Enercalc has not provided single update in 2021 with their maintenance program 5

[McSEpllc]

For folks using Enercalc:

There has been not a single update or revision for the year of 2021 with the ENERCALC maintenance program.
Here is the number of updates for the last six years:

2016: 77 updates
2017: 81 updates
2018: 121 updates
2019: 21 updates
2020: 11 updates
2021: 0 updates

Enercalc’s description of their service:
“Our Maintenance and Support Plan (MSP) ensures that you will always have the latest version of your licensed software
product without any additional cost during the term of the plan. You will receive every new release, version, feature,
enhancement and improvement for your licensed software, ensuring you're always using the most current technology.
This provides a budget-conscious way to ensure you're always using the most current technology. This is the easiest
and most economical way for you and your company to keep your software investment current with all of the enhancements
we are creating on a continual basis.”

Does anyone else think they did not receive this service for the $645 maintenance fee?
I know they are focusing on the subscription base platform.
In my mind they should not have offered the maintenance service, unless they did actually provide this service.

 

[MDBROOKS]

Hello All,

This is Michael Brooks, the guy that founded ENERCALC in 1983 and I am still very much here working 60 hours a week. It's been a great run and continues to be with the great people I work with.
I wanted to address a few comments....speculation can sometimes get way off course.

We are still small and have a very large user base. Because our "tools" software is needed far more than larger analysis programs, we cater to a large segment of the industry.

Several years ago we determined that the program source code base needed a major overhaul (it was started in 2005). Since we offered both installed and cloud software, we needed to design a new platform that could be used seamlessly between the two methods.

Plus the user interface, internal system speed, thread management and future expandability needed an overhaul. And we wanted to bring the RetainPro modules and our 3D FEM program into the SEL as well. We wanted one integrated package.

So this was a nice list and we had a vision for the future path. Then the covid scare started and and daily life was upended. We had to adapt immediately to remote work; our project files are advanced databases that did not work well with systems like VPN's, backup systems like DropBox, USB drives and networked storage systems. We had to scramble and perform a redesign of that portion of our software. It was a messy time with every sort of issue popping up.

So this and other things, plus the code base rewrite, caused very few truly valuable builds to be provided in the last 18 months. But you need to choose your battles and we had many.

To modify what Chris has said about supplying the new "Build 20" to our existing users, we have a very generous and economical plan to supply it to users whose MSP expired after June 1, 2019. You will simply need to wait for the information to arrive because each license is individual to the user. We are very grateful of our users patience and are making the transition to the new system very respectful to all aspects of this process.

To reply to Celt83, we are not focusing on the Cloud platform. We are focusing on an integrated installed and cloud system. In our view the subscription rate of $159 per month for 2 seats of software is extremely reasonable considering the breadth of work the package can do in its new form. We have noted your other comments.

To reply to 3DDave, yes the core coding of Cloud and installed was similar and is now essentially identical. That was a very important part of our rework. It was not easy.

To reply to JoshPlumSE, yes we are small, yes we are engineers first and have acquired considerable software development skills. We are genuinely good people that love what we do, truly care about what we do and purposefully stay small. I (Michael) still own the company after 39 years and you are correct that we were doing a huge rewrite. Fortunately no hardships among any of us!

Chris presented the initial list of changes, but the rewrite of the code base, new user interface, stability and expandability improvements and many other things are implemented. Because the Cloud version has been such a hit we've improved the way it works for standardization, speed and availability in all of Amazon Web Services Datacenters around the globe.

And of course the new Revit <-> ENERCALC SEL direct API system that was recently demonstrated at Audodesk University is incredibly exciting.

We thank all of our users for the dedication they have always exhibited. User #1 is still a user!

Sicnerly,

Michael

 

[JStructsteel]

Not sure what changed, but my build just started working very slow.(5+ mins to save a design and return to the PM) If the build is old, why isnt their documentation up to par with the current build?

Im going to strongly suggest we dont renew, unless of course they extend the support plan since in reality, they have not supported it at all.

 

[Aesur]

Did you update to the new build yet? - It appears to be available now.

Is the file size extremely large with many calculations? Larger files tend to slow down the software as it does for many other pieces of software.

Is the file saved locally on your computer or a server? I found when saving locally or using a hybrid setup (local copy and cloud copy) the file speed increased significantly, where I used to work the server caused the issues with the software being slow sometimes. If the file is saved on the server, try moving to your desktop to troubleshoot as it may be your server and not the software.