Expert CAD Management The Complete Guide phần 7 pdf

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Managing Networks,
IT, and Hardware
I get a lot of questions from CAD managers who
wonder how much they need to know about IT
topics like hardware and networks. The answer
is probably different for every CAD manager; but
in this chapter, I’ll try to give you an adequate
amount of general information and let you decide
for yourself what you should concentrate on.
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As you read this chapter, I recommend using the strategies and approaches I’ll out-
line to get the most from the information. I’ll break out the topics in terms of target audi-
ence and then explain in a little more detail as I go. I’ll try to keep the IT coverage brief
because many, if not most, CAD managers can do with little detailed IT knowledge.
How Much IT Do You Need to Know?
The best way I’ve found to advise CAD managers about how much IT knowledge they
need is to determine what their work situation is. Of course, all CAD managers need
some IT familiarity, but some may need more or less. The following list identifies the
common CAD-manager demographics I see in industry and gives some recommenda-
tions for each. If you don’t fit into any of the categories, try to find the two closest
matches and make your own determination:
Everyone Every CAD manager should understand the basic concepts behind hardware
and networking structures. These parameters include concepts like bandwidth, disk
throughput, and local area networks (LANs) versus wide area networks (WANs) and
Internet access. If you know the basics, you’ll never be totally in the dark in an IT

conversation.
Figure 9.1 The days of CAD managers doing machine configuration is dwindling as dedicated or outsourced
IT departments increasingly handle IT tasks.
Note: My bias on IT involvement for CAD managers is to recommend less rather than more.The basic rea-
son I feel this way is that CAD managers have a lot of other priorities that are probably higher than messing
with computers or networks.
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Those who report to the IT department The trend of having CAD managers report to
the IT department infrastructure is increasing. The bottom line is that if your boss is an
IT person, you should probably try to learn more about IT than you otherwise would
to have a basis for communication. The other thing about trying to learn more IT with
an IT-focused boss is that you have somebody who can help you learn—take advantage
of the opportunity.
Small-company CAD managers Even if you don’t have to do IT specialty work, the
possibility that you may have to make an emergency fix becomes more likely as com-
pany size gets smaller. Learn whatever you can as you go along, and take good notes.
You never know when you’ll need them.
Large-company CAD managers In large company environments, IT is usually taken
care of by a dedicated IT department that doesn’t want anyone messing with their net-
work. You should know the IT basics I’ve recommended for everyone, but you proba-
bly don’t need to know more unless you just want to. I do recommend keeping up with
IT changes and modifications so you’ll know what’s going on, but don’t worry too
much about understanding all the nuances.
To sum up, you’re never too well informed about IT, so you can spend as much
effort here as you’d like. Let’s dig into a few of the topics I’ve suggested.
Quantifying Networks: A Facilitating Tool or a Barrier to Productivity?
Is the network your friend or your enemy? Will your network allow you to do great
things and facilitate awesome new work processes, or will it be an albatross to bear?

The answers to these questions can be yes or no, depending on what you expect.
Any network is a complex combination of hardware, software, and telecommu-
nications components that form an almost living environment that stores and routes all
data through the company. Based on how well you understand that environment, you’ll
know what to expect, how to configure software, and where to place shared data to
take advantage of networking strengths and avoid weaknesses.
The first thing we must do is map out a typical large-company network and
define all of its components and characteristics. Once you understand the terms, it
becomes much easier to see how you can operate your CAD tools for optimal efficiency.
Note: For more detailed information about assessing your network environment, see “Network, IT,and
Security Assessments”in Chapter 2.
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Understanding the Environment
A network is a combination of computers (some workstations and some servers) con-
nected by data-transmission lines (with varying bandwidths) that form a cohesive sys-
tem. To understand this system, you have to understand what each computer does and
how quickly it can move data from point to point in the network.
As you can see in Figure 9.1, a CAD workstation is a small component of the
overall computing system in your company. The specific components that affect soft-
ware operation and some pertinent statistics for each are summarized as follows:
Local machine The user’s machine that the CAD software runs on. These machines are
typically fast and have a high-bandwidth disk connection that delivers anywhere from
1.0 to 2.4 gigabits/second (gbps; or 1,000,000,000 to 2,400,000,000 bits/second [bps])
throughput using IDE (older) or ATA (newer) disk controllers. Although the processor
speed and amount of RAM contribute to machine performance, CAD files are so big
that disk performance is a more accurate barometer of how fast a given machine will
run your CAD applications.
Figure 9.2 Your company’s CAD software doesn’t run on one machine, but on an interconnected system of servers and networks.

