Jan 22 2008

IT project failures: SaaS to the rescue

Hardly a month goes by, it seems, without news of yet another government IT project running late, going over-budget or not working as it was envisaged. High time then that public agencies switched from conventional software to Software-as-a-Service. Not just my opinion, but also one shared by a senior US official in the Bush administration – reported by Michael Krigsman in his IT Project Failures blog.

In Government turns to SaaS to salvage IT failures, Krigsman reports the remarks of White House IT administrator, Karen Evans, who told a recent conference that SaaS could improve government IT projects and systems.

The same argument could, of course, be applied to UK government IT projects – which seem to be hardly out of the newspapers at the moment.

For example, the latest security lapse, involving theft of a Ministry of Defence laptop holding confidential information on potential army recruits, would not have happened if the data had been securely stored in a central repository and managed using a SaaS application accessed via a web-browser. Too many people still feel that they need to carry around copies of information on their own laptops. With a broadband connection and some secure routing they could view exactly the same information onscreen – just as many construction project team members already do. It isn’t necessary for, say, an architect to carry round a powerful laptop holding copies of all his CAD files relating to a particular project. From his home PC, from an internet cafe or a guest desktop in a project Portakabin, he could open a standard web-browser, log-in to his chosen collaboration provider and then access and review all the latest drawings, documents, forms, messages and alerts relating to his project.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/it-project-fail/

Jan 18 2008

SaaS and construction collaboration in 2008 (2)

Continuing my thinking about some trends for 2008 (see yesterday’s post), here’s my next prediction….

3. Collaboration vendors to push SaaS and sustainability

Vendors of construction collaboration technologies have generally been pretty upbeat about the contribution their systems can make to helping construction project teams work more sustainably (see my first IT and sustainable construction post). The usual examples relate to:

  • reducing use of paper (printing, copying)
  • cutting transport of said paper (also paper management and storage), and
  • reducing the requirement to travel to meetings (also supporting home working).

Given the various systems’ abilities to count how many drawings and other documents they manage, it doesn’t take much to produce some impressive statistics about the potential paper savings – sometimes illustrated by reference to piles of paper X times the height of London’s Nelson’s Column or enough to cover a football pitch X times over (see this post too) – or to quantify the reduced number of drawing deliveries and the consequent impact on petrol consumption and air quality, etc.

Paper savings

For example, in my submission to the government’s consultation paper on sustainable construction, I wrote:

From January 2000 to October 2007, BIW users published 3 million original construction drawings, which were potentially distributed via 24 million copies. Similarly, 1.7 million original documents, plus 13.6 million copies, were also published.

Electronic publication and dissemination does not eliminate paper altogether; some items will still be printed out – but around 60% will not. So far as the BIW user community alone is concerned, this equates to a paper saving of around 16 million drawings and 9 million other documents – equivalent to a pile of paper 4.3km high, weighing 1700 tonnes.

Note: this is just the paper saving arising from the paper items themselves. It does not include associated transmittal notes, printing cover sheets, packaging, etc.

Insofar as I may be able to influence this trend, I will be urging fellow members of the vendors body NCCTP to collate figures for their users to improve understanding of the potential paper savings arising from employing such technologies.

SaaS and sustainability

However, as I went on to write, we could also exploit some interesting technological dimensions on sustainability that relate to SaaS provision:

Externally-hosted, web-based solutions mean no, low or lower in-house IT hosting, support and storage requirements – widespread use of SaaS applications could dramatically reduce the scale of in-house ICT resources, with a corresponding reduction in hardware, data storage, personnel, energy use and other overheads.

Of course, some may argue that out-sourcing application and data-hosting to a SaaS provider simply moves overheads elsewhere. However, SaaS providers tend to manage customers’ software and data on a multi-tenant basis (ie: sharing a common but scalable infrastructure, usually in a dedicated, secure, purpose-built facility, with multiple back-up systems). Rather than project team members running several separate hosting environments and all consuming power even when the systems are not fully utilised, the SaaS approach concentrates all the hardware and software in facilities that makes optimum use of energy to power the hardware, provide cooling, etc – “economies of scale”. Thus, while such server-farm facilities are demanding in their use of power, they will consume less energy than the end-users trying to maintain their own separate ICT infrastructures.

