Pat Jenakanandhini here.
I know it’s been a while since my last blog post. We have been busy getting the 2013 release out the door. By now, you should be getting the latest release in your hands or downloading it from our subscription center. Go check it out!
Today, I'd like to talk about Autodesk’s customer involvement program or CIP in Autodesk lingo.
What is the CIP program?
It’s a small component integrated with applications like AutoCAD Plant 3D that allows customers to provide us with information that helps us better understand how the product is being used.
What kind of information is collected?
CIP collects information like your operating system, system specs, what version of the software you are running, error conditions and frequency of commands. Autodesk values your privacy and any data we collect is covered by the Autodesk privacy policy accessible here: http://usa.autodesk.com/privacy/. You can even preview your CIP data (directions below). We don’t collect any model data or any other data that would identify what you are working on.
How is this data useful?
As a product manager, I talk to customers to understand how they use the product. I learn about product issues and prioritize the issues and features we need to work on for future releases.
This approach is great but as you can imagine, every company has slightly different processes and ways of doing things. This is where CIP comes in. It allows us to take a look at generalized data and identify patterns of how a majority of users use the product.
An example of CIP data being used is Autodesk’s decision to drop Vista support. We found that a vast majority of our customers were not using Windows Vista and by dropping support for it, we were able to free up resources to tackle problems that we would have otherwise not gotten to.
So, as you can see we need you to help us help you! Participate in the CIP program. It doesn’t affect performance and you will be helping making the product better.
How do I participate in the Customer Involvement Program?
Simply launch AutoCAD Plant 3D, click on the button next the help button as shown below and select “Customer Involvement Program…”
A dialog will display your current setting preference. If it is set to Yes, a big thank you for participating. If it is set to No, switch the option to Yes and that’s it!
As I mentioned earlier, you can preview your CIP data by clicking on the link just above the OK button. Here’s a snapshot of my CIP data.
I hope you found this post useful and informative. Please consider participating in CIP as it truly does help us help you.