Should Design Technology be part of IT?

Description

When the role of a CAD Manager, and more so BIM Manager, became a regular part of design firms, several questions arose. Should this Manager work on projects too? Should this person have a billable expectation? Should this role be a practitioner or someone completely unique? Should the Manager be part of an Architectural Studio or an Engineering Group, or should they sit outside the design teams? Many of these questions were debated early on, and as the industry evolved, so did the CAD and BIM Manager roles. What was once an isolated role became several people in a group, and responsibilities expanded from a focused software-type management to a larger umbrella of technology. With this evolution, should we again consider these questions? The one that is particularly interesting is where does this team/group sit, and who do they report to? Is it the design and project side; is it IT; or is it somewhere else? Please join this roundtable to share your experiences and opinions.

Key Learnings

• Revisit some classic questions about CAD and BIM Management roles
• Should CAD and BIM Managers be part of design teams or IT?
• Should CAD and BIM Managers have billable expectations?
• Should CAD and BIM Managers be design professionals or software experts?