Oct 24 2005

Autodesk DWG TrueView

AECnews gives news of a new free, downloadable DWG/DXF viewer from Autodesk. Users may well baulk at a 100MB download and then find it difficult to use – according to Randall Newton, in Autodesk’s features comparison table, “Easy to use interface” is not checked for DWG TrueView! Honesty or an oversight?

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/autodesk_dwg_tr/

Oct 24 2005

Internet ‘fundamentally changing’ UK businesses

According to Silicon.com, the web is transforming traditional business practices as UK firms increasingly use technology to communicate and transact online with customers and suppliers.

The e-Value Matters report, from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and sponsored by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), says it is the "end of the beginning" of e-business in the UK as automation of processes evolves into more fundamental transformation of business practices. The CBI press release gives a bit more detail of the report’s highlights, noting "e-business has continued to move out of the IT department, up the corporate hierarchy and into the business mainstream".

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/internet_fundam/

Oct 24 2005

VOWLAN

Having got my head round Wi-fi and VOIP, I now find that the two can be combined in VOWLAN: Voice Over Wireless Local Area Network.

We can expect the number of businesses using this technology to triple by 2007, says Silicon.com. Good headline, but the research was focused on the US, where penetration could reach 31% in another two years time.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/vowlan/

Oct 21 2005

Not THE Paul Wilkinson? (2)

As if to underline that I am not the only Paul Wilkinson, my publisher Taylor & Francis forwarded a letter from the British Library asking me to confirm my full name and date of birth. My daughter Frankie was impressed that a copy of the book is going to be held for posterity (though slightly puzzled by the idea of a library which doesn’t lend books).

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/not_the_paul_wi_1/

Oct 21 2005

NCCTP Conference, 15 November

Since 2000, Emap’s construction publications group, with marketing director Ross Sturley at the forefront, was an active promotor of extranet technologies in the UK construction market, particularly through its various conferences. Now that the NCCTP has begun to mature, it has started to promote its own events. The first NCCTP Conference will be held in London on 15 November, but Emap clearly remains a friend – its ConstructionPlus website events listing gives the event some welcome additional publicity.

I am looking forward to the event. It has moved away from being a platform for vendors to promote their software to being an educational event aimed at improving understanding of the technologies and – in particular – the people and process issues (I will chairing one of the sessions on legal issues). The afternoon sessions on collaboration in other industries (in this instance, aerospace) and in other countries (the USA) should be particularly fascinating.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/ncctp_conferenc-2/

Oct 20 2005

IT departments doomed?

In the ‘Future’ chapter of my book, I mused on the future of the in-house IT department – echoing comments made months ago by Silicon.com columnist Peter Cochrane. Today, a Silicon.com item reports that Gartner is also making similar predictions. We are about to enter a period of radical change for IT departments, Gartner says, which will see "at least three-quarters of IT departments change their role with 10 per cent completely disbanded and 10 per cent relegated to commodity status."

This news may be welcomed by some AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) people, who often have a very dim view of the capabilities of their in-house IT people. Too often, they are regarded as obstacles which have to be won round to new innovations (such as extranets, for example), rather than being facilitators looking for solutions to improve the process of delivering modern projects.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/it_departments_/

Oct 20 2005

Wi-fi cities

A BBC article Wi-fi cities spark hotspot debate talks about US cities which are planning to offer low-cost or even free wi-fi services to their citizens just like other utilities such as water or electricity – but big business is ganging up to prevent this threat to existing telecoms businesses. I like the notion of providing free access to low-income households (currently often excluded), to support new businesses, etc, but surely the major telecoms corporations will try to offer competing broadband solutions that offer higher bandwidth but at a cost – effectively maintaining a technology gap between rich and poor.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/wifi_cities/

Oct 18 2005

4Projects revamps website

4Projects has launched a new corporate website, revealing a new brand identity.

The accompanying news release notes the site also includes "opportunities for … individuals who might be seeking a new challenge in our dynamic working environment", and – perhaps indicative of recent turnover within the 4Projects ranks – the recruitment page lists four posts to be filled.

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/4projects_revam/

Oct 18 2005

UK Broadband: no such thing?

Peter Cochrane’s blog at Silicon.com destroys the idea that the UK is a leader in broadband technology.

"… the UK fits into the world scene as follows: by households online: around 15th; by population served: around 18th; by growth rate last year: 14th; by lines added in 2004/5: fourth; by total lines per capita: sixth."

He also underlines the contention ratio issue (I touched on this briefly yesterday) quite succinctly:

"It is not unusual for between five and 15 (or more) UK customers to share a single port. Ergo, the actual rates presented can be one-fifth to one-fifteenth of the 128 to 512Kbps speed – and therefore a fraction of a typical dial-up connection. Indeed, some customers have complained that so-called broadband services have been so slow they have reverted to dial-up as their primary service."

Contrast this with the situation in Korea and Japan, where they started with a 10Mbps service as standard, then quickly moved up to 50Mbps, and are currently rolling out 100Mbps. And, by law, the advertised rate has to be supplied to every customer! As Peter says: "we don’t have any broadband to speak of…. The real online revolution has yet to hit the UK."

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/uk_broadband_no/

Oct 18 2005

Autodesk Buzzsaw not ‘consistent’ market leader

"Since 1999, Autodesk® Buzzsaw® has consistently led the market for project collaboration and management solutions." What’s wrong with this assertion (made on the Autodesk website here)?

Well, ignoring the claim to market leadership (made, after all, by just about every construction collaboration technology vendor I know), it’s the word ‘consistently’. The statement – probably an oversight on Autodesk’s part – conveniently overlooks the troubled early years of the Buzzsaw project.

Buzzsaw.com was launched in November 1999 – near the peak of the dot.com bubble – by Autodesk Ventures, a specialist division established purely to invest in new web-based startups. Buzzsaw was spun off as a separate company with a substantial investment of both former Autodesk personnel and Autodesk money (read Casey Elston’s CADdigest article for the full story), with ProjectPoint as its online project collaboration service.

To cut a long story short, having burned its way through some $90 million (including an estimated $23.5 million from Autodesk), by early 2001 Buzzsaw.com was nowhere near profitability – having offered some of its services for free to establish a larger user-base; it then began closing down some of its operations – including its London office – and laying off its people. Autodesk acquired the business in July 2001, paying $15 million cash for the 60% shareholding that it didn’t own, and ProjectPoint was later re-branded as an Autodesk product: Buzzsaw.

But I somehow don’t think we’ll see a more historically correct assertion: "Since 1999, the Autodesk-backed spin-off Buzzsaw.com using ProjectPoint, which we then bought back in 2001, subsequently rebranding its application as Autodesk® Buzzsaw®, has led the market for project collaboration and management solutions." Doesn’t really have the same impact, does it?

Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2005/10/autodesk_buzzsa-3/

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