Engineering Drawing and Document Management Software

DV TDM - Cost of Ownership

Why is the total cost of ownership for Dv TDM so much less than Project Wise, AutoEDMS, Cyco, and the rest?.....

Engineering Drawing and Document Management Cost Comparison

Cost of ownership should always be considered when purchasing software and includes: initial purchase price, maintenance and support, infrastructure requirements (additional software, additional hardware, administrative costs, etc.), and module add-on costs.

Through a survey, Practical Programs found that Dv TDM is more cost effective and has a much lower total cost of ownership than the common EDM (engineering document management) programs: Cyco, Project Wise, Documentum, etc. Here are the reasons we found:

Concurrent Licensing – A company typically needs one license for every 4-5 users that will be accessing the system. If a competitor is at the same price per license, but only offers named seat licensing, the cost is already 4-5 times higher on the initial purchase.
Lower Infrastructure Requirements – Dv TDM has a built in web server and only one machine is required to share documents over the internet. No sever software is required. Other systems require 2-3 servers to perform the same function and expensive server software. All of this is accomplished with no degradation in performance.

Customization – Almost everything about Dv TDM is customizable without changing the software code. As a result, an administrator can change security levels, alter how and when a revision number is updated, modify a screen template, change the sequence of drawing numbers, and a lot more without having to pay thousands of dollars for code changes.

Administrator – Some software is so bulky and difficult that it requires a full-time administrator to operate. Dv TDM practically manages itself and most users only spend a couple of hours a week administering the program.

Legacy Document Imports – Most companies require importing of their prior electronic drawings into the new system so the users don’t have to use two systems at once. Also, by having all of your documents indexed (every word), it is much easier to find old drawings for duplication, etc. Dv TDM uses a utility to import and index legacy documents. An Implementer can begin this process at the end of the first day of implementation.

Additional Licenses – Licenses may be added in any increment of one or greater. Customers have been frustrated with big companies that only want to make a sale if it is over $100,000. Dv TDM starter pack of 5 users and implementation starts at under $10,000. Most other companies cannot even do a pilot for that price.

Add-On Modules – Most implementations begin in one department with the most basic features to allow companies to adjust to document management software slowly. Additional feature sets can be broken out into modules and additional charges can quickly surpass the original purchase price of the software. The core Dv TDM include all feature sets in the program with the exception of Dv Web, which can be purchased separately.

Dv TDM is a product of Practical Programs, Inc. and is distributed in thirty-one countries. Dv TDM was developed specially for the engineering industry and includes a special viewer for over 200 file formats including, AutoCAD, Microstation, SolidWorks, Microsoft Office, etc. that also performs advanced functions such as markup and drawing comparison. Visit http://www.practicalprograms.net/cad_management.htm for more details.