IWMSnews.com

Announcement: IWMS Vendor Evaluation 2009

Steven Hanks — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:18:53 +0000

Dear Readers,

This week we will publish the IWMS Vendor Evaluation for Integrated Workplace Management Systems here on IWMSnews.com. The 30-page report contains valuable information for those of you that are going to purchase an IWMS, those of you that have already purchased an IWMS and vendors of Integrated Workplace Management Systems.

Please find the introduction of the report below.

Introduction

Earlier this year Gartner announced that they wouldn’t publish the 2009 Magic Quadrant © for Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS). Gartner has published their Magic Quadrant © for a few years however, this year (partly) due to Credit Crunch, they haven’t created their evaluation.

What’s more, our readers specifically asked for a different approach in analyzing the IWMS arena. Quite a few readers indicated a complete mismatch between the vendor rating and their day-to-day situation. In most cases references submitted by the IWMS vendors didn’t depict the actual situation in the install-base of the vendor.

These events inspired IWMSnews.com to conduct our own thorough and unbiased evaluation of the IWMS marketplace. By means of unannounced visits, evaluations and phone calls with customers, vendor representatives and service providers, we were able to evaluate the market as it is today.

In this report you will find our Vendor Evaluation for Integrated Workplace Management Systems 2009.

Yours Sincerely,

Steven Hanks

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Skire and Vanir Construction Management Announce Strategic Partnership

Steven Hanks — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:35:49 +0000

MENLO PARK, CA, November 6, 2009 - Skire, Inc. (www.skire.com), the leading provider of capital program, facilities, real estate, and project portfolio management software, and Vanir Construction Management, Inc., one of the United States’ largest pure program, project and construction management firms, today announced a partnership that will extend industry-leading services and Skire Unifier™, the leading technology platform, to a wide array of industries. The partnership enables both companies to offer a unique combination of outstanding service with advanced, best practices-based program management and controls that extend from initial planning through construction to the entire facilities lifecycle.

“Our commitment to best practices extends to all aspects of our business,” said Mani Subramanian, executive vice president of Vanir. “It makes sense to extend project management and controls for our clients into the entire facilities lifecycle process. We believe that Skire Unifier delivers the most comprehensive, advanced capabilities available to help achieve capital program and facilities management objectives.”

Vanir has provided premium-quality program, project and construction management services since 1980 across the United States and in the Middle East. The company has the highest number of Certified Construction Managers in the nation, and has worked with project owners across the private and public sectors. Part of its commitment to continuous quality improvement is to help its clients take advantage of industry and technology innovations. For example, as the construction industry increasingly incorporates technology such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems, a platform such as Unifier extends the design data model out to the construction and facility operations teams to reference and update information across all phases of the project and facility’s lifecycle.

“We are delighted that Vanir has selected Skire as their preferred platform for delivering their construction project and facilities management services,” said Sateez Kadivar, vice president of business operations for Skire. “Clients that choose Vanir and Unifier can be assured of building a strong foundation for long-term capital asset management controls and efficiency.”

Skire Unifier is a powerful business process automation platform for managing programs, projects, resources and assets. The platform centralizes comprehensive management capabilities and makes them available to everyone who needs them through a standard Web browser. With robust cost management and project controls capabilities, Skire’s Unifier delivers the best combination of pre-defined workflows, best practices, ease-of-use and adaptability.

About Vanir Construction Management

Vanir is a California corporation that has grown to be one of the largest pure construction management firm in the United States. The firm’s clients include K-12, higher education, justice facility, healthcare, water/wastewater, and transportation agencies across the U.S. and in the Middle East. Founded in 1980, Vanir has delivered billions of dollars of construction management projects and has expanded to 15 locations.

About Skire

Skire, Inc. is the leading provider of capital program, facilities, real estate and project portfolio management software. The company’s flagship Unifier™ platform leverages the company’s deep industry experience, giving customers unprecedented visibility and control over major programs and projects. Skire’s solutions are used by global Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies and educational institutions for managing billions of dollars in capital programs, real estate and IT portfolios. The company is privately held and headquartered in Menlo Park, California. For more information, visit http://www.skire.com

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Constructive Solutions Joins the Meridian Systems Value Added Reseller Partner Network

Steven Hanks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:00:56 +0000

FOLSOM, Calif. (November 5, 2009) — Meridian Systems, the Plan-Build-Operate technology solutions leader for project-based organizations, announced today a new Value-added Reseller (VAR) agreement with Constructive Solutions for Business Inc. (Constructive Solutions). Concentrating on Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) clients in Canada, Constructive Solutions will provide comprehensive software sales and professional services for Meridian’s Prolog^® solution in Western Canada.

Constructive Solutions is committed to delivering high levels of customer service within the construction and real estate industries to British Columbia and Alberta. The company believes that a client’s processes are an integral part of a management information system and have applied this philosophy to over 350 implementations at companies who depend on an integrated suite of financial and operations software every day.

