From my experiences, the software is good, online materials are good,
but supports from Bentley team is not so good.
We are using Staad 2005 in our office for most of structural works. It
was upgraded from Staad 2002, and it works well.
Just one small problem: right after finished purchasing , we asked for
a license agreement (some way to show that we have Staad 2005, not
Staad 2002), but we could not receive any response from Bentley branch
in Singapore. After 4 month (Dec. 2006 to Mar.2007) and many emails,
we gave up.
Regards,
Nam Trung, PECC3
HCMC, Vietnam
----- Original Message -----
From: David Maynard
To: seaint@seaint.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 5:08 AM
Subject: RE: Staad 2007
I've used STAAD for about 9 years now. The next opportunity I get, I
am going to switch to another program. I simply do not like the
technical support that I have gotten over the years. For what it's
worth, I don't use any of their load generators. Simply put, I'm not
comfortable with them and I don't trust them. Take it for what it's
worth.
If you do buy the stand alone package with hardlock, that program will
continue to work for however long you have the program. Sales Rep is
correct, that after a year, you just won't get any upgrades. What you
have will still work, though. I've let several service agreements
expire and jump on some years later for an upgrade with no problems.
Given the chance, though, I'm jumping to a new program.
Sincerely,
David Maynard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jordan Truesdell, PE [mailto:seaint2@truesdellengineering.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 1:30 PM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Re: Staad 2007
We are dropping our AdvanSE license for this reason, though I have not
told my salesperson yet (sorry, Nina). We have yet to upgrade to the
Select version, and continue to use the older, USB-key hobbled
software. The Select server has gone down unexpectedly (twice?) in
the past year, and there have been at least 4 notices of it going down
for routine maintenance. If you are on the select service, you must
have access to log into the server real-time to run the software - a
"mother may I" condition which is, imho, untenable for a professional
package. I don't know what happens when you stop paying - do they
continue to let you log in? Will they continue to let you log in in th
future? Forever? If you are unclear as to the possibilty, you might
research Plays-for-Sure (by Microsoft), and other services in the
entertainment industry which have decided to shot down their license
servers, leaving consumers with unplayable (but paid-for) content. We
have acquired a license of RISA.
It's a shame really, as the support was top notch.
Jordan
Pedro Khouri wrote:
We are a small Engineering company in need of a 3D analysis and design
program, we have a old version of STAAD.PRO 2001and are considering
upgrading to 2007, however we are getting concerns with the new
subscription type copy protection (Bentley SELECT Program) as, due to
our need, we do to upgrade that often. Our main concern is what
happens after the year agreement end? Does the software stop working?
The sale lady from Bentley says it will continue working but will not
get the upgrades, however my partner doest not trust salespersons.
Are there other options for 3D analysis and design software for small
Engineering firm? We are getting and "Special Discount: to upgrade for
lest than what it will cost to buy from the competition in addition
that I am familiar with STADD.
Thanks,
Pedro Khouri
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