It is also worth considering the potential impact of web-delivered applications and data on what type of devices are used by end-users. With software and associated data sitting ‘in the cloud’ (ie: hosted on a remote server and accessed via the internet), there is less requirement for users to have large numbers of applications and related files sitting on their hard-drives. Assuming the availability and capacity of broadband connections – especially wireless (3G, GPRS, WiMax) – continues to grow, then users may start to employ simpler, smaller, lighter and more portable devices requiring less power and maintenance and which become obsolete less quickly. Such ‘thin-client’ alternatives are already less material-intensive and more energy-efficient (even allowing for the power to run the remote central servers) than conventional PCs.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/saas-and-cons-1/

Jan 17 2008

Gartner’s IT “discontinuities”

 

I read with interest anything emanating from the Gartner information technology research and advisory group, and recently read the views of one of its vice-presidents, Tom Austin, about five factors – “discontinuities” – changing the way that IT organizations operate:

  • Web 2.0-style applications
  • software as a service (SaaS)
  • global-class computing
  • “consumerization” of IT, and
  • open source software.

According to Austin (see October 2007 news release):

“The five major discontinuities have the potential to completely disrupt vendor business models, user deployment models, whole market segments, and key user and vendor brand assumptions…. These emerging discontinuities reinforce each other, and their combined effort will prove far stronger than each individual trend.”

On SaaS, the release continues:

“Hosted software delivery, or SaaS, is already allowing business units to act independently of IT strategies. It’s enabling globally available online systems that companies can use to scale IT operations. SaaS is also changing the competitive field for software vendors. Systems that can be accessed from anywhere in the world, such as Google’s online office software, have the potential to upset the balance of power between IBM and Microsoft in messaging services….”

The full release is well worth a read, particularly by those working with IT departments which try to apply a “one size fits all” service or try to support and manage all the IT systems that workers use. Users can take personal responsibility for IT, Austin argues.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/gartners-it-dis/

Jan 17 2008

SaaS and construction collaboration in 2008

After Reviewing 2007, I started thinking about some predictions or trends for 2008. My first instinct was simply to repeat last year’s five, but that would be too easy. Instead, I have decided to update two, and add three new ones. Here are the first two (the others will follow over the next couple of days).

1. Further polarisation of the UK construction collaboration marketplace.

As I said in my 2007 review, the Sword Group acquisition of CTSpace in December 2007 and the 4Projects’ MBO in July (see posts) showed there is an appetite for SaaS businesses. These can be viewed either as investment opportunities or to fulfil strategic objectives (for example, to expand Software-as-a-Service expertise, to expand into new geographical or vertical markets, or – going back to Autodesk’s 2006 acquisition of Constructware – to broaden a product portfolio).

Some clear market leaders have begun to emerge in the UK. I would include 4Projects and [my employer] BIW Technologies in this category, based on their turnover, growth and commitment to SaaS, but I think key differences between these businesses are beginning to emerge. In the early 2000s, the focus was on project collaboration at the document and drawing level, and 4Projects remains very competitive in this space. In the last couple of years, BIW has been developing complementary services that appeal to owners and operators and their supply chains involved in complex programmes of work, often involving multiple projects and requiring detailed management of enterprise business processes. In 2008, it is likely that these paths will continue to diverge, and others may join them on these diverging paths.

Melbourne-based Aconex has grown rapidly, opening offices across numerous countries, and Autodesk Buzzsaw (helped by Autodesk’s substantial AEC footprint) is also very competitive in the drawing and document collaboration space. As part of Coda plc – already planning to launch a portfolio of SaaS-based financial applications (Coda2go) in conjunction with Salesforce.com – Business Collaborator could follow BIW’s direction, as could Asite (alongside its collaboration solutions it has some transaction tools) and Autodesk (if it can apply some of the Constructware solution to enterprise requirements). Time will tell whether Sword Group can transform the UK fortunes of CTSpace or perhaps it will focus on the US market; I expect Cadweb, Causeway, ePIN, Sarcophagus and TDOC will continue as specialist businesses focused on maintaining turnover from loyal customers, and – just outside the AEC ‘extranet’ space – Union Square’s intranet business addresses many small organisations’ internal information management needs. At the document collaboration level, however, there remains a risk that existing AEC players could be unseated by new initiatives from vendors of more generic technologies (I see a lot of internet ‘chatter’ about Microsoft SharePoint, for instance – so Sword Group’s C2Share may be a beneficiary here too).

2. Increased interest in online BIM-based collaboration.

I expect the groundswell of interest in building information modelling (BIM) to continue into 2008 and beyond. However, as I have said before, this technological development will only succeed if concerns about the people and process issues can be resolved. Using BIM approaches to design and construct buildings raises lots of questions about intellectual property, liability/risk and professional education, to name but three.

(While on the topic, I had a look at the first issue of US architect/analyst Ed Goldberg’s online newsletter – Ed’s Independent Voice – where he talks about the BIM Schism. Ed talks about the increasingly common practice of “parallel modelling” where a constructor’s estimating and scheduling department finds it easier to create a new BIM model from scratch than modify an architect’s existing BIM model. To overcome this “huge disconnect between what architect’s draw and contractors build”, one firm advocates Integrated Project Delivery (see my post Integrated Project Delivery – US guide) – a project- rather than professional-focused approach whereby all participants meet at the beginning of the project to exchange information. However, Goldberg believes the IPD model is “presently only workable in situations where the project is proprietary, has been pre-negotiated, or is under the auspices of a design/build contract.” So still some people and process issues there then!)

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/saas-and-constr/

Jan 16 2008

Asite directors invest (2)

Just before Christmas, Asite COO Nathan Doughty and non-executive director Gordon Ashworth increased their stakes in the UK construction collaboration technology vendor. Today, another non-exec, Walter Goldsmith, purchased 150,000 ordinary shares at an average price of 3p per share, taking his total holding to 700,000 shares, representing approximately 0.68 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of Asite. Share price remains 2.75p.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/asite-directors/

Jan 14 2008

BC parent in takeover approach

According to a London Stock Exchange announcement today, Coda plc, the parent company of UK construction collaboration technology vendor Business Collaborator, has been the subject of a takeover offer from Dutch-based business software provider Unit 4 Agresso. The move values Coda at £157.8m, but “news of the talks could well attract competitive bids from rivals such as Sage Group or the private equity sector” (says Computer Business Review).

Otherwise, the trading update said: “The Business Collaborator Division continued to perform well during the period, securing contracts recently at EDF Energy and The Bowen Group. SEDEX continued to attract new members throughout the period.” Full results will be published on 13 March 2008.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/bc-parent-in-ta/

Jan 09 2008

Paperless (or, at least, less paper): catch ’em young

Since construction collaboration technologies first grabbed some peoples’ attention in the late 1990s, there has been a lot of debate about the extent to which such IT tools can save paper, particularly given some professionals’ preference for paper and their resistance to on-screen marking-up and commenting on drawings, etc (see my Moaning Architects post, 3 November 2005). I have argued that such resistance will gradually reduce over time as:

  • the software tools become easier to use
  • appropriate hardware (eg: larger screens) becomes more widely available
  • users bow to peer pressure or contractual obligations (“Sticks”) to use them
  • users recognise the benefits (“Carrots”) of being able to quickly share and then track the history of a design decision – in some cases, years afterwards
  • more and more IT-savvy individuals enter the industry

I usually illustrate the last point by reference to students leaving colleges and universities. Skimming through an education IT supplement to yesterday’s Guardian newspaper, I read that the drive to paperless environments is starting even earlier in some places. One Scottish school adopted mobile and tablet PCs for all staff and students, and – instead of paper memos, handouts and course-notes – distributed information digitally via its intranet: “Four months later the spend on printing and photocopying … was down a staggering 80%.” Students also do most of their work online, further cutting down on paper (see Is the paperless school in sight?).

