Likelihood to Recommend Navisworks is a key tool if doing any 3D model coordination with other trades. It will allow you to view your model content with others to know for certain that your design is accurate and can be assembled. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make this process easy.
Read full review Sage Estimating was initially created for the construction industry and many of its current users use it to estimate buildings, but it has adapted quite well for the oil and gas industry. If the user is willing to invest the time and energy to develop and maintain their database, I can see it working for any industry. It is very easy to adjust and adapt the database as estimating methods and project designs change. As an example, our accounting department sometimes changes the way projects are reporting in our accounting software. Because I can go through our 9000 line item database in a couple of days, I am always ahead of the curve and can report my estimates in the format they require.
Read full review Pros Model Viewing, the navigation tools are really easy to use for walking through the model, especially if viewpoints are set up for key locations. The take-offs work really well and can be very quick and easy if the model was built right. Read full review Same format Spreadsheet Ability to adjust by percentages Ability to separate phases into categories Read full review Cons Need more options for clash detection, e.g. clash between only the top and bottom faces of an element For applying different appearance profiles users need to remove previous sets first. Which is not good. They should just provide an ON/OFF button The use of Section planes are bit tricky for new users, they should add options like Revizto Read full review The program has a fairly antiquated user interface such that someone working in it may not feel like they are working with advanced software. Sage Estimating has absolutely no remote access capability outside running it in a Citrix/RDP environment so users have to be using a fat/full client vs. any hopes of access on a mobile device. Read full review Likelihood to Renew It is a good product and meets all of our needs
Read full review Support Rating Autodesk owns Navisworks, and it seems to have a pretty good support network. A lot of the troubleshooting or support information is provided through an online database, so you most likely would not be getting any personal attention with your issues. Since there are so many users for Navisworks, there is a lot of information on the web.
Read full review Sage's support of Estimating is adequate though frankly we rarely need it. Outside of more complex operations such as upgrades and installation problems the program itself is so straightforward that we do not usually have any "issues" and questions that are more about usability can easily be answered in online forums. We trust Sage's capability to answer these questions if needed but rarely use it.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Navisworks is a master tool if we want to do any 3D model coordination with any trade of a building. It allows us to view our model content with all elements to visualize and understand for certain where our design stands in terms of accuracy and how all things can be assembled on site. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make BIM process easy.
Read full review For our needs and after completing a valued score card SAGE has always exceeded our min. requirements
Read full review Return on Investment The software is very easy to use and quick to master, most users can navigate a building or model within a few short sessions, but there is enough depth to use it as a serious productive tool. The software cost of Navisworks Manage is a barrier to smaller companies, and has been a limitation on some of our projects that not all members could use the full functionality. However there is still enough functionality in even the free version to assist with smooth communication between team members. Read full review Manupulation of existing data is very user friendly thanks to "Database Manager". A bit pricey Read full review ScreenShots