A major challenge in the AEC industry is connecting workflows between team members and platforms. Given the sheer number of role-based tech solutions available to owners, contractors and design teams, our industry faces a very real challenge of connecting workflows and driving collaboration.
The ideal solution would help project stakeholders work together more collaboratively. This would not only reduce overall risk but increase transparency between all parties involved.
We recently recorded a podcast with our CEO Joe Giegerich, our COO Kelly Doyle and Senior Director of Business Development, Kris Lengieza of Procore, to discuss how integrating workflows between ProjectReady and Procore delivers a unified experience to connect and manage content across platforms, and to ensure that owners are always in full control of the content they produce.
Giegerich stated regarding owners: “If you’re going to pay for dinner, you should at least be able to view the menu”. Check out the podcast & blog below to learn more:
Connection and Vision
In the podcast, Lengieza explained how one of the biggest challenges in this industry is that, despite more technology implemented in the field, stakeholders have become more siloed because each have their own tech they want and need to use.
But with everyone using different tools, there is a lack of collaboration and transparency that ends up costing time. So clearly, there is value in cross-platform integration. If integrated, you could start to break down silo’s and take advantage of how easy collaborating is with any system on any project.
But the question remains, how? How do you bring this all together?
Simple, as Giegerich said, “the user experience is now the new middleware”. By combining Procore, ProjectReady and Microsoft cloud technologies, there are APIs to connect platforms.
In terms of bringing everything together in the context of the user, there are so many different options out there. You want something with a connective tissue to pull data in a clear, concise, singular source.
Lengieza said it best, “Procore’s Vision has always been to improve the lives of everyone engaged in construction and that means owners, general contractors and specialty contractors. With ProjectReady’s approach, you make it easy to connect the different systems and to be able to really improve the experience no matter which tool you’re using. “
Connected Workflow
Connected workflow is all about making sure business gets done with a solid record of it all happening. This way the business can easily report out on and drive analytics, providing a simple way to make executive business decisions. The ability to see the same information and the same data on both sides of the project is powerful. It will move projects forward in a quick and easy way, saving both time and money
Giegerich stats in the podcast, “The owner starts, the owner ends” Well, what happens in the middle? Lengieza states “Enhancements will happen, capital expenditures will happen on those projects and without the ability to bring up history of why things happened, what they cost, who was involved, etc.”
This can not only slow down business, but maybe stop it all together, leaving the owner frustrated and confused. If the business can get all of the isolated information into one place, the value is incalculable.
The Right Solution
To summarize Lengieza, “We’ve always been an open platform, we love integrations. We love the fact that we integrate with sometimes tools that have overlapping features. But we truly believe that the value is letting the customer choose what the right solution for them is right. “
“Everybody should be able to choose their own tech. So, I think that the true value here is the openness. There are going to be customers that are going to be well stood up on existing systems like SharePoint and be able to take advantage of tools and platforms like ProjectReady and then they’re going to hire contractors that are going to do work for them and those contractors may be using Procore and we want them to be able to seamlessly work together and that provides value to our customers. – Kris Lengieza
Conclusion
In the podcast, CEO Giegerich states that “Interoperability starts at home.” It is remarkably beneficial to have those internal integrations and collaborations that lead into other systems. Doyle explained further in the podcast. “You have system to system external interoperability meaning Procore connects to ProjectReady, which connects two companies together to work together, but that other company is still going to possibly have their own system for their own internal interoperability.”
To learn more about the intricate ins and out of external vs. Internal interoperability, check out a previous blog https://projectreadyblog.com/collaboration-through-connection-solving-the-challenges-of-interoperability-in-the-aec-5f566216e0b5
With Procore and ProjectReady, you are given a singular, unified experience to connect and manage content across any and all platforms your business chooses, and owners will always be in full control of the projects and products they produce.
For a more in-depth conversation, please check out the Podcast.
For a more in-depth conversation, please check out the Podcast: