Welcome!
Jeff here. I'm an independent OpenRoads trainer, workspace administrator, migrator, consultant...
This site is where I post my immediately-applicable "help stuff" - training, advice, recommendations, etc.
If you need some "active" help, check out CivilXLr8.com. It showcases how I can accelerate, excelerate XLr8 your civil production speed and quality.
Highest Value Advice First:
Don't try to figure OpenRoads out on your own. Back in the InRoads/GEOPAK days, reverse engineering blew budgets and schedules. The OpenRoads platform is dramatically more complicated, and the risk correspondingly worse.
- Talk to a real live person who has been through what you're planning to do.
- If you're part of a mega-organization - find your colleagues who have already been there
- find outside experts
- online communities, user groups, etc.
- talk to consultants
Never wait to get training. Training is available right now. While there is high value in in-person or live training, most of you can get what you need for free right now.
- If you own Bentley software, you likely have access to their LearnServer (learn.bentley.com). Their offerings aren't perfect, but they're in easily-consumable short lean modules. They typically have a downloadable training manual, exercises, and videos of the exercises. They're updated pretty regularly.
- this should be your default training source, unless you have access to customized training.
Twenty five years ago, I authored my take on InRoads and InRoads Drainage training. This time around, I don't see the point. Bentley's LearnServer is my starting point for understanding and keeping current with the software; I recommend it be yours, too.
- There are gaps, and that is my focus as an author and consultant.
YouTube: there's a lot of good content.
Communities: Communities.Bentley.com is your primary support resource. There is good value in their forums and their Knowledgebases (often found via Google search easier than an in-communities search). You can ask questions there, and generally another user will provide answers in a day or two.
Service Ticket: Connect.Bentley.com You pay for Bentley to respond to Service Tickets. They may not resolve your issue, but they're respond to you. Expect a day for someone to ask for more information - so try to be as explicit as possible (dgn's, pictures, step-by-steps, video).
Bentley is a business. You pay them for support. Support resources cost them money. They are trying to provide "sufficient" support for as little money as possible - that's how business works. Is it working for you?
If the support is inadequate, express that to Bentley via all the channels you can.
Bentley, like many large organizations, has formal systems of tracking and addressing issues. "If it's not in the system, it doesn't exist". Get it in their system.
- Log problems (via Service Ticket: Connect.Bentley.com) It consumes time, but the fixers respond to noise - in the system. Bugs need to be logged, and the more people logging an issue (and the bigger the organization logging it), the more likely it will be fixed (depending on a dozen other factors).
- Log enhancements. The OpenRoads Ideas Portal is where Bentley tracks enhancements requests. You can "Vote" for existing requests or log your own.
- Bentley polls their accounts as to their level of Satisfaction. Make sure whoever is filling out the survey is aware of your level of satisfaction.
Do you prefer the advice in video form? Okay, here you go: YouTube: Best Practice for OpenRoads Success
Today
Should I be excited by OpenRoads? Yes!
Why OpenRoads? Six Words (OpenRoads Remembers, Common Data Environment, Extensible)
Need a culture change to maximize your company's capabilities? Here's a great presentation from Bentley's latest Civil User Conference (from VHB's Kyle Rosenmeyer): Bridging the Gap to Digital Delivery
Bentley Guidance
Where can I find Bentley Training on... I get this question in various forms a LOT.
Bentley Buried Topics - I put this together because we have some great content available, but in the warehouse in the closing scene from Raider's of the Lost Ark.
Do you have anything that Bentley missed?
Training Material ("gap" material)
Drainage training
Links (misc)
Tomorrow
Digital Twins
Digital Twins: they're coming. Are you ready?
My advice: don't think "Digital Twins", think "better manage my data".
The OpenRoads platform is designed for BIM and Digital Twins. That means you can improve your workflows incrementally in a manner consistent with BIM principles and technology. All extensible to Digital Twins.
How do you start? Track asset (Feature) data with the Feature by adding properties as you need them. The Technology is called Item Types (AutoDesk uses the better term "Property Sets"). Data is easily added and fully integrated with the full suite of platform tools (like View Display Rules), allowing you do perform more operations in a single platform. It's faster, easier to manage, higher quality, and earns immediate return on your time investment.
Observations here: Digital Twins
Reality Modeling
Within our civil daily life - our typical project work - OpenRoads extends our interoperability, streamlines our tasks, and eliminates most of our re-work. It transforms what we were already were doing.
Asked by a Surveyor "what's the learning curve going from old InRoads Survey to OpenRoads Designer Survey?" I replied, "Almost nothing. You're already an expert. Things streamline, but don't change for you."
Then I thought, "Oh, except for Reality Modeling." That's brand new and it will truly transform how every project proceeds.
Once you've worked a project with a Reality Model, you'll never want to work without one. And you won't have to wait for a surveyor: DIY: Reality Modeling