Solutions from leading manufacturers
Companies that survive periods of economic turmoil often share a defining characteristic: unwavering attentiveness to the needs of their clients. When, like today, times are tough in the AEC industry, owners or operators will need to refine their approaches, and if their software can’t pivot with them, a change will be made. But if the software provider has maintained an open and interested dialogue with their clients, they can anticipate the need, offer a solution, and cement a long-term relationship.
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Efficiency
For Meridian Systems, the Folsom, Calif.-based provider of Plan-Build-Operate software for organizations engaged in construction project management and infrastructure lifecycle management, this past year has been about helping its clients optimize their output amidst the sputtering economy.
“The economic climate is really driving our customers to be more efficient, using technology to help them do more with less staff,” explained Sue Watkins, marketing director with Meridian, whose product Prolog helps building owners, construction and engineering firms, and public agencies reduce costs and manage schedules, from project design to close-out.
An efficient, automated approach to project management seems like a natural, particularly as design-build becomes more prominent, but according to Watkins the market remains rather under-penetrated. As mentioned above, Meridian does a good job understanding what the client needs: Watkins said agencies want a central system to track all project data, in one place, and they want as many people as possible to be able to use it. Because getting companies to adopt new technologies is challenging, Watkins said they asked themselves, “How can we adopt tech strategies that make it easier?”
The answer for Meridian was to invest in web services to evolve Prolog — a Windows-based client — into Prolog Converge, which boasts a web-based interface that is more flexible and allows a user to access it directly and remotely. Converge, available this month, allows users real-time interaction, and the ability to use Microsoft Excel to input/update data and share it with the team, efficiently.
Precision
At Melville, N.Y.-based LARSA, Inc., developer of finite-element-based analysis and design software for structural and earthquake engineering, the driving trend has been consistent for some time. “The key thing is precision, and that’s what we’ve been perfecting over the last 10 years,” said Ali Karakaplan, president and founder of LARSA.
This dedicated approach has served LARSA well. Karakaplan said his product, which is used by major consultants and specialized groups across the country, is virtually an industry standard. He added that LARSA is actually doing better this year than last year.
LARSA has kept close to its clients, and Karakaplan said this free-flow of information has resulted in a three- to five-year backlog of work on updating the software. “The clients need to be able to add things to it on their own, so they can customize their environments,” said Karakaplan. And like Meridian, LARSA is constantly working to improve its products.
LARSA releases updates about twice a year, and in early 2010 Karakaplan expects a major release: a multi-layered composite construction feature, which will serve projects where concrete is placed in different layers at different times. “Something like that is common when they have the girder and the slab separate, “Karakaplan said. “The bottom line is that it will keep track of the properties of each layer. It’s kind of advanced, really.”
LARSA, Inc.
www.larsa4d.com
Meridian Systems
www.meridiansystems.com
