I think the rush to embrace new for the sake of new because a group of people see a way to make money is a foolhardy thing. Yes I know the cloud is going to be used in some areas as I have said before but not for critical data like CAD as far as I am concerned. I am rethinking even for banking as there are more and more problems and at some point in time people will lose out. At the very least to be safe you have to hire something like Lifelock to protect your identity online. There is a price to pay for convenience in either stolen identities and or cash or at the least fees you have to pay each month for insurance like Lifelock.
Cool, tech savvy, cutting edge etc but mostly executives looking to reduce expenses any way possible and believing too much in hype. My favorite types are of course MBA’s and CPA’s without a primary or secondary degree in real world disciplines like Engineering or manufacturing. Basically the same group of clowns that brought you tech support from people who can’t speak English and have to read from the script while they try to solve your problem. Big money saved for them but what about their customers?
Today I read this. http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2012/09/13/microsoft-disrupts-the-emerging-nitol-botnet-being-spread-through-an-unsecure-supply-chain.aspx
This follows what was recently revealed with Military items which were similarly compromised because our MBA CPA types have moved huge chunks of our manufacturing to places like China. Word to the wise. If the company that wants you to put CAD on the Cloud will not make a clear and binding commitment to you as a customer to make you whole from any damages from forced usage of the cloud can you afford to be there? The world is getting more complex all the time and you can ill afford to purchase a service that the offering company will not stand behind when it is you and your company who will be left holding the bag.
If you are wondering about the cloud or considering useage of the cloud for CAD perhaps this would be a link of interest. http://www.zdnet.com/topic-security/ Read this for a few weeks and see for yourself about why none of these cloud for CAD vendors will stand behind what they want you to buy into.
As an aside here. Our government is a serious participant in the undermining of the US manufacturing base. They inflict ADA, EPA, OSHA, affirmative action, and tons of other things that have gone so far past reasonable or justifiable, like Homeland Security has become, and into the realm of confiscation and socialism that it is hard to imagine this is America anymore. Then they allow companies to relocate to places like China where they can do what they want with ten times the pollution introduced into the atmosphere as what would have happened here and no alphabet agencies to ruin their days. This November there will be perhaps the last time to vote against all this crap before we slide over the cliff if indeed it is not to late no matter who gets in. I am afraid we are in for a time of real trouble which will last for years no matter what and the best we can do is limit the damage by getting rid of the big government socialists in BOTH parties and begin reconstruction for the future.
I don’t normally put politics in here but sorry, it does affect me as a CAD user and as a company owner and I am getting tired of being walked over by big bad government and lazy people who want to stay at home and goof off while I have to work. Oh, and 100,000 dollar a year teachers that can’t teach in Obama’s back yard. His buds don’t you know.
Machined Audio Horn Lens 
Testify Brother!
Cloud Security is not being spoken about by those cloud proponents.
The only comments are the typical “It’s as safe as online banking!.”
Online Banking isn’t safe or secure but it has one distinct advantage that Cloud use does not.
Online banking customers are protected by clear and unambiguous indemnification.
Bank customers don’t have to worry about being made whole when the banks security is breached.
Not a single Cloud vendor is currently willing to indemnify its “customers”.
That tells me all I need to know about how trustworthy they are as a vendor.
If AutoDesk or Dassault think they can force the cloud on its customer base without a marketplace reaction, they will learn the hard way.
The market will respond like it always does.
A company will emerge that gives customers the products they want and need.
Tim, you are correct, banking is regulated and does provide a measure of protection. The software business may never be; the likes of Autodesk and Dassault would fight very hard to prevent laws coming into place of a similar nature.
“…..without marketplace reaction, they will learn the hard way. The market will respond like it always does.” This I find worrying; if you mean by the “market”, software users, will react in a way to protect themselves – from “evil” vendors – I would probably disagree. Past experience points to the reverse being true. Software users, as a group, cannot be relied to respond appropriately even after they realize the danger.
A recent incidence can be seen in the release of Autodesk’s 2013 online & offline Help system. It was rubbish! It will have cost/lost many subscription customers considerable sums of money. To make matter worse Autodesk’s “team leader” wanted users to help, to provide suggestions, on how to make it better. More lost customer dollars in the form of FREE support to paid employees (who stuffed it in the first place) and a CAD vendor being paid in advance for product!
Months after the release we now have an upgraded (improved) system and a staff leader more than happy to accept the accolades – but there is a sting. The “fix”, if you can call it that, is only the online version NOT the offline files. So you see. use the cloud or else is Autodesk’s warning to customers. Offline subscription users are NOT getting the equivalent service for an equivalent fee. User wanting/needing to work offline are seen, by Autodesk and their paid personnel, as second rate customers!
Autodesk’s idea of how to run a design business is do it our way and or expect to get less for your dollar. This is not just poor customer service these actions border on fraud! Autodesk is taking customer(s) money knowing full well it is not going to provide the same product and services, for the same fee, equally to all customers.
Does the market react to this? Some individual speak-up but the answer, relating to the market as a whole, is NO.
The second example I draw on is my experience relating to Autodesk’s EULA. In short there was a point where Autodesk’s EULA went, in one step, from being reasonable to un-conscionable. Despite the effort I put in to bring this to my customers and the wider markets attention, all but a few, sat on their hands. The result, eight years later, ALL Autodesk customers now have Trojan software on their business desing computers busily sending customer IP to Autodesk, on a daily basis, without permission and in many cases without the users even knowing!
Every person/company who heard what I had to say, and saw what I had captured was appalled and next to NOBODY was game enough to stand with me an challenge Autodesk to bring about the changes necessary!
If that is the type of market reaction to be expected if/when CAD software becomes more cloud centric than it already is then, I for one, are none too optimistic future design data is going to be as secure as it is being touted it is.
This whole issue need more than several reacting as we are here: design data in the cloud problems need to be responded too by a large collective response by customers covering a wide spectrum of software vendors because NO vendor will forgo the control the cloud gives to win customers from another vendor.
Due entirely to customer laziness, all CAD vendors now feel so empowered to do whatever they wish, they will, and customers will simply have to “grin and bear it!”
R. Paul –
You posted some interesting information.
I would grant that currently, AutoDesk is not to be trusted.
However, I wouldn’t paint all CAD vendors with the same brush.
There are alternatives out there.
As AutoDesk becomes more and more obnoxious towards their customers, they can’t continue it forever.
Enterprise users will move to another platform if AutoDesk continues to operate the way they do.
Smaller companies can and will make the move much quicker.
I do agree that customer laziness is definitely a problem
However, that problem is a creation of poor Enterprise management where the end users and intellectual property owners are too far removed from the process of CAD/PLM acquisition and maintenance.