e-Builder work with the agcXML initiative

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) in January will release agcXML, a set of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schemas designed to automate and streamline the exchange of transactional information during the building design and construction process. This buildingSMART initiative, led and funded by AGC and managed by NIBS, will enable the efficient and reliable exchange of electronic construction project information among all building design and construction professionals. Most of this information is still exchanged in paper documents such as owner/contractor agreements, schedules of values, requests for information (RFIs), requests for proposals (RFPs), architect/engineer supplemental instructions, change orders, change directives, submittals, applications for payment, and addenda, to name a few.

On December 10, AGC and NIBS will demonstrate the capabilities of agcXML at the buildingSMART alliance National Conference to be held in conjunction with Ecobuild /AEC-ST Fall at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The 60-minute presentation, which will explain the purpose and value of agcXML to industry professionals, will also feature a live demonstration of information exchange between Penta Project Management Workbench and e-Builder Enterprise by agcXML Review and Validation Committee members Kurt Koenig and Ron Antevy.

Avoiding Unpleasant Surprises with Capital Project Management Best Practices

Register for this 1-hour webinar November 13th (audio via conference call)

Effectively managing a capital program to ensure schedules are met and projects stay within budget is easier said than done, especially if you are managing a large portfolio of projects. If you are involved in planning, design, and construction of capital projects ranging from million-dollar renovations to billions in new construction, you won’t want to miss this 1-hour session on project management best practices, as Mr. Kip Edwards, System VP of Design and Construction at Banner Health, will delve into specific practices of effective project schedule and cost management.

The session will help participants gain a deeper understanding of how to effectively develop and manage the owner’s schedule, as well as how to efficiently manage and forecast capital project costs to avoid unpleasant surprises at the end of the project. Key takeaways include:

Project Cost Forecast

1. What is a project cost forecast (what it’s not),
2. What variables are key to maintaining an updated, accurate budget forecast – dealing with change order logs, RFI logs; issues logs, pending changes, IT, FF&E
3. How do you create and maintain a comprehensive project cost forecast – total project budget and forecast sheet
4. Tracking detail line items
5. Tools for efficient and effective project forecasts

Owner Project Schedule

1. What is it, and how do I manage it?
2. What to schedule – overall milestone schedule
3. Emphasis on owner management – not dealing with all entities o Schedule maintenance best practices – what are the major tasks to focus on?
4. Enabling schedule ‘visibility’

About the Speaker Kip Edwards, System Vice President, Design and Construction with Banner Health, has over 29 years of experience in the planning, design, construction, management, and operation/maintenance of healthcare facilities, with direct responsibility for over 17 million SF of new construction and renovations, totaling $7 billion in project expenditures.

FMI/CMAA Ninth Annual Survey of Owners

For those of you who have not seen this year's report, please feel free to download from the following http://www.fminet.com/market-sectors/owners which Mr. Mark Bridgers, co-author of the study, was kind enough to share.

You can see Mark's presentation at next month's CURT Conference in Palm Springs, CA.

Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Management

I recently received this great article from AECBytes - A Case for Knowledge Management in the A/E Industry - which does a great job of articulating what knowledge management is (and is not), along with the many benefits.

I especially liked the way she phrases the "Elements of Knowledge Management -
The key elements of KM are to identify, connect, share, promote, capture, standardize, and measure" which project management software does a great job at enabling, specifically the 'connect-share-promote-capture-standardize, and measure'.

Please feel free to register for this webinar on e-Builder's Knowledge Management Capabilities
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/989454110

I'd appreciate any similar articles you'd care to share - please email them directly to me - jantevy@e-builder.net

Habitat For Humanity

A few weeks ago I was asked by my wife Melanie to join her in a great cause to help out Habitat for Humanity. The firm she works for, Stiles Construction, has been a sponsor for many years in the county we live in.

Although it was a rainy day we were able to help nail in furring strips for 2 homes. Having grown up on the jobsite with my Uncle Joe I felt right at home with hammer in hand. Melanie would tell you the same thing as her dad is a general contractor in Rochester, NY.

All in all it was very fulfilling and I enjoyed volunteering my time.

Lowering Construction Project Costs in Turbulent Times

Before I forget, our good friend Tom Koulouris will be presenting a webinar on "Lowering Construction Project Costs in Tough Times". Without giving too much away, I understand that Tom will be talking about some of the variables that can keep project costs in check, that are within a project owner's control If you would like to register, please go to this link:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/385592178

Based on Tom's delivery of his previous presentation on "Faster Heads in Beds", I know this will be an educational and engaging session. Please let me know if there are any general topics of interest to your organizations for which we may be able to organize and sponsor a webinar.