LAN connection The network that ties local machines in close proximity to one
another to the company’s overall network. In more complex networking environments
(like multiple branch offices with Internet support), the LAN is the first networking
connection your machine sees. In smaller companies, the LAN may be your only net-
work connection.
LAN connections typically deliver 100 megabits/second (mbps; or 100,000,000 bps)
of bandwidth from the CAD machine to the network. That 100 mbps bandwidth is
Internet
Disk Disk
Server
CAD Station
CAD Station
CAD Station
LAN
WAN Connection
LAN
Disk
Disk
Disk
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shared with other users, so chances are you’ll never get the full bandwidth. It becomes
obvious immediately that the LAN connection moves data 1,000 to 2,000 times more
slowly than a local machine writes data to its own hard drive. Ever wonder why your
LAN seems slow? Now you know why.
WAN connection The WAN is the network that ties your LANs together over large
geographic distances. The problem with WANs is that you can’t run high-speed net-
working wire to a branch office in another country, so you’re at the mercy of the
telecommunications company’s services.

WAN connections typically deliver 1.5 to 4.5 mbps (or 1,500,000 to 4,500,000
bps) of bandwidth from LAN to LAN. Again, that 1.5 to 4.5 mbps bandwidth is shared
with other users on the respective LANs, so chances are you’ll never get the full band-
width. Some quick math shows that a WAN connection is 40 to 100 times slower than
LAN connections, and you know how slow LANs are compared to local machines. Ever
wonder why moving files between branch-office LANs seems glacial in pace? Now you
know why.
Internet connection The age of the mobile worker has enabled anyone to work from
home via a DSL or cable-modem connection. These types of commercial Internet services
are broadly available and relatively cheap but deliver low bandwidth to the end user.
DSL connections are typically called ADSL, where the A stands for asynchronous.
ADSL means that download speeds and upload speeds are different, with the download
speed usually being much faster than that for uploading. Typical download speeds are
1.5 mbps (or 1,500,000 bps) of bandwidth, and upload speeds are typically one-third
that, so those who need to upload large file sets will perceive ADSL connections as
being slow. The only good thing about ADSL is that the connection usually isn’t shared,
so at least the user gets all the bandwidth they pay for.
Storing Data
The entire purpose of having a network with CAD machines on it is to produce CAD
data and share it between users. The question is, how can you do that best? Referring
again to Figure 9.1 above, we can draw some conclusions about data storage and the
practical factors affecting the data in the various locations.
Note: Cable modems are usually a bit faster than DSL modems but not enough faster to alter our
discussion.
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I’ll summarize the benefits and drawbacks by using each system component that
I defined in the previous section:
Local machine Storing data on the local machine gives the fastest possible data access

because the local machine’s hard-drive bandwidth is always higher than that of any
network connection. One downside of storing data on a local machine is that other
users can’t access it. In addition, it won’t be backed up as it would be on a network
server, thus offering lower security.
Possible compromise procedures include check in/check out methodologies that allow
users to copy working files to the local machine and then copy them back to the server
each night for backup. Understand that any time data is stored on a local machine,
there is more risk of data loss due to a lack of backup.
LAN connection Storing data on the LAN increases data security but slows data access
because CAD files are opened and saved over the LAN instead of on the user’s hard
drive. From the CAD user’s perspective, using the LAN is slower than storing data on
their local machine due to the much lower bandwidth of the LAN; thus this situation
will generate complaints. However, IT departments will correctly point out that storage
of CAD data on the LAN facilitates centralized backups that protect the data, and that
no amount of speed is worth the security risk.
Again, check in/check out methodologies may provide common ground between users
who want speed and IT departments that want security.
WAN connection The situation here is essentially the same as for a LAN environment
but a lot slower. CAD users who complain about performance problems in LANs will
throw fits about WAN speeds. As a practical note, CAD files tend to be large, and
sharing those files over sluggish WANs can sometimes be impossible due to time lags.
Note: WAN environments are the worst-case scenario for CAD managers because there’s not much you
can do to make the WAN faster or the files smaller.All the while,users will complain, and rightly so, about slow
speeds degrading their productivity.
Note: Network speed determines how fast users can access data.Faster is always better from the user’s
perspective.
Note: In environments where collaborative teams need to work with the same files,storing data on local
machines is impossible because sharing can’t be facilitated without a network connection.
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Internet connection This scenario is essentially the same as a WAN, with one psycho-
logical difference: When home-based or traveling workers access data through the
Internet, they expect it to be slow! Oddly enough, users who go ballistic over WAN
speeds may be tolerant of Internet access speeds.
Running Software
Your users can’t get any CAD work done unless they run CAD software, right? The
question becomes how to best run that CAD software based on the network topology
we’ve discussed. I’ll warn you that I have some strong feelings about how CAD soft-
ware runs, precisely because it’s the sole network component that allows work to
get done!
Figure 9.3 When running software over WAN or Internet connections you'll only achieve the speed that network switches
and hardware permit, thus leaving you no room to improve speeds users experience.
I’ll summarize the benefits/drawbacks of running CAD software in various envi-
ronments by using each system component that I defined earlier:
Local machine vs. LAN connections CAD software works best on local machines
because the local machine’s hard-drive bandwidth is always higher than that of a net-
work connection. When IT staffs want to run CAD software from a network server, it’s
almost always because doing so makes their life easier with little regard for how much
slower the CAD user’s work experience is.
There’s no better place to run CAD software than on the user’s own worksta-
tion, where it achieves its greatest performance and enables the user to achieve maxi-
mum productivity.
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WAN connection A WAN is out of the question for running CAD application software
because the extremely slow bandwidth would slow any CAD application to a crawl.
User productivity would be so severely compromised by running CAD software over a
WAN that there would likely be a revolt.

