature, the monopoly on decent dwg editors has been lost and adesk will pay the price for treating its program like some pop magazine that needs flashy but flimsy items to show on the cover to get it to sell.
It stinks because the developers at adesk are amazing, yet they get told the wrong things to do. Its because you cannot do the right things in one year, and you also cannot do the right things if you only involve experienced users at beta level.
I dont know what constitutes customer focus but Autodesk’s customer service is nothing short of abysmal! Anytime a company distances itself from its customer base by not being available (I challenge you to find a phone number for Autodesk (besides sales)) it speaks volumes. I think Autodesk is completely out of touch with its customers.