The Problem with the "Have it Your Way" Approach

So what's more difficult, getting people to recognize that technology can be a huge ally in mitigating risk, reducing project costs, improving efficiency (and on and on...). Is it getting people to adopt technology once implemented? Or is it getting everyone to agree on a process that a technology solution will enhance. I guess it depends in whom you ask, but (I think) you get the message that with most enterprise software implementations there are many challenges to be had. These can be exacerbated by some of the systems that promise to do everything but provide you with a blank slate, so that with the promise of flexibility and configurability comes the added cost and brain damage with getting the system just right.

As you can imagine, I am a proponent of a flexible system - however, as much as people would like to believe that their challenges are unique, as a firm we keep running into extremely similar business challenges that we can address without having to reinvent the wheel.




Therein lie some of the drawbacks of a custom-built technology platform, or those solutions that require heavy customization to get the system to be all things to all people. On a recent trip to a construction technology conference, I heard a presentation where a large, multinational CM organization discussed a case study on their implementation of an in-house project management and collaboration system, and the challenges they encountered through a 5-year implementation. I must have missed something because I was under the impression that these monster implementations only applied to legacy systems.


Sarcasm aside, it was the speaker's overall impression that were an opportunity to rewind available, they would definitely have opted for an 'off-the-shelf' solution, where a lot of the issues they encountered or tried to solve had been already addressed by existing vendors. They did not discuss costs, but it was apparent that the cost and time committments had placed unexpected strains on both personnel and system costs.


This may represent an isolated case, but it's not the first time I've heard of a company going down a long path and abandoning ship after considerable time and money invested. I'd be happy to share other insights that would probably cause this post to go on for pages - but long story short, if you or anyone you know are considering building your own solution, be weary of the additional commitments you could save yourself by leveraging our years of industry experience.

One-size Fits All vs. Have It Your Way

When we got started in 1995, project management software was big with contractors, especially as they became early adopters (at least the larger organizations). This group was a big client base for e-Builder, but as the years have passed it's safe to say that owners have taken a proactive approach in how they manage their project information, and perhaps even taking the lead in adopting these systems. Which brings me to the point of this topic: is a one-size fits all mentality appropriate for project management software?

Early project management systems, including e-Builder, were geared more towards information management from the contractor's point of view - primarily because they were the ones buying the software. We gravitated away from this focus several years ago, in part because of what we saw as a shift towards the owner.

Given this paradigm shift, these systems need to be differentiated in terms of providing the best solution based on an oranization's role (owner, GC, program manager, owner representative, etc.) Facility owner/operators should take note that there are distinct differences between an owner-centric system vs. those geared towards the contractor. For instance, is the owner really concerned with tracking 1000 tasks on a schedule and having visibility into what subs are getting paid? Also, those owners managing a large portfolio of projects will need a system that can simplify cross-project reporting and data mining, especially if this data is to be used strategically (i.e., for planning future projects).

As you can tell by now my personal view is that owners looking for project management systems should familiarize themselves with the differences to avoid investing in a system that, although full of 'robust' features, is destined to fail because it becomes too cumbersome to manage (too many unnecessary features) and too difficult to use. I could write a book on the differences, but would rather hear first-hand experiences from those of you on both the owner and GC side.

In my next post I will talk about the other extreme in project management software, the "Have it Your Way" platform.

Claims Mitigation Still a Hot Topic

We recently sponsored a webinar on construction claims mitigation and winning strategies. I guess given the litigious nature of our industry, I shouldn't have been surprised at how popular this event turned out to be. I was also please to see that the level of sophistication, in terms of our audience's understanding of the issues, was very advanced. Hopefully this was not as a result of first-hand experienced, even though 70% of participants said they had been involved in a construction claim.

While we haven't promoted e-Builder as a claims mitigation tool for some time - it seems that owners have so many other challenges to deal with first (inefficient budget management, poor scheduling practices, lax documentation) that this topic doesnt' come up in conversations.

However, I was reminded by a couple of attendees that online project management systems continue to prove their worth as a claims mitigation tool, especially when coupled with sound project documentation strategies.

If you'd care to view the recorded webinar, please register here.