Internet connection This is essentially the same as the WAN scenario, which is
unacceptable.
Buying the Right Hardware
Buying the right hardware is always a tough call because no matter what you buy, you
know it will be obsolete in a few years. The good news is that hardware is always get-
ting better, so you can run better programs all the time. Over my 21 years of CAD
usage, I’ve observed that some rules for buying hardware always seem to work,
whereas other rules change as new technologies are developed.
To start the discussion, let me sum up the rules I think always work; then, we’ll
get more specific:
Buy it just before you need it Machines always get faster and drop in price. It makes
no sense to buy a machine too early, because even if you buy in bulk, you’ll probably
save more by waiting. And when you wait, you know you’ll get a faster machine.
Be frugal but not cheap Don’t buy the most expensive machine, but don’t buy the
cheapest either. I typically go to Internet computer vendors like Dell and Gateway and
find the priciest machine and the cheapest machine, determine the average price, and
then target the machines that fall above the average mark. For example, if the cheapest
machine cost $500 and the most expensive cost $4,500, I would start my search at the
$2,500 level.
The upper and lower costs in the range will almost certainly get cheaper as time
goes by, but staying in the middle of the range tends to steer you toward higher-end
processors, RAM, and disk systems without going overboard on huge monitors, multi-
media accessories, or luxury items. Prices will always drop, but this dollar-cost averag-
ing approach has worked remarkably well over the years.
Buy new CAD machines, not office machines When you buy new computers, get nice,
high-performance machines for the high-power CAD users and move the older CAD
Note: If your company’s IT staff wants to run CAD tools via the Internet or over a corporate WAN, you
should be concerned about the impact it will have on user productivity and should make your concerns known
immediately.
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machines to general office use. This approach puts your new computer dollars on the
desktops of those who make the best use of them and turns slower CAD machines into
still-speedy office machines. Using this approach typically yields a useful PC life of
three years or more because each computer will be used by two types of users. By con-
trast, a three-year-old CAD machine is obsolete in almost all cases.
Figure 9.4 When your job requires you to run CAD software fast,having cutting-edge hardware is a necessity.
This fact is frequently overlooked by management and even some IT departments.
What sort of technologies are relatively new that will affect hardware-purchasing
strategies in the 2007/2008 timeframe? Those questions can only be answered in time,
but I’m willing to bet on a few trends and make some recommendations based on them:
Single-processor machines are obsolete for CAD Is management sorely tempted by
basic, single-processor machines that can run most programs for less than $500? Of
course they are, because they think there’s value in getting something so cheap. But
single-processor machines are fossils in today’s world of multicore processing. Don’t
buy a single-processor machine for CAD work ever again!
Buy multicore-processor machines at reasonable prices Need a machine that’ll burn
through CAD, analytical, or rendering tasks? Multicore machines run rings around
single-processor machines via faster RAM architectures and increasingly multithreaded
software applications. At the time of this writing, dual-core processor machines are
common, and newer, quad-core-processor-based machines are hitting the market.
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Upgrade to big, flat-panel monitors Want a big, bold flat-panel screen running at
ridiculously high resolutions? Feel good about buying one now. Nobody in the technol-
ogy financial center foresaw how fast the price for large flat-panel displays would drop,
but now that they’ve fallen, CAD users may as well get in on the action. Big monitors
allow better visualization and more space for toolbars, properties windows, and other

