Construction Software

Posts Tagged ‘management software packages’

This article is based on a true story and is meant to show how software installations, despite management’s best intentions, can go wrong. The name of the company has been left out for obvious reasons.

Every day, I speak with various users of manufacturing and construction software who are disappointed with their current system. They come to me looking for advice in selecting a new package that will better meet their needs and will solve the problems that they believe their current system is creating. In most cases, their concerns are real and they probably will be better off with a new system. However, I would estimate that about 20% of the cases that I see are companies that are destined to be just as disappointed with a new system. Why? Because the software isn’t the main problem in the first place – the users are. In fact, you don’t have to be talking about construction software or manufacturing software specifically – the bottom line is that any software is only as good as the user that uses it.

Several years ago, I spoke with a medium sized electrical contractor that had a very short amount of time to complete several jobs. They were using a very old version of one of the more common construction management software packages that lacked some of the modern features of new software, such as allowing multiple people to be logged in to the system at the same time. This lack of functionality in their software was having a serious negative impact on the company’s productivity.

Of course, the first thing that popped in to their heads was to get new software that was more powerful and had the features that they needed. I spent some time researching various packages for them and finally arrived at a package that wasn’t completely state of the art, but was more than adequate for their uses. After viewing several demos, everyone concluded that the software looked like a good fit. The final step before purchasing and installing the new software was to have their primary accounting person sit down and try the software out since she would be the one using it the most. Since they were on such a tight schedule, this had to be done late at night and after normal work hours.

Several months passed without progress. Nobody in management positions for this company volunteered to help this lady out and since the assignment was difficult, it kept getting pushed back. Finally, after TWO years, the company decided to buy the software, install it, and do some basic training. The staff and end users were hesitant to use the new software and were not very technologically inclined themselves, so they decided to use both the new software AND their old software in parallel for a period of 12 months. Why? Because there was nobody in management positions that gave the time and effort to ensure that proper training was done and there was nobody overseeing the transition process. In turn, the company did twice the amount of work required for an entire YEAR due to fear and poor management. Undoubtedly, hours upon hours of productivity were lost, as was money!

This case, although funny in it’s own right, teaches us several lessons about the process of evaluating and implementing new construction or MRP software. First, managers need to be involved in every step – from the initial meetings to the training sessions to the implementation time line planning and so on. Second, if management is not fully committed to moving to a new platform, they will likely pass the job on to somebody in the company that is not qualified to complete it. In this case, the company learned later that several employees were skipping the training sessions put on the by the accountant because they knew there would be no supervising manager involved.

Therefore, if your company is in the process of selecting and implementing new software, make sure that you have the support and commitment of upper management. Managers need to know what resources will be required to get the system up and running in a timely manner and must be held accountable if those time frames are not met. It is imperative that the right people are selected to learn and train your staff on how to use new software, and if the management isn’t even committed to making that decision properly, is it realistic to expect positive results from the new software?

Stand By Soft has released RationalPlan 3.14, a strong project management software application developed to assist project managers in creating plans, tracking progress, allocating resources, managing budgets and analyzing workload, now going international and planning translation in several languages.

Important changes of this version:

Added code for internationalization Outlook integration for .ics file (only VEvent) when sending email with assignments to resources Added deadline column and graphical representation Possibility to directly open Single Project files into Multi Project files Possibility to disable “check for updates” Increased execution speed Store/load settings for risks view Improved look and feel for Mac OS X Improved file locking mechanism Bug fix: Related to importing MS Project files Bug fix: When changing a calendar make a reschedule Bug fix: Compute the actual/remaining duration of phases correctly Other enhancements and minor bug fixes

RationalPlan started it’s way to become an international product. Although for now only English language is supported soon enough there will be added other languages (Italian, French, German). This means that users from all around the world will be able to use the set of project management tools that RationalPlan offers in their own language.

Current version added Outlook integration for iCalendar .ics files when sending emails with assignments to resources. Now users can add Outlook to Apple iCal and Google Calendar list of clients that can open .ics files generated with RationalPlan. Still this feature is available only for VEVENT generated items and not for VTODO ones. This lack of functionality is the result of the fact that Outlook does not fully support the iCalendar protocol. More exactly Outlook does not support VTODO and VJOURNAL elements. This Outlook lack of compatibility with the iCalendar standard is a problem for many project management software packages available on the market but Microsoft seems to refuse to implement it even in Outlook 2007.

Task deadlines are easier to be managed starting with this version. Users can display them as columns in tasks table and view them also on Gantt chart. Hence delayed tasks are easier to detect and the project manager has more time available to solve them.

One other issue that was treated in this version is the file locking mechanism. RationalPlan uses a file lock system to avoid concurrent access conflicts from different users. But on certain network sharing protocols like Samba file locking mechanism is not supported. On these networks RationalPlan will still open files but without locking and is the users responsibility to manage concurrency.