A Different Take on Industry Woes

One thing I love about my job (among many) is the ability to exchange ideas with experienced professionals like Mr. Hank Harris, Managing Director with FMI. As you'll note from my previous post on the ENR Awards, Hank and I met a while back and have maintained a professional relationship.

I value his opinion given his years of experience and industry focus. As such, I was happy that Hank agreed to do a webinar with us and provide his views on some of the challenges that the construction industry continues to face - I invite you to view this presentation and hopefully gain new insights from a respected source. This link on the e-Builder site will take you to a recorded version of the webinar. http://www.e-builder.net/webinars/construction-webinar.html


I welcome your feedback on this session as well as your take on industry challenges, and more specifically, what we can do to overcome them.

Construction Industry Woes

It's been some time now since Barry LePatner published his "Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets" book on North America's construction industry woes. Interestingly enough, Barry has become somewhat of a celebrity - my marketing director reports seeing Barry deliver his presentation on "Fixing the U.S. Construction Industry" at the Construction Owner's Association of America (COAA) and the Construction Management Association of America's (CMAA) spring conferences. I also know Barry presented at FIATECH's conference earlier this year, and did a webinar with Pricewaterhouse Coopers. I mention these appearances because when I first spoke to Barry he had stirred quite a bit of controversy and upset a lot of people with his comments. From what I've heard from those people attending these conferences his message has been well received, possibly because he has started to spread responsibility amongst all stakeholders, and not just contractors as was initially perceived. Right or wrong, I think the debate he has generated is at the very least a step in the right direction. I'd appreciate any insights or opinions from those of you who have read the book. For those of you who haven't, this link will provide you with a summary article published by the Boston Globe last year.

Heads In Beds

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting alongside Tom Koulouris, co-owner of KFI, a program management firm that works with healthcare owners to define best practices during planning, design, construction, and operations of their capital programs.

I met Tom when he used to work for HCA Healthcare where he utilized e-Builder to manage a project in Florida. He always had a philosophy of keeping things simple and it contributed to the success of our software on his projects.

Since leaving HCA a few years ago, Tom has taken his best practices and implemented them for other Healthcare owners. His practices have proven so effective that he has been commissioned to write a book titled "Heads in Beds" which deals with what healthcare owners can do to speed the time-to-market for new hospitals, and discusses the relationships between project cost, schedule, and scope as they apply to incremental revenue. The book will be out in the fall.

We asked Tom to share his thoughts in during a webinar sponsored by e-Builder a few weeks ago. For those who missed it, it's worth a listen. Click HERE to open the webinar. Enjoy!

ENR Award of Excellence - 2008

There isn't a week that goes by where someone doesn't makes a comment about the longevity of e-Builder.  After all, the track record for software companies who develop web based applications for the construction industry isn't exactly stellar.  Many disappeared only after a few years of service.  In one case, e-Builder was fortunate enough to acquire one of the companies and grow its user base.  Point is, as I look back at all the wonderful experiences, one event sticks out the most - ENR's Annual Award of Excellence Event.

Having been honored as a past Newsmaker, I was fortunate to experience the magnitude of such an event.  Many of the individuals who I seek out each year are considered friends, mentors, and "good people" with strong ethics and integrity.  

This year I was able to grab my fiance's camera before I left for NYC and take a few shots at the event.

Who can forget Judy Schriener.  She discovered me when I was fresh out of Building Construction at the University of Florida.

Hoyt Lowder, one of the executives at FMI Corporation was also instrumental in getting e-Builder noticed.  Although he did not attend, FMI's new CEO Hank Harris did.   Hank has been equally supportive and is always very insightful.  I still remember first meeting Hank at a conference in Hawaii where we were both speaking.  They don't come any hipper than Hank! 

If it wasn't for Norbert Young, President of the McGraw-Hill's Construction Information Group, we never would have partnered up with McGraw-Hill.  It's hard to believe that was way back in 2000.  Seems like yesterday!  Norbert is like a machine.  He never stops and always has the answers.  He has been a wonderful mentor to me.  Thanks Norbert!

Brian Tonry was instrumental during the .boom and .bomb days of the Internet.  He has perspective like no other and continues to be a great resource and friend on many subjects.

Both Jay McGraw, VP Group Publisher for ENR, and Jan Tuchman, Editor-in-Chief of ENR extend such warmth every time we see them.  It's like being around family and it makes all of us feel good.