space-eating features that are common in CAD applications, so upgrade and reap the
benefits now that prices are reasonable.
Pair software and hardware Many times, new software necessitates new hardware. An
example is upgrading from conventional AutoCAD to a high-end 3D design tool like
Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Inventor, or SolidWorks. In these cases, the software places
substantially higher demands on the computer and can cause user-productivity prob-
lems unless you also purchase appropriate new hardware.
Justifying Fast Hardware
It’s worthwhile to think of your software and hardware as a collaborative pair that
work together to ensure user productivity. My experience has been that management
staffs don’t understand this; rather, they feel that new software can be installed on the
old hardware, and everything will be fine.
Figure 9.5 Slow hardware saps performance a few seconds or minutes at a time on every operation your users
perform. Over time it adds up to a significant loss in productivity.
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What if management doesn’t agree with purchasing faster hardware, no matter
how persuasively you argue? What if management wants you to keep running old
hardware or eschews my advice about buying multiple-core processors? Let’s walk
through a return on investment (ROI) example you can use to make the argument
business-based rather than one of bits, bytes, and processor cores. Here’s the question:
What do CAD users sacrifice by running high-powered design software on outdated
machines? Plug in the numbers and circumstances for your company, and compute
your own scenario:
False initial capital savings This is the perceived savings you achieve up front by not
buying the new computer. We all know that we’ll buy a new computer sooner or later,
so all you’re doing is postponing the eventual expense.
Compute the productivity lost due to slow performance This cost eats away at your soft-
ware investment, and most management teams don’t even know it. Every time your user

crashes, slows down, or can’t solve a problem because the hardware can’t handle the soft-
ware, you’re losing time. And every time your users waste time, they’re wasting money.
Compute waste If an engineering CAD user costs $50/hour and is spending 2 hours per
week fighting back from crashes, you’re losing $4,800 per year on that user. How did I
get that number? Two hours per week, at $50/hour, times 48 production weeks per year.
This example clearly illustrates that money saved by using old computer gear is
an illusion. The money that is “saved” is more than offset by wasted user time. What if
your 3D users could process 30 parts per day rather than 20? What would happen if
you could make parametric updates of complex models in 20 minutes instead of 60?
What would it mean to your design processes if you had the computing power to run
intricate tolerance analyses or kinematic simulations?
When you limit yourself from a hardware perspective, you limit the performance
and design possibilities that your employees can investigate. With stunning advances in
analysis and simulation, virtual prototyping, rendering, and fly-throughs allowing you
to explore more design possibilities in the computer rather than in the physical world,
the question becomes, why would you want to limit yourself?
Summing Up
From an IT standpoint, nothing impacts your users more than the CAD workstations
they work on. I recommend that you advocate and evangelize the purchase and use of
high-speed hardware to facilitate higher user productivity. Nobody besides the CAD
manager will argue for higher-cost machines, and you can’t rely on your IT department
to understand the unique demands of CAD applications.
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to assess your current hardware
environment (as recommended in Chapter 2) and create a plan for new hardware
acquisition based on the discussions in this section.
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Getting Involved with IT Planning
Armed with what you now know about networks and IT, you should strive to become

involved in the planning sessions your IT department holds. Even if you just attend a
few conference calls, your time will be rewarded with an unfettered understanding of
what the IT department is trying to accomplish and how it may affect you.
Of course, the IT department may be working on any number of initiatives and
projects that could affect your CAD users, but I see a couple of consistent trends in
industry that are worth mentioning here. In each case, I’ll give you a brief overview of
the topic and how it may affect your users, and explain why CAD managers should be
concerned:
Online work management A process by which more work is moved around a corporate
network using the Internet or WANs. These online methods allow companies to move
work to their employees via cheap network technology rather than moving employees to
where the work is via expensive travel. The trend toward online work management is
crucial for CAD managers to be involved with because of the inherently low-bandwidth
speeds these network environments impose on CAD tools, thus slowing users.
Figure 9.6 Getting involved in IT planning will alert you to changes faster and help you avoid IT mistakes that you’d otherwise
have to live with.
Note: CAD managers should question how online work management will lower current CAD user produc-
tivity and raise the issue with senior management if IT doesn’t address the concerns adequately.
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Wide-area electronic document management Similar to online work management,
but with the difference that electronic document management systems build database
archives of information over time using proprietary software tools. As these archives
are built, the company becomes dependent on the proper functionality and mainte-
nance of these systems to work on current projects or to revise older ones.
CAD files contain a lot more data than they used to, which makes them more
valuable for everyone involved in the engineering and design process. With embedded
URLs, design notes, linked relationships like XREFs, and raster insertions, CAD files
have value to almost everyone. The pressure is therefore on the CAD department to