The interface settings are now also kept for the “Risks” view. In addition to this the manager has the possibility to print the list of risks for a project.

The execution speed of the application was increased substantially on certain views like the “Resource Sheet” and “Task Sheet”. More changes were made for a better integration of RationalPlan with the Mac OS X platform. Also some important bug fixes are related to the import of MS Project files.

RationalPlan suite includes:
RationalPlan Single Project – project management software for single projects
RationalPlan Multi Project – project management software for multiple projects, projects that are interconnected through dependencies and share common resource
RationalPlan Project Viewer – free project management software viewer, the perfect solution for anyone (from project stakeholders to team workers) to view projects details

RationalPlan is designed as an affordable alternative to Microsoft Project with some extra-features like multiproject management and it is covering project management area from WBS construction, project planning and scheduling to critical path management, over allocated resources detection, progress tracking, cost estimation, etc. Gantt chart support as well as various time line reports are also provided. It offers the most important capabilities of a good project management software while being able to operate on various platforms starting with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and all other Java enabled platforms.

RationalPlan Project Management Software is available at http://www.rationalplan.com. It can be download from http://www.rationalplan.com/download.php.

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Companies in the middle of selecting new construction software have likely realized that what sounds simple on paper is far from as easy task. Organizations that are the most successful in this undertaking, in terms of both identifying the best possible solution and implementing it as quickly as seamlessly as possible, generally have somebody or group of people in charge of the new software project. If an individual is chosen, this person needs to have an intimate knowledge of both software and of the company’s operational procedures. Further, the individual needs to have a deep understanding of how the software and company operations impact each other. This includes knowledge and experience working with software interfaces and the standard data collection/protocols for construction companies. Unfortunately, most companies do not have an individual with these qualifications working for them, so the purpose of thise article is to describe the kind of input that decision makers should seek out from other areas of the company as well as provide a list of areas that all companies must research extensively when evaluation potential construction management software packages.

Input and Software Selection Team Members that are Good to Have

While larger companies will have the advantage of being able to assign one individual to oversee the entire software selection process, all companies will need to get input from multiple areas of the company. The following segments of the entire organization should be included, to some extent, in the new software identifcation and evaluation team. Some of these members will need to be permant members of the team while others can be consulted on an “as needed” basis. To what extent members are “as needed” or permanent will very depending on the company.

1) End users – this group consists of anyone that will be responsible for using the software, particularly those responsible for inputting data

2) Management – Mid and upper level managers will be the ones that use the software primarily for reporting purposes. As such, it is important to know what kinds of data are relevant for the particular company.

3) Accounting – Changes in software will impact how data is recorded and reported for accounting purposes. Thus, the accounting department (or third party accountant) will need to be involved in identifying the best software.

4) Payroll – Regardless of if your company has an internal payroll department or uses an external payroll service, they will need to provide valuable input in terms of selecting new construction accounting software.

5) IT (Information Technology) – Your IT department will play an integral role in installing the new software while allowing the company to not miss a beat. Thus, they will need to know what is required from them for any potential software solution to identify areas where current hardware may not mesh with the new software.

6) Other Departments – this includes any other departments in your company that will be impacted by new software. Which departments these are will depend on your organizational structure and company size.

7) Sub-contractors – These indidivuals need to be aware of how your change in software will impact their business operations with your company.

8) Suppliers – as with sub-contractors, your suppliers will need to know what changes are required on their end to allow you to make the most of your new software.

9) Vendors – When selecting software, be sure to pay as much attention to selecting the right vendor as you do selecting the right software. Check their service history, ongoing relations with clients, and so on to ensure you aren’t without the support you need down the road.

10) Other members, as deemed necessary based on the size of your company and your company’s unique operational procedures.

Factors that All Companies Need to Consider and Evaluate

While smaller companies will likely not benefit from having a full team dedicated to selecting new software, there are still things that all companies much consider when evaluating new construction software.

At the very least, all companies need to complete a thorough evaluation of the following factors and research points:

1) Product varieties – How many are there? What makes them different?
2) Vendors – How many are there? What makes them different?
3) Product history – look for testimonials from trusted sources or check construction software reviews
4) Vendor history – testimonials
5) Product functionality – while most software does the same “stuff” the manner in which it does it will be different. What is right for one company may not work for another.
6) Product protocols – what reports are standard? Can it create the custom reports you need?
7) Product interface – this will come down to personal preferences more than anything, but is important that you choose software that is the most user friendly for your set of users. Again, this will vary based on your unique company.
8) Product integration – will there be any issues integrating it with your current processes? Do you need to change processes or search for a different piece of software?
9) Other – This will depend on the unique organizational structure, personnel, and processes of your organization.