“By partnering with Meridian, Constructive Solutions now offers a full range of complementary solutions to AEC companies, government agencies and building owners managing capital projects,” said Patrick Baker, president, Constructive Solutions. “With Prolog’s industry leading project management software as part of our offering, we can better serve our existing clients, broaden our customer base, and offer more value as a one-stop solution provider to our Canadian clients.”

“Constructive Solutions has been meeting the diverse needs of the Canadian construction and real estate industry for over 10 years,” said Elizabeth Dodson, director of business development at Meridian Systems. “Project-based organizations in British Columbia and Alberta can leverage the industry best practices of Constructive Solutions’ professional teams, which have experience serving more than 350 industry leading clients.”

Meridian’s global reseller network enhances customers’ investments in Meridian software solutions by providing in-depth industry experience and value-added implementation and training services. For more information, visit: http://www.meridiansystems.com/partners/findreseller.asp.

About Constructive Solutions for Business Inc.

Constructive Solutions has been meeting the diverse needs of the Canadian construction and real estate industry for over 10 years. Serving over 350 industry leading clients throughout Canada, the company’s team of dedicated professionals applies industry ‘best practices’ to maximize a client’s investment in their Integrated Project Accounting and Management solutions. Leveraging our vast domain expertise we provide the following professional services: Strategic Planning, Set up and Workflow training, Procedural Documentation and Business Intelligence. For more information, visit: www.constructivesolutions.com.

Constructive Solutions will be offering a comprehensive customer summit series. The Meridian Prolog Road Show – Coming to Western Canada late January.

Constructive Solutions Contact

Donna Baker, Manager, Marketing & Client Relations
(604) 878 8100 ext 120, donna@constructivesolutions.com

About Meridian Systems

Meridian Systems, a Trimble Company (NASDAQ: TRMB), is the Plan-Build-Operate technology solutions leader for project-based organizations (PBO² ). Building owners, construction and engineering firms, and public agencies use Meridian software to effectively manage capital building programs and facility assets. Meridian offers construction project management and infrastructure lifecycle management solutions that reduce project costs and schedules across the plan-build-operate project lifecycle. To learn more about how project-based organizations are benefitting from Meridian solutions, download a user study from FMI by visiting: www.meridiansystems.com.

Meridian Contact

Tamara Kaestner, Marketing Programs Manager
(916) 294 2375, tkaestner@meridiansystems.com

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Houston Independent School District Standardizes on Prolog Construction Project Management Software

Steven Hanks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:54 +0000

FOLSOM, Calif. (November 4, 2009) — Meridian Systems, the Plan-Build-Operate technology solutions leader for project-based organizations, announced today that Houston Independent School District (HISD) has selected Prolog^® software to standardize its construction management processes. HISD is working directly with Project 3 Technologies, a Meridian Systems Value Added Reseller (VAR), to implement Prolog Manager across the school district’s current US$1.045 billion capital improvement program.

As the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the U.S., HISD adopted Prolog to manage multiple programs to improve construction project accountability, transparency and reporting. After a detailed evaluation and formal request for proposal (RFP) process, HISD selected Prolog as its project management solution and Project 3 Technologies as its professional services provider.

“Our goal for the implementation includes establishing a central location for all project data to be available on a standardized software platform. This will help us increase the reporting capabilities and transparency of our program managers, who are managing millions of dollars in projects,” said Willie Burroughs, general manager, HISD. “Prolog will be a crucial system to effectively manage the vast amounts of information and keep all our projects and teams on track.”

“More public owners are adopting technology in order to better manage and support the detailed reporting requirements for public sector capital programs,” said Trent Hogan, president, Project 3 Technologies. “HISD specifically wanted to deliver the transparency and frequency of reporting required by its board and local community on exactly how each public dollar is spent, driving them to standardize Prolog.”

Prolog software delivers comprehensive project management control for construction projects by automating day-to-day tasks and processes, from project design to close-out. For more information on Prolog software, call Meridian at (800) 850 2660, or visit: http://www.meridiansystems.com/products/prolog/constructionprojectmanagement.asp.

About The Houston Independent School District

The Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas and the seventh-largest in the U.S. with 296 schools and more than 200,000 students. The 301-square-mile district is one of the largest employers in the Houston metropolitan area with nearly 30,000 employees. As a result of tremendous academic gains in recent years, a record 200 HISD schools achieved Texas’ top ratings of Exemplary or Recognized in 2009. For more information about HISD, go to http://www.houstonisd.org.

