Tag: construction collaboration technologies

Simple collaboration still competitive

I enjoyed a chat with Colin Barnes, CEO of Manchester, UK-based SaaS construction collaboration vendor Collabor8online, recently. His business launched in late 2009 (post) and is pitched at the competitive, small-to-medium sized business (SME), low-cost end of the construction collaboration market (post), but that hasn’t stopped him developing features emulating some of the more sophisticated …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2013/06/simple-collaboration-still-competitive/

COINS acquires e-Xact Online

A former client of mine, construction industry software solutions provider COINS, recently acquired e-Xact Online, the product information service for building materials (reports BuildersMerchantsNews.com; see also COINS news release). e-Xact Online was launched in 1999, originally by the Builders Merchants Federation, with the assistance of a DETR government grant that was aimed at removing costs …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2011/04/coins-acquires-e-xact-online/

Online collaboration for marketing and sales

Enhancing customer service is one area where many AEC firms could do better, and web-based tools can help support marketing and sales activities. Show Document and VeriShow I wrote about the SaaS generic design review application Show Document about 18 months ago. I didn’t devote much time to it from a construction perspective as it …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2011/03/online-collaboration-for-marketing-and-sales/

Not just NEC3, JCT needs to be managed too

The web-based RICS Contract Administrator automates and speeds up the production of JCT contract forms, but why do some of its users still print them out and send them? Amid the recent burst of marketing activity by UK construction SaaS vendors promoting their NEC management capabilities (see links to previous posts below), it is easy …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2011/03/not-just-nec3-jct-needs-to-be-managed-too/

Five things that no ‘collaboration’ vendor gets completely right

Following a conversation that started via Twitter, I asked an experienced document controller to write a guest blog post about her top five wish-list for construction collaboration technologies. It seems none of the existing vendors get it right on every point…. I am a document controller with around nine years’ experience and have used most …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2011/02/five-things-that-no-collaboration-vendor-gets-completely-right/

ICT4Construction, 25 March 2011

I will be talking about “The state of construction collaboration – and where do we go from here”, and am now also chairing the ICT4Construction conference on Document & Knowledge Management Technology, at Central Hall, Westminster, London on Friday 25 March 2011. Organiser Recep Saffet has brought together speakers from a range of vendors (many …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2011/02/ict4construction-25-march-2011/

Senubo to launch early 2011

Not strictly a collaboration solution, more an expertise-oriented social network, start-up Senubo is set to launch in early 2011. Yesterday I attended a half-day workshop organised by the Construction Productivity Network focused on how to get the UK construction industry to deliver “more for less” – a topical ambition given that tomorrow the government is …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/10/senubo-to-launch-early-2011/

Does “industry leadership” matter?

I was reading comments on LinkedIn about a Pauley Creative blog post by Pritesh Patel (5 reasons why construction companies should be blogging); in the comments, Pritesh argues too many firms make unsubstantiated claims about being market leading, etc, without proving their leadership. A quick look at the websites of several of the longest-established UK-based …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/09/does-industry-leadership-matter/

Yechte Consulting: managing offshore design costs

Earlier this week at the RIBA in London I had coffee with Ben Tellin, a trained architect and managing director of Yechte Consulting. His company, with bases in London and Bangalore, India, provides off-shore outsourcing services to architects and engineers (often adding an international dimension to the network of people already collaborating on a UK …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/09/yechte-consulting-managing-offshore-design-costs/

Panama landmark project for Aconex

Yesterday I talked to Aconex‘s Dexter Bachelder (VP Americas) and Frank Carron (VP marketing) about a major deal that, for me, is a landmark in the adoption of web-based construction collaboration technologies. Australia-based vendor Aconex announced yesterday (see news release) that it had been selected to provide collaboration support services to the US$3.2 billion Panama …

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Permanent link to this article: http://extranetevolution.com/2010/07/panama-landmark-project-for-aconex/

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