CAD Solutions - Why Stick With Them?

With very limited opportunity for major gains in market share, it's no surprise that CAD vendors like to trumpet their 'competitive wins' as loudly as possible.  On the other side of the coin, vendors will maintain that customers stick to their products because they are the best available for their business - while some sceptics say that many are in fact locked in to using their CAD solutions for various reasons.  To explore in more detail why CAD using companies tend to stick to their chosen solutions, we interviewed managers of design functions at 70 sites in the electrical engineering sector.

The Needle In The Haystack

Of the seventy managers interviewed, only one said that his/her organisation was definitely considering switching its 'main' CAD solution (i.e. that for which they have the most number of seats) to one offered by a different vendor.  A further 11% said the idea had been raised, but not seriously considered (labelled in the chart as 'not sure' to distinguish them from the definite no's).

Retention Factors

We presented our sample with a list of reasons for continuing to use a CAD solution, and asked which were important factors for them in sticking to their main current package (respondents could identify more than one factor).  Seven out of ten believe they have the best package for their needs, while three out of ten said that the cost of purchasing an alternative was prohibitive.

Only 3% of sites agreed that their legacy of CAD data in a particular file format makes it not cost-effective to switch to a new package.

Sticky Business

When asked to identify the single main reason why they will continue to use their current CAD package, just under half maintained they had the best solution for their needs.  None of the managers said that the cost of re-training on a new CAD package was the major factor; however with many sites undertaking no form of CAD training (see MCAD Instruction in the last issue of CAD Spaghetti), the issue of training costs may not spring readily to mind for those with no intention of switching anyway.

Conclusion

The maturity of the CAD market and the tendency for end-users to stick to their chosen solutions makes gaining market share a tough prospect.  Understanding the attitudes and perceived barriers to change enables CAD suppliers to tailor their marketing messages accordingly.  Our sample is too small to draw any clear conclusions about tackling CAD users in the electrical engineering sector - there will be variations in attitude by company size for example.  Nor have we revealed how users' reasons for sticking with their chosen packages varied by brand - potentially vital information for any vendor seeking to target the customer base of a specific rival.  CAD Spaghetti will in future look at these areas in more depth for other industry sectors.