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/paperless-or-at/

Jan 09 2008

IT paying ‘lip service’ to sustainability

An article on Computer Business Review says UK companies are failing to use IT to reduce or improve their environmental sustainability, even though they believe that technology is key to tackling the problem.

The article, UK companies paying lip service to green issues, is based on a Datamonitor survey, commissioned by BT Global Services UK, in which nine out ten firms said technology had a role to play in cutting environmental damage, yet almost half had no plans or targets for using IT to make improvements.

Datamonitor’s Neil Hendry says the research highlighted a “positive awareness” of areas such as flexible working, supply chain process improvements, and building services automation for reducing and monitoring energy use can have on sustainability (all issues I mentioned in my IT-focussed submission to the BERR consultation document on sustainable construction – see posts here and here).

Companies in the utilities sector proved the most active on green issues. Two-thirds of utilities organizations said they had a plan for exploiting IT and communications to improve sustainability, followed by transport (58%), retail and media and leisure (52%), finance and public sector (51%), and construction (44%). Sadly, 35% regarded it as a tick-in-the-box compliance exercise.

In Are utilities firms really more sustainable than builders?, Building magazine’s sustainability blog discusses the same research from a  construction industry perspective (see also Building Sustainability article) and quotes Greenpeace Research Labs David Santillo at length. Santillo’s last point – about government taking “a far more visible initiative in sustainable procurement of construction materials, sustainable design, etc” – may be addressed once BERR has absorbed all the feedback it had to its consultation document. Whether its response will include the IT dimension, hardly mentioned at all in the consultation document itself, remains to be seen.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/it-paying-lip-s/

Jan 09 2008

4Ps confusion

Within the UK construction collaboration technology market, vendor 4Projects is sometimes abbreviated to 4Ps (‘four peas’). The latest news release on the 4Projects’ website therefore initially confused me, as it concerns a partnership with another business known as … 4ps (a local government project delivery specialist, apparently).

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/4ps-confusion/

Jan 03 2008

2008: SaaS will soar, SaaS will surge

SaaS Bloggers’ 2008 predictions have started to emerge. Jeff Kaplan has written his Top Ten Reasons Why On-Demand Services Will Soar in 2008, quickly followed by Phil Wainewright‘s Eight reasons why SaaS will surge in 2008, and the picture is very positive.

Despite forecasts of a recession, both Jeff and Phil suggest economic factors will favour SaaS. Jeff writes:

“… many companies could hold back on their capital investments to mitigate their risks. The ability to adopt on-demand services on a pay-as-you-go basis will be a perfect sourcing strategy for businesses seeking greater cost-controls and flexibility.”

Phil adds:

“Although a recession — if that’s what’s on its way — will pose challenges for SaaS vendors too, the majority of observers seem to think conventional ISVs will be worse off. InfoWorld, counting down the “top underreported software stories” of 2007, goes as far as holding SaaS largely responsible for the pricing pressures ISVs will face in the coming year. Certainly, the low-risk, pay-as-you-go model will give SaaS vendors a big competitive advantage if capex budgets are slashed, according to Goldman Sachs: ‘The ability to quickly and easily turn on new applications with a significantly lower initial cost of ownership makes SaaS an attractive offering … these benefits are likely to be key in a slower economic environment where purchasers of software may be increasingly skeptical of significant upfront investments which we anticipate to characterize 2008.'”

I followed Phil’s first link to the Seeking Alpha article SaaS Companies Vulnerable in a Recession, and concluded that its forecasts will not impact equally across all SaaS businesses, including those in my target sector: construction collaboration technologies.

First, some vendors (eg: [my employer] BIW Technologies, 4Projects) do not charge on a per-seat basis, but on a per-project or enterprise basis. With no limit placed on the number of users – at least in part to encourage collaboration in a very cost-conscious industry – they will be relatively immune from any customer reduction in subscribed seats.

Second, the Seeking Alpha article points out that some early SaaS companies had a baptism of fire during the dot.com doom of 2000-2002, but this experience will prove valuable: “The few of these early SaaS adopters that are still run by the original management team are likely to do well if the economy takes a dip”. Again, this applies to several of the leading UK-based construction collaboration technology vendors.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/01/2008-saas-will/

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