About Project 3 Technologies

Project 3 Technologies is a software consulting firm and Value Added Reseller (VAR) for Meridian Systems in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. With offices in Dallas and Houston, our team has experience with over 100 Prolog implementations and is focused on assisting construction and engineering clients with the selection, implementation and support of project-centric software applications. With Prolog at the core of our solution set, we offer several integrated solutions to address challenges and increase efficiencies throughout the project lifecycle. Services include business process consulting, project management, implementation, report writing, data conversions, training and technical support. For more information about Project 3 Technologies, go to www.project3tech.com.

Project 3 Technologies Contact

Trent Hogan, President
(214) 206 1300, thogan@project3tech.com

About Meridian Systems

Meridian Contact

Tamara Kaestner, Marketing Programs Manager
(916) 294 2375, tkaestner@meridiansystems.com

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Webinar: Getting Strategic about Space Management

Steven Hanks — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:14 +0000

Logo
Date	November 10th, 2009
Venue	2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST Complimentary Webinar
Audience	Facilities and real estate professionals interested in cutting costs and improving occupancy planning strategies
Website	To register, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/533740624 For more information, please visit: http://www.fmsystems.com/events/webinars/jll_webinar.html
Description	What happens when two best-in-class organizations align to provide expert occupancy planning services and cutting-edge facility management technology? You – the customer – win! Join us for the Webinar “Getting Strategic about Space Management” and find out more about how the partnership between Jones Lang LaSalle and FM:Systems can benefit you. Some of the advantages include: Enhanced utilization of your existing real estate portfolio Proven strategies for portfolio footprint reduction, resulting in significant cost savings Improved occupancy management processes such as moves, adds and changes
Contact	Barbett Byarlay Ramsey bbramsey@fmsystems.com or 800-648-8030 X 751

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Webinar: Understanding the Key Principles of Strategic Facility Planning

Steven Hanks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:30:44 +0000

Logo
Date	November 4th, 2009
Venue	10:00 AM – 11:00 PM Pacific Complimentary On-line Webinar
Audience	Executives and facility planners responsible for strategic, master and tactical facility planning
Website	http://www.tririga.com/information-center/infocenter-webinars-sfpprinciples?ecid=12
Description	Join Kathy Roper, IFMA Fellow and associate professor of Integrated Facility Management at Georgia Institute of Technology, to learn key principles of strategic facility planning and share practical ideas on how to implement strategic facility planning within your organization.
Contact	Michele Campbell +1 (702) 932-4444

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Facilities Management in Any Economy

Steven Hanks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:26 +0000

Today we have a guest post of Jim Turner who continues with the FM Notes from the field. Today he addresses FM in any Economy.

It’s rare to encounter a real estate or facilities management professional that hasn’t experienced a hard time due to the poor economic conditions over the last year. There is plenty of discussion of how we’ve finally gotten to a place in the business cycle where we can forecast growth – what has the impact of federal stimulus and recovery funding, for example – but a consensus does seem to be forming that we can expect a moderate recovery.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in a report I saw recently on CNN, predicts that the economy started growing again earlier this summer, but the effects won’t be felt for a couple of years. “Even if the economy returns to positive growth this year, the loss in output, income and employment during the recession and the next few years will be huge,” said Douglas Elmendorf, director of the CBO, in testimony before the House Budget Committee.

Facilities Professional Leadership Series

So while the turnaround appears to be under way, I thought I might refer to a talk I heard recently as part of the Facilities Professional Leadership Series, entitled “FM in Any Economy.” This session was presented by Marc Fisher at Transwestern, and moderated by Stormy Friday of The Friday Group consultancy. During the talk, Fisher outlined four broad, straightforward strategies to impact the value of the facilities portfolio.

The four strategies are useful for facilities managers in their daily approach to management: they can seek ways to decrease expenses; through benchmarking or best practices research they can seek out and adopt solid FM practices; they can look for direct links in their business decisions that will help improve overall company performance; and finally, they can invest in training or process updates that will improve team member performance. Fisher shared great insight from his experience at Transwestern, but it was a short reference to the economic downturn that really caught my attention.

Fisher reminded the listeners that the trough, or downturn, portion of the business cycle is just as important as the peak because it helps to reset the economy. There is a focus on eliminating waste during these periods that prepares organizations for the next growth phase – even provides a growth “springboard” when the turnaround finally arrives. With the emphasis on efficiency, managers are also attuned to opportunities for growing the business or investing in further improvements.

So what does the turnaround mean for FMs? If the department is emerging from the downturn with a strongly aligned portfolio of facilities – this is part of the short-term and long-term planning competencies in the FM maturity model we’ve referenced in previous posts – this is an opportune time to revisit those deferred maintenance issues or capital investment decisions. A timely request for additional funds, with a solid business case, might just be approved as part of strategic positioning.

Likewise, if the scope of FM responsibilities is such that an integrated workspace or computerized maintenance management tool is needed, this is a good time to complete the market research and make the purchase request. After all the work that has gone into streamlining and creating efficiencies, these tools can be a useful element of embedding them in the operation, contributing to the bottom line as revenues grow during the upturn.