make design drawings more available while still controlling versions and security. Sounds
like you’ll need a fully implemented solution rather than just a browser, doesn’t it?
Before you start to think about software and technical issues, you must confront
the obvious: Distributing and collecting work via a document-management system will
play havoc with your department. You won’t be in a face-to-face, phone-to-phone
mode of personal contact anymore—you’ll be interacting with document-management
software and passing work to people you may never meet. The psychological change
that this brings to an organization is powerful and multifaceted, and it’s worth your
while to be ready for it.
And guess who will most likely maintain this document-management system?
Probably you.
Planning for Survival
Although I could draw any number of conclusions, I think the crucial thing to point
out is that as CAD manager, you have to keep users productive and working no matter
how the network or IT system around you is configured. Therefore, it’s the responsibil-
ity of the CAD manager to be involved enough in IT planning to know whether bad
decisions are being made.
Based on what you now know about network components, you should be able to
leverage that knowledge into a surprisingly effective CAD-management strategy that min-
imizes network limitations while using network tools where they can be most helpful.
Operating Systems
Admittedly, most CAD managers use whatever operating system (OS) their IT depart-
ments want them to use; but some changes in the market at present require attention. I
don’t usually worry too much about OS issues, so this section will be short; I’ll focus
on operating system upgrades.
When was the last time CAD managers cared about an OS upgrade? My mem-
ory recalls that Windows 95 with its true 32-bit multitasking OS (clearly superior to
Windows for Workgroups and its WIN32S processing core) was the last big deal in OS
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advancement that CAD managers had to worry about. I think the CAD world will see
a similar sea-change with Windows Vista.
With Vista’s ability to enable true 64-bit processing support at the server and
client side, and the new multicore processing hardware discussed earlier providing Vista
with the resources it needs to perform, I believe CAD will be one of the first applica-
tions where Vista makes inroads. As Vista establishes a foothold in the market, software
developers will start writing applications that utilize the Microsoft .NET framework and
exploit multicore processors more fully, which will further draw CAD software users to
Vista. And even if CAD managers don’t embrace Vista immediately, you can be sure that
IT departments all over the world will be looking at the technology.
I believe Vista will mature and become the OS of choice relatively quickly, just
like Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, and Windows 95 before it. My recom-
mendation is to evaluate Vista and be ready for it as soon as you can.
Note: Start talking to your IT staff now, and make Vista the OS of choice for any hardware upgrades.Point
out that CAD applications will benefit most from the new hardware and 64-bit OS combination, so CAD man-
agers should get the upgrade first.
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Building Crucial Skills
Experience is valued in management, and no doubt
your CAD experience is what has propelled you
into the CAD manager’s chair. But now that you’ve
graduated to CAD manager, you can’t help but
become isolated in your job function. Because
you’ve been promoted to the highest-level CAD
position in your company, you no longer have
anybody teaching you—you’re too busy teaching
everybody else. Your energies go more toward

problem solving and people management, so
you’re not learning as much as you used to.
Sound familiar?
10
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Of course, you’re gaining real-world experience in your day-to-day activities, but
the tendency to stagnate and become set in your company’s culture is almost unavoidable.
CAD managers have a tendency to learn by bad experiences (errors) a lot more than
good ones (perfectly planned implementations), because nobody is teaching or mentoring
you in the CAD manager’s role. If you think about it, it becomes obvious that nobody is
teaching you CAD management because you’re already the CAD manager!
The questions begin to stack up:
• How can you continue to gain experience that will make you a better
CAD manager?
• What are the critical skills you need to build?
• How can you learn new skills while gaining experience?
• How can you learn skills that will help you advance in the future?
To answer these questions. you have to understand your learning style and then
use learning resources that best complement your style to learn and master new skills.
It sounds simple but requires discipline to do. As with all things that require discipline
and effort, the results are well worth the trouble.
Assessing Your Learning Style
My experience indicates that most CAD managers have an associate’s or bachelor’s
degree in a technical field like architecture, mechanical design, construction manage-
ment, or engineering. Although IT-based college degrees in information management
and computer science are gaining popularity among today’s students, most CAD man-
agers have learned computer/CAD technology through a combination of training and
practical experience. This isn’t to say that some CAD managers don’t have a college

education, but the odds are increasingly against it.
Figure 10.1 Where you’ve been educationally says a lot about how you’ll educate yourself further.
Assessing the methods you can use to learn effectively is the first step in training yourself.
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Your educational background is important because it typically predicts your
ability to self-teach/self-learn—which, given the fact that you’re most likely the only
CAD manager in your company, is a necessary attribute. For most graduate engineers
and architects, the following learning methodologies are familiar:
Self study A skill honed during all those late-night study sessions. You’re probably
good at learning from books and are disciplined about doing so.
Lecture/note taking A skill honed in lecture-based classes. Your ability to pay attention
for long periods of time while taking copious notes makes you the Alpha learner in
most groups of computer users. Sound familiar?
Experiential learning A skill honed through years of hacking away at software to find
the answer. Although experiential learning can be frustrating, it does prepare you to be
an independent and self-focused learner.
Taken together, these educational components of most CAD managers’ back-
grounds profile a person ready, willing, and able to learn on their own with little direct
training required. The good news is that if you can find the learning resources you need
to build new skills, chances are that you can digest the material with essentially no
supervision. The only thing that’s changed is that you’ll be using the Internet instead of
the campus library!
Learning Efficiently Is Essential
Most CAD managers I’ve talked to feel that nobody within their company truly under-
stands how hard it is to keep a CAD department running. Therefore, you can’t expect
anyone else to understand your knowledge and training needs—you’ll have to articu-
late those needs yourself. At the same time, you have many responsibilities and a lot
of pressures to deal with, so you should learn as much as you can in as little time as

possible.
Training is an excellent way to jump-start your knowledge base and lower the
number of mistakes you make. After all, if you need to become better at something,
why not train for it? The problem with this statement is that formal classroom-style
CAD-management training is extremely hard to find. The further you advance in man-
agement, the more you’ll realize that training for managers is hard to come by, period;
and CAD managers have an especially hard time. The good news is that alternative
training resources are available if you look for them, which will allow you to piece
together a self-directed training program.
Learning Methods and Resources
When you strike out to find materials to enhance your CAD-management learning
experience, what kinds of resources will you look for? What methodologies can you
use that will give you the greatest return on the time you invest? I’ve found that the
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answers to both these questions are intertwined and depend on how you feel most
comfortable learning. To address how to learn and what type of resources to look for,
I’ll list the types of materials available and cross-reference how CAD managers’ typical
learning preferences can be adapted to each type of material:
Figure 10.2 Do you prefer to learn from books, DVDs, or the Internet? That’s a question you’ll have to answer
for yourself based on your learning preferences.
Books, magazines, and CD/DVDs Books and CD/DVDs are great sources for the tech-
nical component of your job. By searching the indexes, you’ll find the help you wanted
plus related information you may not have thought to look for. A little bit of book
time can open your eyes to new ideas and refresh your motivation. Summaries of some
of the more useful titles I’ve found are presented for you in various topical sidebars
throughout this chapter.
Note on learning preference: Books, magazines, and CD/DVDs are excellent
resources for those who self-study well. Most CAD managers can use these

types of resources effectively.
Online A varied and quickly growing body of research is available to you online if you
know where to find it. I’ve provided some websites that offer CAD management infor-
mation and, more important, forums that you may find useful to participate in. Vet-
eran CAD users might recall the Autodesk discussion forum available through the
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CompuServe online service, which was popular before the Internet became the informa-
tion resource of choice. We’re seeing some online resources today that offer immediacy
and peer participation reminiscent of that CompuServe forum—great news for CAD
managers.
Note on learning preference: Online resources offer ready access to information
for all learning preferences. For those with a strong preference for book learning,
who need browsable materials within reach at all times, online resources can be
frustrating unless they’re printed out and compiled. Most CAD managers can
use online resources if they catalog frequently referenced materials into a search-
able index.
Online CAD Management Resources
www.cad-manager.com
This website provides a widely varied collection of resources on CAD management,software cus-
tomization,and industry trends specifically for CAD managers.
www.cadalyst.com/cadman
This is a well-indexed summary of CAD management articles,forums, and pertinent industry
news,formatted for the working CAD manager.
User groups You’ll always do well to join software user groups and participate in
some of their online forums and technical sessions. Admittedly, this resource is more
technical than it is managerial, but it’s turning into a great resource for managers who
need to gather information quickly and study effectively on their own. User-group
interaction is also a great way for you to recruit CAD talent and find your next great

