Monday, May 24, 2010

Opening Keynote

Mike, Janus and I are attending the Meridian User Conference. There are over 300 attendees. The opening keynote was lead by John Bodrozic, President and Founder of Meridian. A few clients spoke as well along with Kristine Fallon, President of Kristine Fallon Associates. Janus thought he heard this firm mentioned by Dave early on in our selection phase as someone we should consult on our decision. She sat with us at lunch and I hope to speak with her more later this week. Her topic was on BIM.

Key takeaways:

John stated there are 4 driving technologies:
  1. Web Services
  2. Integration
  3. BIM
  4. Collecting Data Easier & Quicker

Meridian's main sectors are AEC, Commercial & Public.

Proliance is used by large and enterprise customers. Prolog is used by small to medium firms. I get asked a lot why proliance and not Prolog. Prolog does not have workflow and only one document type can be used.

The goal of Meridian is to be the project and program management hub interfacing with financial systems, Microsoft apps, BIM, portals, supply chain, mapping apps, mobile apps, online plans & specs, estimating, scheduling and doc management. It seems like this fits our direction and the Proliance system is a platform to enable this to occur. I was energized by this and feel we made the right technology decision.

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1 comment:

  1. JanusMay 25, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    Some of the other keynote speaker topics...

    BIM (Building Information Management):
    This holds the promise of improved coordination, communication, reduced design errors, rework and other costs. The 4/5D building model is built from virtual components by all stakeholders rather than multiple 2D drawings that may have a lack of complete information or information that conflicts with other drawings. This supports costing, analyses, visualization, coordination, and execution that is otherwise difficult to manage. There is a growing interest in predicting/ preventing problems rather than mitigating problems. However, this currently faces the usual challenges of cultural issues, training, and industry adoption. In addition the technology is not mature (yet).

    Integration with Pen and Paper(!):
    Trimble (parent company) demonstrated a proof-of-concept that can convert ink to text. You can print a form to normal paper that has a digital watermark/ID on it. To upload the written information, sync the special pen or upload the information to your blackberry. If you can use a pen, that's all the training you need!

    GSA:
    GSA is the landlord for 400+ Federal units in 9,600 loaned or leased units. They are starting to standardize and align all of their processes by using Proliance. Over time, they will start to require contractor usage. Their customized ePM user interface is mentioned/ highlighted in several other sessions during the conference.

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