risa vs ram

huangyhg

risa vs ram
i am an eit and new to eng-tips.
recently i have been given the task of helping my firm decide which new anaylsis software would be best for our company.  i belong to a small firm (under 10 engineers) in the midwest who generally caters to independant architectural firms.  most of our projects are low rise buildings.  we feel the industry is pushing towards using 3-d software.  risa-floor has caught our attention since we are currently risa 2-d users.  risa-floor in conjuntion with risa-3d seems like a natural progression for us since we are currently familiar with the risa-2d interface however we are not afraid to try something new if we feel there is something out there that may operate better for us or would be tailored well to outside parties (i.e. fabricators).
can anyone offer any insight to this possible purchase, or should i be considering a product something such as ram-steel or others.  any input would be appreciated. thanks.
we use both ram and risa and find both to be well written programs.  both have good technical service, and both are moving ahead with new features.
ram was initially set up as a non-matrix solver (i.e. - everything in the floor modeling was simple spans or non-redundant members) and focused on floor framing - included now with it are column and footing designs, concrete designs and ramframe that allows you to develop lateral bracing within the total model.
only concern that i've had with ram is that the ramframe program has always been a bit "black box" - difficult to see what loads the program is actually applying to the frame and how the load path is developed.  also, i've disagreed with their continuous foundation design approach whereby there are longitudinal moments applied causing fairly high requirements for longitudinal rebar in the footings. - the spread footing feature, though, is quite good.  we don't own the concrete module so can't comment on that.  the modeler and ramframe are still non-redundant programs, i believe, but they have come out with a 3d analysis program that does solve a matrix solution.
risa - i've used risa programs for many years - their software is always very well written and i have a lot of confidence in the code.  they started as a matrix solution program and the 2d and 3d programs are very good - including finite elements as well.  good documentation, help menus, etc.  
they have only recently come out with a floor program similar to ram and it is rapidly advancing in quality.  still some progress to go yet, though.  risa has also begun tying into the new revit cadd softare which is a total model type graphics program - you can interface between risa 3d and risa floor with the bracing design and you can interface between architect's cadd drawings - going into risa 3d/floor, solving the model, designing the   
we also have both risa & ram in our office. initially everyone wanted to stay with risa and stay away from ram. but gradually everyone got familar with ram and now anyone hardly uses risa. although, risa is easier to use, ram is much more capable. if everyone is open to change in your office and if you feel your future work would get more complex than current, i would not hesitate to go with ram.
one thing i like with ram is they have been keeping up quite well with current codes and are open to user request for changes in program features.
good luck.