Category: Future

Aconex releases v.10.0

Starting yesterday, users of the Aconex Software-as-a-Service construction collaboration platform will be gradually being moved to a new release of the solution. Version 10.0 has been a long time in development, having apparently been the subject of in-depth user research, detailed staff input and some expert work by one of the world’s leading usability consultancies …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/09/aconex-releases-v100/

Woobius pushing the self-service SaaS offer

From its April 2009 launch, Woobius* has been looking to differentiate itself from competitors by virtue of its simplicity (see posts 1, 2). It still believes this is the right approach (albeit less overtly) and while most of its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) construction collaboration competitors, UK and overseas, still employ conventional sales and deployment consultants, Woobius has …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/09/woobius-pushing-the-self-service-saas-offer/

Asite’s Appbuilder and Platform-as-a-Service

UK-based construction collaboration software developer Asite is looking to emulate Salesforce‘s Force.com Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering by creating a platform to host construction-related applications built using its Appbuilder development framework. This is the latest development in the competitive world of construction collaboration technology, but is likely to be quickly emulated by Asite’s key rivals. Background Ten …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/08/asites-appbuilder-and-platform-as-a-service/

OpeningDesign.com

Partly through my involvement with Be2camp and partly because of my interests in online collaborative spaces, I was contacted by US-based architect Ryan Shultz of Studio Wikitecture to have a look at a very early, ‘alpha stage’ website concept, OpeningDesign.com. As Ryan candidly admits, this application is still experimental, and is currently a combination of …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/08/openingdesigncom/

CAD in the cloud

Two interesting articles by Robert Green in Cadalyst’s CAD Managers’ Newsletter, both focused on CAD in the cloud, caught my eye. The first, What is cloud computing, and does it make sense for CAD users? gives a brief overview of the pros and cons of using CAD on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis. The follow-up article, …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/08/cad-in-the-cloud/

Construction in year 2030

Last November, I wrote (post) about a SCRI report on the future of construction ICT, which put collaboration at its heart. That message has been reprised in a paper by Carl Abbott, Bilge Erdogan and Ghassan Aouad just published by the Royal Society: Construction in year 2030: developing an information technology vision. Section 4, A …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/07/construction-in-year-2030/

Integrated Lifecycle Solutions

Former Constructware executives Scott Unger and Brian Moore are half-way towards their $1.5m equity funding target for a new business, Integrated Lifecycle Solutions – perhaps another sign that the US market for construction collaboration technologies is increasingly buoyant. The news (see TechJournalSouth article) follows a regulatory filing showing the team has so far raised $765,000 …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/06/integrated-lifecycle-solutions/

4Projects team expanding

I’ve just been reading a newspaper article (Software firm 4Projects continues with recruitment drive) about how UK construction collaboration technology vendor 4Projects is expanding its team. The company has added nine employees to its 60-strong team since the end of 2009, and says it is likely to add as many again by the end of …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/05/4projects-team-expanding/

Construction IT spend still very cost-conscious

Building-ConIT table

An article by Stephen Kennett, Construction is second worst investor in IT, in Building magazine (registration required) last week highlights that the UK construction sector is slowly improving its approach to information technologies, but the picture revealed by the NCC/Construct IT survey varies depending on what type of organisation you look at. Construction firms still …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/05/construction-it-spend-still-very-cost-conscious/

COBie – the bridge between BIM and collaboration technologies?

My previous post, It’s been about collaboration all along, highlighted some emerging similarities between UK and US practices with regard to collaborative working – partly driven (at least in the USA) by the need to rethink industry approaches to management of people and processes as building information modelling (BIM) looms larger on the industry horizon. …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/05/cobie-the-bridge-between-bim-and-collaboration-technologies/

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