ram and staad

huangyhg

ram and staad
did anyone hear that ram and staad have both been acquired by bentley? is this good or bad for software users like us?

staad yes, ram - are you sure?, i haven't seen that anywhere.
missed the news about bentley acquiring anyone.  where was that announced?  
here's a link to an article about it:
thanks for the link, jae.  has anyone used bentley software?  not familiar with their company.
i didn't know until reading the article that bentley produced microstation.  that's the only product i'm familiar with.  there tends to be a sharp rift among cad users between autocad and microstation, each believing theirs is the best.  i worked with microstation several years ago, and did find it more powerful and user-friendly than autocad, but autocad has come a long way since then.
as far as their design products, i know nothing.  well, except for staad now, but i haven't even used that in about three years.
so far i am not impressed by the bentley purchase of staad. i was promised to get my staad 2005 update for at last three months. it is not here yet. when i called them, they said that they were not sure when it will be mailed out. they asked me to send them an e-mail with my information!
keep in mind that my company pays nearly a thousand dollars for staad maintenance package. this fee is supposed to cover the cost and all upgrades. this year we did not get one minute of technical support nor an upgrade in return!
regards,
lutfi
bently has a marketing agreement with ram.
they have recently purchased rei and all of it's products including staad.
well, i wasn't a big fan of microstation but have learned to live with it.  but only because many engineering clients requested microstation and why i don't know yet.
thankfully, i don't have to live with staad.  few clients will request anything to do with that overblown frame analysis software.
overall, i find this very disappointing.
regards,
qshake
eng-tips forums:real solutions for real problems really quick.
i thought it was a rumor until i saw it on bentley's website today (
qshake, "overblown frame analysis software", man, you're right there.  i'll never figure out why it is so popular.
as far as will bentley buying rei be good or bad for staad, how could it be worse?