CAD operator. The rule with any user group is that you get back what you put in, so
be active!
Note on learning preference: User groups are more communicative and tactile
than book or online learning. CAD managers who enjoy user interaction will
gain more from the experience. CAD managers who want to learn why certain
tasks are done certain ways more than how tasks are done benefit the most.
Note: By participating in user groups,you also meet a bright pool of job candidates for future reference.
Make sure to get e-mail addresses and phone numbers so you can keep in touch!
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Instructor-led training courses These are normally thought of as the way other users
learn new material, so why not use the method yourself? Although it’s rare to find a
CAD manager training course, you can focus on taking short classes in programming,
general management techniques, and software skills to piece together your own CAD
management training program. You’ll gain new insights either by jump-starting your
knowledge in a different area or by seeing another perspective on how to teach and
approach the information. And although many CAD managers feel they can never
leave the office, you can do an adequate job by phone or beeper, providing you let
users know that you’ll be out of the office for a couple of days.
Note on learning preference: Many CAD managers have substantial lecture and
note-taking experience that serves them well in these environments, but they
may find the pace of learning slower than anticipated. CAD managers who take
the most notes and ask probing questions of their instructors gain the most in
these training environments.
Peer Activities
The hardest component of professional development to attain as a CAD manager is
honest peer feedback. Questions like “What is being done elsewhere?” or “How do I
stack up against other CAD managers?” are difficult to answer in the CAD manager’s
vacuum. Being able to bounce questions off other people in your same situation would

obviously be of great value. The ability to brainstorm and share ideas about how to
better do your job would be welcome, wouldn’t it?
To gain access to your peers and obtain a valuable face-to-face exchange of CAD
management information, consider the following resources:
User training conferences National events like Autodesk University
(
www.autodesk.com/au) and SolidWorks World (www.solidworks.com/swworld) offer
compact, seminar-style instruction that attracts hordes of CAD managers. I’ve found
these events to be the best opportunity for CAD management networking.
Regional training programs These smaller, more geographically isolated events allow
smaller groups of CAD managers and users to partake of specialized training. Some-
times these events are sponsored by software resellers or software publishers. Costs for
these events are usually low or even free, so there’s no cost barrier to attending.
CAD management blogs These blogs are ever growing, ever changing, and always
topical. Start searching the blogosphere for CAD management resources, and see
what you find.
User groups You’ll rub elbows with other CAD managers and power users who are
experiencing the same problems you are. Strike up a conversation, and see where
it leads.
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Although conferences and user-group activities take time (yours and the company’s)
and expense-account dollars (the company’s), your company gets a more rounded,
motivated CAD manager in return. If you can solve a nasty problem or sleuth out a
great idea at a technical conference, then you’ve generated real value for your company.
The investment of time in conferences and/or user groups is miniscule and could well
pay you back ten times over in the ability to find just the right bit of information when
you need it.
Precisely because you can’t get access to your peers in your everyday work, you

need to make the effort to surround yourself with other people in your same situation.
The cross-pollination of ideas will both motivate you and inspire you to try new things
when you return to the office.
Learning What to Manage
Now that you know your learning preference and your model for educating yourself,
you’re itching to get started learning new skills, right? Well, hold on, because as a CAD
manager you don’t have time to build new skills and put the other aspects of your job
on hold. You have to figure out what you need to get done and then tackle the learning
and skills development that facilitate getting your job done.
Figure 10.3 Until you learn what to manage you’ll be reduced to juggling too many tasks and not
managing any given task very well.
Note: Use recommendations from local resellers,Google searches,and online user groups to find out
about these valuable resources.
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Before we talk about specific skill development, let’s take a moment to reflect on
the types of things you need to manage and to infuse the skill-development discussion
with these priorities:
Understanding your workload It’s been said that the hardest part of management is
knowing what you have to manage. You must understand what tasks you need to
complete and what deadlines you need to meet. Although it’s tempting to complete
tasks as they come to you, you’ll never achieve managerial control if you’re always
reacting to the situation. You must first understand the variables and chart a course
for how you’ll fulfill your obligations. By proactively planning to complete key tasks,
you’ll be surprised less often, and you’ll be less stressed and better able to deal with an
emergency when it arises.
Simple techniques like keeping a manual list of tasks with you will help you plan
your time. Unlike electronic calendar programs and PDAs, which tend to be out of date
or run out of batteries, the trusty notepad always works, never locks up, and is always

