Meridian

Everything is top secret with this camp till this fall, when the new functionality will emerge. I am hearing great things from my friends at Bovis and Gilbane who have peeked at the new tool, and the integration with JDE and tagging to other sites may be in the works, as I verified they are testing a Biztalk server.

Other than testing the web version of Prolog "Project Talk" with the 2500 users in a Citrix environment, I do not have a lot to say until this fall, but knowing the strong direction in document control and its solid user base, Prolog will be around for a long time. (They never burned much advertising dollars and have a strong, existing cash cow—I'm surprised they have not tried to buy Constructware by now).

Constructware

With the recent funding from Cordova Ventures ($4M) and from what I have seen of their new streamlined interface, I am convinced this system will be one of the leading three to emerge as the dominant extranet for construction management. It remains to be seen if the Microsoft Biztalk Initiative will grab hold, but CW obviously is in the lead to get two different extranet databases to talk to one another. Easy to administer and learn on job startup efforts, CW is the tool to use if your firm is a medium size contractor interested in stepping into technology with minimal investment. It is the quintessential risk-management and organizational tool for a construction manager. What needs to change:

• Revise the pay application module so retainage may be adjusted
• Add a viewer for architects who use a Mac computer
• Revamp the submittals so they can be created first and then grouped into packages (not vice a versa)
• Implement the new UI already! With the new influx of cash, it should help CW step up to the plate technically and mature the tool into achieving the same results in fewer clicks.

Citadon

This company also just received some badly needed funding ($14M) from their internal investors GE, Bechtel and Fluor.

As the process (Bidcom) side of the site plays catch-up with last years' sales promises, the documents (Cephren) side of the site continues to grab the attention of major AE firms as it is being aggressively tested by the likes of Marriott, Gensler, RTKL, SOM, Perkins & Will, Duke Engineering and Fluor. By the end of the year it is speculated that Citadon will improve tremendously as they mature to a full Java-based, 3-tier architecture on a Unix platform and Oracle 8i backend. The integration of Market-net, Project-net and the evolution of a "Paragon" like work flow for managing budgets within Citadon's workflow processes will come in the nick of time. This last item is the most exciting and is something the Citadon Champions have been begging for: Mature and robust portfolio management to manage multiple funding sources, scope increases, variations, value engineering, buys, schedule and forecasting, all through an easily uploadable/downloadable process integrated with Excel—clearly a major step in the right direction. They are also partnered with webMethods who are developing the potential to integrate the Citadon system with other accounting and management applications. The big question is whether they can keep all the big boys happy, stay alive and mature soon enough—it appears old Bluelineonline chairman Rob Majteles may just pull this off. Although they have had their growing pains with the evolution of the RFI process and uploading concerns, I believe Citadon will emerge as one of the top tools of choice for owners and designers needing a sophisticated extranet capable of managing large projects on a global scale. But for the moment, the users must remain patient as the system matures.

Bricsnet

I always thought Revit and Autodesk's ADT3 were leading the world in parametric modeling, until I saw the latest on Bricsnet's architecturals: Nothing less than totally awesome and priced to look attractive next to the competition. I believe Bricsnet has the most advanced CAD tools for the money. And in the race of the designer sites (pitted against Viecon and Buzzsaw) they are late to start and are taking a rather cagey attack at grabbing market share: through Yoav Eitel's new focus on managing owner assets. Bricnet is familiar with designing specialty web sites for Hilton and Kohler—so why not create a custom solution for owner asset management? CB Richard Ellis is managing a Bank of America project, which includes a central database of properties, projects (Projectcenter, formerly Evolve), maintenance, assets, leases and procurement. They obviously have along way to go on procurement to catch up with Citadons' MarketNet or Buildpoint, but who knows—with their fancy 4D intelligent modeling tool and the support of the European community they may have a chance based on pure innovation and low pricing.

Buzzsaw

This one should have taken twenty pound's equity offer back last summer before the dot-com bubble burst. They have dropped the Orange Pages, conceding to Bricsnet's aggressiveness. Both Buzzsaw and Bricsnet are very secretive about how many paying users they have, which tells me something's up. Buzzsaw has strong backing with Autodesk, but will it hold? The system is by far the easiest to learn (along with Viecon) and everyone I talk to likes the drag-and-drop functionality. The big question must be asked: if they fail to turn a profit by the end of the year will Autodesk pull the plug? There is still no rollup of change management into a budget, and the bidding modules are just being tested by Swinerton and DPR, so far it is too early to tell, but for the sake of their 200+ employees, I hope they show positive cash flow soon.

Primavera

I'm afraid no news is bad news in this race to dominate collaboration. Intel gave them money a couple months ago, but no word on the release of expedition 7.0X (hosted solution) version 8.0 or the beta modules of PrimeContract. When will something mature emerge? Only time will tell. I hate to see Primavera die, but I do not have a warm fuzzy feeling about them. I like the change management features, but they are so slow to move toward a web based application and the tool is pretty inflexible when it comes to interacting with team members who don't use it. The prediction: Slow death?

Bentley

Bentley is patterning Viecon off their ProjectWise solution for collaboration, which is focused on government agencies and engineers. (I think their biggest obstacle is actually the slow adoption by engineers to use the new system, as the marketing of Viecon has not gone very well). Bentley lead the initiative to adopt a standard with aecXML, but it has not progressed as expected and with the volunteer organization of aecXML, little change is expected.

Copyright © 2000 asptip. All rights reserved.
Revised: March 25, 2001

About the Author:
Mr. Jurewicz is a project manager with significant experience with using Application Service Providers to manage commercial construction projects. He has been a presenter at industry conferences on this topic and is considered one of the leading experts on the overall ASP market for construction and AEC products. You can reach him at JohnJ@asptip.com

David Clendenen is the Editor of AECVision and Managing Editor of AECCafe.com

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