Category: SaaS

Nov 30 2009

Rob Phillpot on Aconex, APIs and acquisitions

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Functionality, Future, Marketing, People issues, SaaS, Vendors
30 November 2009

Following my recent posts on Aconex‘s API announcement and its 2009 financial results, I spent 40 minutes quizzing Rob Phillpot, company co-founder and General Manager, Product, about planned developments of the Aconex construction collaboration system. It was a fascinating insight into the thinking behind the world’s most widely used SaaS collaboration platform. I was particularly …

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/rob-phillpot-on-aconex-apis-and-acquisitions/

Nov 25 2009

SaaS to grow (again)

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, Functionality, Future, Internet, SaaS, Vendors
25 November 2009

The Construction Software State of the Industry Report, produced by US-based firm Software Advice, is highlighting five trends (three of them upwards), relating to software buying habits, and suggests that the current recession makes Software-as-a-Service-based solutions even more attractive: Software as a Service is in the right place at the right time Software as a …

accounting, Aconex, AEC, APIs, architecture, Asite, BIW, Business Collaborator, cash-flow planning, Coda, COINS, collaboration, Conject, Construction, costs, dot.com, Engineering, ERP, estimating, file sharing, financial control, hosting, implementation, Incite, Intuit, Kashflow, MYOB, project extranets, project management, property, recession, SaaS, SaaSu, Sage, service management, Software Advice, Software-as-a-Service, subscription pricing, Timberline, USA, Xero
3 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/saas-to-grow-again/

Nov 24 2009

Collabor8 online

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, Functionality, Marketing, SaaS, Telecoms, Vendors
24 November 2009

This year I have written about several low-cost, even no-cost, collaboration solutions that might be used by businesses in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry (eg: Glasscubes, e-Grou, Incite Toolbox, ShowDocument, drop.io, Clouds UK, Woobius, Colaab). Even the deepest recession that most AEC professionals can remember has not deterred people from launching new solutions. …

AEC, Amtech, approvals, architecture, Asite, Barnes Computing, building services, Clouds UK, Colaab, Colin Barnes, Collabor8 Ltd, Collabor8online, commenting, Construction, construction collaboration, contracting, customisation, drop.io, dwg formats, e-Grou, Engineering, Estimation ltd, Excel, Glasscubes, Host Telecom, hosted, Incite Toolbox, M&, mark-up, multiple uploads, Newcastle, Nicholas Mark Jellyman, online file management, PDF, photos, Project Extranet, recession, RSS feeds, search, security, self-hosted, ShowDocument, Staffordshire, version control, video, Woobius, Word, workflow, XBC, YouTube
3 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/collabor8-online/

Nov 23 2009

Project Bluestreak

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Collaboration, Functionality, Future, Internet, SaaS, Vendors, Web 2.0
23 November 2009

Autodesk’s AEC division has just launched an experimental BIM collaboration environment, Project Bluestreak, aimed at “accelerating building information modeling through the open exchange of design information and ideas between desktop applications, web-based services, and people” (reports Autodesk blogger Scott Sheppard). It is also deploying Web 2.0 tools to help speed up the development of the …

AEC, Autodesk, building information modeling, Buzzsaw, collaboration, Constructware, Facebook, GetSatisfaction, Piotr Zurek, Project Bluestreak, Scott Sheppard, Twitter, Web 2.0, YouTube

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/project-bluestreak/

Nov 20 2009

The conject interview

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, Functionality, Future, Marketing, People issues, SaaS, Vendors
20 November 2009

Having recently received a comment from Chris Brandt, CTO at conject, I thought it was high time that I took a more detailed look at this construction and real estate collaboration vendor. Based in Munich, Germany, but with operations across most of Europe, conject has gradually been expanding its international reach beyond Europe. It has …

4Projects, Aconex, acquisitions, Africa, application service provision, Asia, ASP, Bilfinger Berger, BIM, BIW, BMW, Boston, building information modelling, Business Collaborator, CAFM, cash-flow planning, Chris Brandt, Citadon, client/server, collaboration, Conject, conversion, Deutsche Bank, dot.com bubble, Dubai, Elke Tonscheidt, fat client, France, Germany, heating, Hochtief, Hugo Boss, IKEA, ILM, infrastructure lifecycle management, lifecycle, Lufthansa, Luxembourg, maintenance, multi-tenant, Munich, pre-tax profit margin, profit, real estate, SaaS, Siemens Real Estate, Singapore, South Africa, Sword CTSpace, T-Mobile, ThyssenKrupp, turnover, UK, USA
6 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/the-conject-interview/

Nov 17 2009

“A tough year for BIW”

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, Future, Legal, People issues, SaaS, Vendors
17 November 2009

Duncan Mactear of 4Projects has forwarded me an article about [my former employer] BIW Technologies, published recently to subscribers to Megabuyte.com (an “invaluable source of market intelligence for IT companies, their advisers and investors providing in-depth coverage of the corporate and financial affairs of all of the UK’s leading listed and privately owned software & …

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/a-tough-year-for-biw/

Nov 11 2009

ADePT Management

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Collaboration, Functionality, Future, Marketing, SaaS, Web 2.0
11 November 2009

I attended the November meeting of the London Constructing Excellence Club last night, and heard a presentation by Andy Newton of Adept Management, talking about the Analytical Design Planning Technique (ADePT) and supporting software and services. I suspect most of the audience had never heard of ADePT before, but I met Andy in the early …

Adept, Adept Management, aerospace, Analytical Design Planning Technique, Andy Newton, Asta PowerProject, automotive, BIM, BIW Technologies, BSF, Building Schools for the Future, collaboration, Constructing Excellence, Construction, defence, design deliverables, interdependency, Kent, London, MS Project, PlanWeaver, Primavera, schedules, Software-as-a-Service, USA, Web 2.0

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/adept-management/

Nov 09 2009

Asite Autumn 09 release

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, Functionality, Future, Marketing, SaaS, Vendors, Web 2.0
9 November 2009

UK construction collaboration vendor Asite has issued its Autumn 09 Release, says a website notice dated 6 November 2009. Three hightlights I picked out: New maps “mash-ups” – using either a Google Maps portlet or a Microsoft Virtual Earth / Bing Maps portlet. The Virtual Earth portlet supports 3D visualisation, meaning users can render their …

3D visualisation, Asite, Asite Community, Asite Navigator, Bing Maps, BIW, blog, building information modelling, BuildLondonLive, ECC, ECSC, forums, Google Maps, graphical dashboard, LinkedIn, mash-ups, MPS, NEC Manager, NEC2, portlet, ProCure21+, PSC, TSC, Twitter, Web 2.0
1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/asite-autumn-09-release/

Nov 06 2009

Business Collaborator growth slows

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, SaaS, Vendors
6 November 2009

Business Collaborator, the Reading, Berkshire-based provider of construction collaboration technologies (and other applications including an ethical supplier database, SEDEX) has just reported its financial results for the year to 31 December 2008 at Companies House. At the time of its 2007 figures (published very promptly in April 2008 – post), directors of the Unit 4 …

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2009/11/business-collaborator-financials/

Nov 05 2009

Recession hits Aconex order book, it sheds staff, but still grows

By Paul Wilkinson in AEC, Business/Financial, Collaboration, Extranet/CDE, Future, SaaS, Vendors
5 November 2009

Australia-based Software-as-a-Service construction collaboration technology vendor Aconex has just signed off its accounts for the year ending 30 June 2009, and they show another year of growth, albeit slower than in previous years (see Aconex reports…, 2008, and Aconex results hit by legal row, 2007). This is no surprise, of course. The global recession has …