in front of you. Because management is the art of juggling details with apparent ease,
you’ve got to keep track of the details!
Planning for increasing demands An old management adage says, “Give your hardest
work to the person who’s working the hardest.” This means that the person who is
already pulling more than their weight will get more work. Why? Because that person
somehow finds a way to get the work done. As CAD manager, you’re most likely that
person. Take this new load of work as a compliment—if you weren’t good, they wouldn’t
be asking you to do more
If you’re effective at meeting deadlines and getting the work done, you’re culti-
vating the best management reputation you can have. When people say things like,
“How does he do it?” or “She just gets things done!” you’re building a great reputa-
tion. Just understand that as your reputation for doing the impossible grows, you’ll be
asked to do more impossible things. The increased demands on your time will empha-
size the need for the scheduling and planning we’ve talked about, if you’re going to live
up to your increasing management responsibilities.
Note: See the tip “Keep a Diary” in the sidebar “Keeping Track of It All”for useful hints.
Note: See the “Keeping Track of It All”sidebar for useful hints.
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Use, train, and build your staff When you deal with more work, it’s time to realize the
following: No single thing you do as CAD manager will help you succeed as much as
building a competent staff and delegating as much as possible to them.
As technologists, CAD managers frequently fall into the “I’ll do it myself” or
“It’s easier for me to do it than train somebody” mindset. Although both mindsets can
make things easier in the short term, you can’t expect to do everything yourself. If you
do strive to do everything on your own, you’ll reach a point of saturation where you
can’t do anymore. Then, your sterling reputation will start to give way to comments
like “He’s reached his limit” or “She needs time to grow into the job.” If you choose to
do everything on your own, you’ll limit yourself needlessly. And make no mistake:

Using your time wisely is what moving up in management is all about!
Managing perception Fortunately, good management can often be a matter of setting
the right policies in place to gain better efficiency at zero cost. The old adage of “work
smarter, not harder” plays into this approach. If you can demonstrate that you’re get-
ting the best performance from your staff, given what you have to work with, then
you’ll be seen as a great manager. Communication and managing perception are the
tricky parts.
Understand that as you build your managerial reputation for efficiency, your
requests for funds will be trusted more and questioned less. You’ll be viewed as an
established manager who is credible and competent, and who inspires staff productivity.
Developing targeted skills Now that you’ve thought through what you manage, how
things will change, what staff training you have to do, and how management will judge
you, keep these factors in mind as you pick new skills to develop. As you consider
tackling any skill, ask yourself the following questions:
Will learning this skill help me meet current objectives?
Will learning this skill make me more efficient in the future?
Will learning this skill allow me to interface with my users/managers better?
Note: See the “Speaking Better”and “Writing Better”sections later in this chapter for ideas on managing
perception through better communication.
Note: Use the ideas presented in Chapter 5,“Managing and Training Users”to achieve maximum training
and staff-development benefits.
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If you can answer yes to all three of these questions, then you’ve identified a skill that
will serve you well now and in the future—so jump on it! If you can answer yes to only
one or two of these questions, you should probably push learning that skill lower on
your priority list.
Keeping Track of It All
CAD managers juggle a lot of information, so much that it is sometimes hard to remember what

you know.Here I’ve summarized some techniques you can use to keep track of all your job specific
information so you can easily find it later and report it effectively to your senior management at
the same time.
Keep a Diary
One of the problems I’ve always had is being able to remember all the little things I do well, need
to do better, or,in retrospect, wish I had done.A diary is a great way to record all these nuggets of
information so you can find them later.Because it’s your personal diary,you don’t need to worry
about formatting, spelling, or grammar.Your diary is an expanded CAD-management memory
bank that you can tap so you never have to solve the same problem twice.
I recommend that you keep your diary in an electronic format like Word or Excel (rather than hand
written) because you’ll be able to search for key words and phrases easily in an electronic context.
Want to know how you fixed a plot-style problem last year? Search on “plot style” in your elec-
tronic diary.Think of your diary as your personal, searchable memory aide,and you’ll start to see
how much time you can save by not having to re-create the wheel.
Bonus points: A year-end review of your diary serves as an excellent way to show what you’ve
accomplished and how much you’ve progressed over the last year.
Write Reports Often
How will anyone know what you’re doing if you don’t tell them? And if management travels a lot
or is in another location, speaking face to face may be difficult. Either way, writing down what you
do facilitates better communication and produces a written track record for you.
Think of reports as an edited version of your diary,and they won’t seem so bad.
Keep Your Budget Document Handy
I know that somebody,somewhere must love preparing an annual budget and documenting all
the details,but that person isn’t me.Rather than putting off budgeting work until a few days
before your budget is due, why not treat the budget as an ongoing process that should be
tweaked and adjusted throughout the year?
Note: Every time something big comes across your desk,you’ll probably need to change your
budget to reflect it anyway.For more information read the Budgeting section in Chapter 7,
“Understanding Financial Processes.”
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