Lastly, I would not be anywhere without our President, Ron Antevy.  As you can tell from the last name, he also happens to be my brother.  I am so fortunate to work with such a talented individual.  Our skill sets are complimentary.  For one, he is an engineer and I am an architect!  We always have a great time at the event and we make sure to end it off with a slice of NYC Pizza.

Until next year!!!!!

Collaborative Scheduling - Not Always A Fit

So you have a schedule on your project, eh? Is it really being put to good use? I can't tell you how many times I have received a project manager's MS Project schedule to find that none of the activities are linked together. For example, task #3 cannot start until task #2 is completed. The benefit of creating these dependencies is that when the date of a task changes, it automatically reflects the changes in the subsequent tasks thereby creating a new critical path. Done correctly, it allows executives in advance to determine when the project or projects are slated to be completed.

When I used to schedule for a contractor out of Orlando, FL I would chase down those who had responsibility for completing the tasks. In turn, I would then update the schedule to indicate the progress, or lack thereof, that had been made. By the time I collected the updates and generated a PDF view of the schedule, it was already outdated. Frankly, the schedule was eye candy for the owner while the field was using weekly lookaheads on graph paper to truly manage their tasks.

Enter "collaborative scheduling" whereby the project schedule is available online via a web-based project management/scheduling system through a browser.

1. Those responsible for the task can update the task themselves - with management approval if needed.
   
2. When the critical path changes, it instantly notifies everyone downstream of the change via email.


3. The ability to roll-up all the milestones across all the projects is always available without having to chase down multiple project managers.

Here is the problem. Too many users of non-collaborative scheduling tools think that by web-enabling the schedule, it will ensure accurate and timely updates. For one, it is not practical for a contractor's detailed schedule to be posted online. The reason is that many of those who are responsible for the tasks do not have easy or regular access to the Internet.

If I put on my "owners" hat however, the value proposition becomes stronger.

1. First, an owner's schedule is likely comprised of 50 milestones or less.
2. Second, a cross section of managers are likely the ones responsible for updating the schedule. These managers are regular users of web-based systems and have regular access to the Internet.
3. In some cases, the contractor is asked to update their tasks. This is usually done with little resistance because to update 2 or 3 tasks once a week is not considered to be a burden (remember that the contractor has his/her own detailed schedule that is being updated at a greater frequency).

In summary, while there are benefits to collaborative scheduling, be sure to ask the right questions to determine when it is the best fit.

In The Beginning....

When I was little, my brother used to call it the "Time Magazine of the construction industry". Of course, he was talking about Engineering News-Record. A civil engineer, he would always have copies of the publication laying around.

Not until 1995, when I started my company, did I really begin to pay attention to it. I remember reading it every week looking for anything related to web based project management, my passion to this very day. Suddenly, it struck without warning! There it was......the first article in ENR about the web. It was written by Judy Schriener, a person whom I have learned so much from. She tells the story best in her blog called "In the Beginning...."

Excel - A Blessing or a Curse?

Technology has sure come a long way since I started visiting with companies back in 1995. Unfortunately, the process by which projects are managed hasn't changed much.

Let's focus on the owner/developer for a moment. Perhaps the most widely used tool by this group is Microsoft Excel. Name any department, any process, and Excel will usually find its way into the picture. Need to organize projects in your development pipeline, track the open action items during the entitlement process, manage the budget, commitments, and actuals - Excel can facilitate these processes to a certain degree. However, Excel can have its downsides and the most common complaints I hear from Directors of Construction/Program Managers are listed below:

1. Multiple people cannot easily update the Excel file simultaneously.


2. There is no audit trail of numbers that have been changed - this is even more problematic for those have linked spreadsheets.


3. The person who created the semi-automated spreadsheet is no longer there, making it hard to troubleshoot when macros or links become corrupt.


4. Takes too much time to roll-up the spreadsheets from multiple project managers, especially if there are variations in the templates.


5. No ability to easily link backup documents (such as contracts of invoices) to numbers found in the spreadsheet.


6. No real-time visibility into critical information, i.e. Contingency, such that dollars can be moved around more effectively to alleviate the problem.

I have seen these Excel based systems being replaced by Web-Based Project Management and Collaborative Solutions at an increasing pace. Apparently, the word has been getting around. Just recently, I attended a Healthcare Conference where at least 15% of the Directors were using some type of web based system. Not a high number, but compared to 2 years ago, it's a marked increase. Perhaps 2008 will be the banner year?