Final Thought

A final thought on things that FMs can do now to prepare for growth is to review standing contracts and supply requirements. It is a good time to be proactive and initiate discussions about service levels and pricing, especially if there are support contracts that are coming up for renewal. Similarly, on the supplies side of the coin, taking the time for a review of purchasing histories might yield opportunities for strategic purchasing decisions based on the quantities of goods used, the timing of the orders, or a need to improve the quality of the items in use.

I’ll close with a word about the Facilities Professional Leadership Series that I attended this summer. The web site is http://www.fplseries.com, and the program is jointly presented by Building Operating Management magazine and BOMI International. The program is designed to educate on a wide range of issues and skills, from finance to leadership, from negotiating to the economy.

Thanks for reading this FM Notes from the Field post. We’d love to hear how your facilities organization is preparing for the coming growth cycle, so please drop a note to me atjim.turner@iwmsnews.com if you would like to offer some insight from personal experience or if you would like more information on the material in these blog posts.

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White Paper: 10 reasons why Block Management is more profitable with the right software

Steven Hanks — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:00:34 +0000

Continuing its position as the thought leaders within the Property and Facilities Management Software industry, Qube Global Software is pleased to announce the release of its latest White Paper: ’10 reasons why Block Management is more profitable with the right software’.

Aimed predominantly at Residential Managing Agents, other property managers will also be able to identify with much of the content. The White Paper focuses on areas of pain for Block Managers and shows how these can be overcome with the use of the right software and also how Block Managers can use the features within property management software to meet their customers’ needs and differentiate themselves from the pack.

To download the white paper click here.

About Qube Global Software

Qube Global Software is the leading supplier of property and facilities management software in today’s marketplace.

Their portfolio of products includes the Horizon, Planet and Qube software systems.

Over the last 30 years they’ve helped thousands of clients, from small investors through to global corporations, manage every aspect of their property portfolio. Their solutions can bring increased revenue and efficiency, reduced costs and full access to vital information for each and every sector of the property industry.

Qube Global Software has offices throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Middle East and Australia.

For more information about Qube Property Management Software please click here

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Grosvenor FM select Planet Facilities Management Software

Steven Hanks — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:45:23 +0000

Qube Global Software is delighted to announce that Grosvenor FM has chosen Planet FM Enterprise software to replace their existing FM System.

Grosvenor FM had very clear ideas about what they required from their chosen FM system, as they had a number of new contracts starting in the autumn.

Grosvenor FM purchased 30 user and PDA licences along with a number of Planet’s modules, including; structures, projects, management, helpdesk, planned maintenance, condition surveys and the intranet module.

About Grosvenor FM

Grosvenor FM is a contracting company that was established in 1986 and has been growing rapidly over the last few years.

Over time their services have evolved and they provide total facilities management and property management, to benefit both public and private sector clients across the UK, primarily dealing within NHS Trusts.

About Qube Global Software

Qube Global Software is the leading supplier of property and facilities management software in today’s marketplace.

Their portfolio of products includes the Horizon, Planet and Qube software systems.

Qube Global Software has offices throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Middle East and Australia.

For more information about Planet Facilities Management Software please click here

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Activision Blizzard, Inc. Selects BIGCENTER IWMS for Global Real Estate Management Services

Steven Hanks — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:45:23 +0000

TEMPE, AZ – October 28, 2009 – Business Integration Group, Inc. today announced it has signed an agreement with Activision Blizzard, Inc. for global real estate management services to be rendered through its industry leading technology platform known as BIGCENTER IWMS. Under the terms of the licensing arrangement, Activision Blizzard, Inc. will use BIGCENTER’s Integrated Workplace Management System to support facility operations, lease administration and occupancy management for its locations throughout the world.

“We are delighted that Activision Blizzard, Inc. recognizes BIGCENTER’s global enterprise capabilities,” said Michael T. Swanstrom, President & CEO of Business Integration Group, Inc. “Our efficient and easy to use software provides strategic insight for informed real estate decisions and delivers tangible sustainable results and opportunities. We are pleased to include another prestigious innovative organization among our client base”

About Business Integration Group, Inc.

Business Integration Group, Inc. (www.bigcenter.com) provides a scalable and cost effective Integrated Workplace Management Solution (IWMS) delivering strategic insight for clients in every stage of the real estate process. The firm assists property owners, occupiers and investors with Technology Assessments, Facility Call Center Support, System Integration, Lease Administration and Workforce Scheduling. Talented professionals assess each client’s needs and implement solutions that fit strategic, operational, and financial goals. Business Integration Group, Inc. enables clients to achieve process consistency, cost optimization, workflow efficiency and informed decision making via real-time business intelligence tools tailored to meet individual requirements across global platforms.

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