Helpful software is something virtually everyone can relate to. The only problem with helpful software is that many times this comes with a hefty price tag. BabaCAD is different.

Autodesk University (AU) 2014 was held in Las Vegas, December 2-4, at the conference center of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Featuring 793 classes, 822 speakers, and 183 exhibitors, AU 2014 offered seminars, training sessions, and activities for several key industries, including architecture, infrastructure, automotive manufacturing, education, construction, and reality computing. Here is a wrap-up of this year's Autodesk University, along with the key takeaways of the event.

Siemens PLM Software just released its latest edition of Tecnomatix. Version 12 offers some updates and enhancements to make plant production planning easier, more efficient, and more cost-effective. While new innovations in plant automation put more production work in the hands of robots, it takes skill and training to operate these systems -- opening up more jobs in manufacturing that pay higher wages, involve less manual labor, and are safer and easier for people. Here are the most notable improvements in Technomatix 12.

Desktop virtualization technology has advanced greatly in recent years and is beginning to offer the robust performance, superior graphics, and quick response times required by users of CAD and other compute-intensive applications. On top of those benefits, virtualization brings other benefits to the CAD user. For instance, virtualization allows remote workers to do their jobs anywhere while maintaining a high level of security for the data stored back on site. It is also perfect for remote file viewing and collaboration, as the speed issue isn't as bothersome as it is during the actual work process. With the right tools, you can create a virtualized CAD experience that is as good as a desktop CAD workstation. Here's how.

Lenovo, one of the world's top consumer PC manufacturers, is a contender in the professional workstation market as well, and making gains every year. Earlier this year, Lenovo introduced a new family of workstations -- the P-Series -- which offers features that CAD users need to check out.

Everybody's on a budget. At the same time, work deadlines are getting tighter and workloads are growing larger. So, what are the best investments that actually return higher productivity relative to their costs? When it comes time to upgrade your CAD workstation, here's where you can get the boom for the buck.

The primary difference between SSDs and HDDs is that SSDs don't move, whereas HDDs are continually spinning. The price is also considerably different, with SSDs costing six to eight times as much as the same amount of storage space in an HDD. So, when is it worth the exorbitant cost of an SSD? There are actually several instances when the cost is worth the performance.

When Dell announced the new Precision T1700, reviewers went wild. Is this compact workstation truly that innovative? After all, Lenovo and HP already had compact workstations well before Dell jumped on the mini wagon. As a latecomer to the world of CAD compactness, the true innovation in the Precision T1700 is not so much the size of the machine as the price. This workstation sells for about the same amount as a high-end desktop computer. Is it worth raving over?

The problem with new innovations like CAD and BIM (Building Information Modeling) is that, to most executives, it all sounds like a normal extension of the job of the IT manager. After all, it's all "technology," right? So the "information technology" specialist ought to be able to handle it.