CEO Bertrand Sicot’s perspective on SolidWorks 2013
Earlier today we unveiled the new features included in SolidWorks 2013. We are excited about this release, which includes new tools for geometry creation, productivity, collaboration and more. But something you won’t get on our SolidWorks 2013 website is news about the incredible things happening within the global SolidWorks community.
The number of SolidWorks users is continuing to grow at an amazing rate. It was only four years ago that we announced our one-millionth user, and by the time we get to SolidWorks World 2013 next January, we are expecting to reach two million. To me, that is an amazing number, and if you are using (or learning how to use) SolidWorks today, it’s confirmation that you are in good company. Let’s take a look at some of the numbers.
But the SolidWorks community is not about numbers—it’s about people. Our mission is to make it easy for you to bring the ideas in your head to life, as well as help to prepare the next generation of engineers and designers for success. SolidWorks is currently being taught in over 25,000 schools worldwide, including 72% of the world’s top universities, as well as a growing number of high schools, and even middle schools.
Over 2.5 million students use SolidWorks every day—some of them as young as 10 years old. The SolidWorks Certification Program allows qualified schools to provide Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) exams to their students. We want to help provide qualified students to our commercial customers that require highly trained, skilled young designers and engineers. CSWA certification lets you know that a recent graduate will be ready to work on day one.
Here’s something else you might not know. In 2006 we started soliciting feedback from our customers annually with a quantitative, Web-based survey. We ask questions about how customers are using SolidWorks, their satisfaction with the software, our company, and their reseller.
Our most recent survey closed just last week after running for a month, and we received around 25,000 customer responses. I am extremely happy to report that overall satisfaction is 94%–that’s up from 93% in 2011, and from 89% in 2007. The development team at SolidWorks has done an incredible job over the last few years to make the tools you use every day more reliable, and I believe that these numbers show that those efforts are paying off. But we can still do better, and I’m confident that next year, we’ll get even closer to 100%.
In closing, I would like to thank our customers for helping us get to where we are today. Helping you make the designs that change the world is truly what motivates all of us. I would also like to thank all of the SolidWorks resellers and solution partners who are helping SolidWorks customers every day. You are an important part of the SolidWorks community, and we appreciate everything you do.
And finally, thank you to every SolidWorks employee past and present. You are the best team in the industry, and I’m looking forward to more amazing things in years to come.
Now, if you haven’t already, go take a look at SolidWorks 2013 to see what’s new. Thank you again, and let’s go design!
Bertrand Sicot
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