How Russian CAD firms abide with sanctions following the Ukraine invasion
There is profound irony that programmers in Russia are responsible for much of the CAD software we in the West use every day, yet Russian CAD firms have made little headway exporting their own end products to us.To get more news about basic drafting software, you can visit shine news official website.
Software with names like nanoCAD (an AutoCAD workalike), T-Flex (MCAD), and Kompas-3D (also MCAD) have at some point been marketed in the West; doubtless they are obscure to you.
Firms that write foundational code that helps Western firms develop CAD software have, however, found success. Firms like C3D Labs (kernel components) and LEDAS Group (contract programming) receive more than half their income from outside Russia.
When David Levin arranged for me to tour Russia in 2009, the number-one question CAD vendors asked me was how to sell their products in the West. I told them they faced the daunting task in converting their user interface and documentation from Russian cyrillic to English and other languages; from Russian design standards to Western ones; and, toughest of all, thinking in the way that Western marketing thinks.
Thirteen years ago, Russian firms still dominated their home CAD industry. Western software mostly was bootlegged. Autodesk Russia then found success in making AutoCAD users legit by offering an older version (with its lower hardware requirements) for $1,000 initially — a quarter the US price. With time and with the urgency of being compatible with globalization, Western firms like Dassault Systemes, Siemens, Autodesk, and PTC came to dominate CAD in Russia.
We were surprised when Putin made the ill-fated decision to invade the sovereign country of Ukraine, and then he was surprised at the speed of the backlash from Western countries — given that Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil and wheat.
For Western CAD firms, it turned out that pulling out of Russia was an easy decision: it made them look good, while losing only 0.5%-2% of their global income. They could just about pencil that in as a marketing expense. For instance, last quarter PTC lost $4 million from ending its operations in Russia, a pittance compared to the $81 million PTC says it lost in the same quarter due to the stronger US$.
Russian Users of Western CAD Software: The “lucky” ones are the ones with permanent licenses; they can keep right on working. Those with subscriptions might be blocked when the next payment is due — depending on where payments are handled. (Not all Western tech firms have cut off existing customers.) Those who depend on cloud-based software are at greatest risk.
Russian CAD Firms Selling Largely in Russia: With Western firms leaving, local firms face a bonanza now that they have a market less encumbered by competition. Here are some of the Russian CAD programs that could be substituted for Western ones:
There is profound irony that programmers in Russia are responsible for much of the CAD software we in the West use every day, yet Russian CAD firms have made little headway exporting their own end products to us.To get more news about basic drafting software, you can visit shine news official website.
Software with names like nanoCAD (an AutoCAD workalike), T-Flex (MCAD), and Kompas-3D (also MCAD) have at some point been marketed in the West; doubtless they are obscure to you.
Firms that write foundational code that helps Western firms develop CAD software have, however, found success. Firms like C3D Labs (kernel components) and LEDAS Group (contract programming) receive more than half their income from outside Russia.
When David Levin arranged for me to tour Russia in 2009, the number-one question CAD vendors asked me was how to sell their products in the West. I told them they faced the daunting task in converting their user interface and documentation from Russian cyrillic to English and other languages; from Russian design standards to Western ones; and, toughest of all, thinking in the way that Western marketing thinks.
Thirteen years ago, Russian firms still dominated their home CAD industry. Western software mostly was bootlegged. Autodesk Russia then found success in making AutoCAD users legit by offering an older version (with its lower hardware requirements) for $1,000 initially — a quarter the US price. With time and with the urgency of being compatible with globalization, Western firms like Dassault Systemes, Siemens, Autodesk, and PTC came to dominate CAD in Russia.
We were surprised when Putin made the ill-fated decision to invade the sovereign country of Ukraine, and then he was surprised at the speed of the backlash from Western countries — given that Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil and wheat.
For Western CAD firms, it turned out that pulling out of Russia was an easy decision: it made them look good, while losing only 0.5%-2% of their global income. They could just about pencil that in as a marketing expense. For instance, last quarter PTC lost $4 million from ending its operations in Russia, a pittance compared to the $81 million PTC says it lost in the same quarter due to the stronger US$.
Russian Users of Western CAD Software: The “lucky” ones are the ones with permanent licenses; they can keep right on working. Those with subscriptions might be blocked when the next payment is due — depending on where payments are handled. (Not all Western tech firms have cut off existing customers.) Those who depend on cloud-based software are at greatest risk.
Russian CAD Firms Selling Largely in Russia: With Western firms leaving, local firms face a bonanza now that they have a market less encumbered by competition. Here are some of the Russian CAD programs that could be substituted for Western ones: