Happy New Year!
One of the Deltek Vision team’s resolutions this year is to double-down on our blogging. We’re committed to providing more insights and best practices to help AE firms run more efficiently and profitably.
While we’ll keep this blog up, our new posts will live at deltekvisionblog.wordpress.com. We’ve got a great line up of content and look forward to your comments.
Here’s to a great 2012!
Jon
@JonBornstein
What impact will the $105 billion of the President’s proposed $447 billion Jobs Bill have on the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry? I am a cyclist so I bike just about everywhere and one thing I always notice is new potholes and changes to the road. There was one particular road that I always travel that gave me quite a shock one day. Now this road had not been the best road, bumpy by bike standards, but passable. To my surprise when I turned down it that morning to find … gravel. The entire road had been tarred and gravelled. When I called the Department of Transportation for my county I was not really surprised to learn that due to budget cuts, they could not afford to fix the road, but did have enough tar and gravel lying around to fix it by 1900 standards.
We are seeing more signs of the United States’ suffering infrastructure more and more on the news every day. The latest headline is the Sherman Minton Bridge between Louisville and New Albany, Indiana that was suddenly closed on September 9th when a crack was found that was significant to the structure’s safety. Massive congestion and delays ensued as the over 80,000 people that travel that bridge daily had to find another way. The structural issues in bridges have had the nation’s attention since the Minnesota bridge collapse in 2007. And with the attention focused on safety of these bridges, we can expect to see more questions and focus on the 69,000 structurally deficient bridges according to a 2010 study by the US Department of Transportation.
But it is not just transportation: The safety of our energy system in the US has come into question and made headlines as well. Following the events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in Japan, the question of the US Nuclear power system grabbed headlines as well. Commercial nuclear reactors in the United States were designed and licensed for 40 years. When the first ones were being built in the 1960s and 1970s, it was expected they would be replaced with improved models long before those licenses expired. Half of the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors are over 30 years old, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Most of the remaining reactors are at least 20 years old. The short-term answer was to extend the license, but never addressed what was being done to repair, retrofit or rebuilt these aging plants. But focus was quickly replaced with something else until the largest earthquake to hit Virginia in 117 years appeared to exceed what the North Anna nuclear power plant northwest of Richmond was built to sustain. Again the question returned about these aging plants and quickly died down.
It was just not the power source, but the delivery system that has also grabbed headlines over the last few years. In January of 2009, an ice storm had taken out power lines across the Midwest and an estimated 1.3 million homes and businesses were without power for days and some rural places in Kentucky, for example, were without power into February during one of the coldest winters on record for Kentucky. But who can forget the Northeast blackout of 2003 when record high summer temps had put major strain of the power grid as demand for energy to run air conditioning eventually brought everything down. But we did forget and were surprised again during the heat wave of 2011 and news of the straining power grid again with the increase in power usage during another hot summer.
And none of this has been a surprise to the industry over the years. In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the United States an infrastructure report card. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty. To the point that not a single item scored higher than a C+. The report card got a lot of attention when it was released, but again, our attention was diverted elsewhere and no major changes were made.
And here we are in 2011 with a troubling infrastructure and a 9% unemployment rate. So in September, when President Barack Obama went before the nation and talked about a Jobs Plan to not only help some of that troubled infrastructure, but also put many of those construction jobs hit so hard in 2008 back to work. In his speech where he asked Congress to “pass this bill” 17 times, President Obama proposed a $447-billion plan. The plan includes $50 billion in immediate investments for highways, transit, rail and aviation, helping to modernize that “D rated” infrastructure. The plan also calls for a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools. If that school funding sounds familiar, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, had sizable amounts for school renovations, but the money was dropped from the final measure when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), objected to a school construction program, delivered disappointment to design and construction firms that specialize in those types of buildings. Also, the plan calls to invest $15 billion in a national effort to put construction workers on the job rehabilitating and refurbishing hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes and businesses. Another interesting thing was something that has been called for over the years, the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank capitalized with $10 billion, in order to leverage private and public capital and to invest in a broad range of infrastructure projects of national and regional significance, without earmarks or political influence.
So what could this mean for the AEC industry? Well the plan’s $105 billion for infrastructure includes $50 billion for transportation, $25 billion to upgrade public-school buildings, $5 billion for improvements to community college facilities, $15 billion for repairs and improvements to abandoned or foreclosed housing and commercial buildings, and $10 billion to launch a “National Infrastructure Bank.”
But I think the current political climate is not going to make this such a cut and dry decision, so many of us in the industry wait with anticipation.
Brian LaMee
Director of Product Marketing
This week, we have launched the Deltek Clarity A&E Survey. Deltek has been studying and reporting on the industry for over two decades through the report formerly known as the OpStats Survey. However, this year’s Clarity 2011 A&E Industry Survey is a little different:
To begin the survey, click here.
The survey will take less than 20 minutes to complete. To thank you for participating, we will send you the survey results free of charge and in advance of their public release. In addition, you will also receive exclusive access to Deltek industry experts for follow-up questions, clarification, or further exploration of topics of interest to you. To have your views included, please complete the survey before Friday, October 7.
Thank you for helping to make Clarity 2011 A&E Industry Report a great asset for your firm and others following the industry.
Deltek has an amazingly long history in the architecture & engineering industry. The basis for what has become our flagship architecture and engineering product was early on sponsored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fast forward to 2011 and today Deltek Vision is, according to a survey earlier this year by the SMPS National Technology Committee, used by more SMPS members than any other CRM solution.
Innovation is exciting, and it’s one reason I’m looking forward to the SMPS Build Business 2011 conference. Case in point: Competitors have made fud of Deltek’s acquisitions of INPUT and FedSources by saying they distract us from the needs of AE firms.
That couldn’t be further from the truth and Build Business 2011 is where we’ll show why!
Following the acquisitions, Deltek has become the world’s single largest source for U.S. Federal government contracting information and analysis. And guess what? We’re bringing that expertise and leadership to the AE industry!
Fresh off the presses, my colleagues in Deltek’s Information Solutions business unit released a report that predicts U.S. Federal Government spending on AEC services will reach $9.5 billion by 2016. For firms working with or that want do business with the federal government, Deltek can help them identify pre-qualified procurement opportunities before they’re made public. And, that’s only half the story. Deltek supports AE firms throughout the entire government business development and sales lifecycle – from the opportunity identification to the pursuit using Deltek Vision.
This is a value proposition where 1 + 1 is much larger than 2. Stand-alone CRM products and other ERP solutions can’t reach the bar raised again by Deltek’s suite of integrated AE offerings.
Everyone at Deltek has been working feverously to make these integrated offerings a reality, and I’m excited to be part of the team introducing them this week in Chicago.
So let’s build some business. Is the U.S. Federal Government important to your firm?
Christine Brack, PMP
Principal Business Planning
ZweigWhite
Information is everywhere; in fact we’re drowning in it. There is the abundance of information available to us in the public domain and there’s the information we have at our own fingertips by using the accounting, operational, and project management software we have. Having it is one thing, using it well without creating more frustration is another. Using it to make firm-wide changes and see bottom-line improvements is even better.
It sounds like a great idea and I’d encourage any firm to really leverage this information, but check your firm’s readiness first. Where are you now and where do you eventually want to be?
Initial — Leaders have a fairly good idea of the numbers. It’s a good start, but it’s not enough today. At this level, there are some processes in place, but they’re loosely followed. It’s tough to get buy in here except for those that founded the firm. Others see this as something above their pay grade.
Managed — At this level, even project managers are looking at figures—WIP, profitability, utilization—but not everyone is tying it into the big picture. Even attempts at improving a branch office or studio are more individual than really pushed from the top. It’s a decent place to be, but any attempt to improve the system will be difficult because of the assortment of processes.
Defined — Firms here make a commitment to improvement. Leaders, managers, and project managers are all on board for the steps that follow. Anyone not on board should definitely feel out of place, or in other words, immature. This stage really is the turning point.
Quantitatively managed —To get the most out of any improvement initiative, the firms at this level establish what information they’re interested in, gather it, track it, and evaluate it. Your firm may be fit to start measuring these metrics, but may need more maturity to determine the right type, volume, and depth of that information.
Optimizing — A mature firm never stops improving. Analyzing the facts and figures to make useful, meaningful, and profitable improvements is what firms do here. This is an organizational stance — not just the leader’s vision or an individual wish that things could be better. The entire firm embraces improvement.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been working with Jon and Bret at Deltek and Vicki Morton from Bonestroo behind the scenes for a webinar we’ll be presenting on July 12th. Our discussions validate what I’m talking about here—but without giving away the good stuff of what we’re presenting—I can certainly say that tying together the perspectives of the system designer and a firm that has been through the paces makes this case even stronger. Tune in for more!
There’s a theme to our recent blog posts: community and peer networks. This is so important because great software equals, well, great software. But take Deltek’s AE experience and expertise – mix it with the largest AE customer community in the world – and the value to Vision clients grows exponentially.
I heard repeatedly from customers at Insight that there isn’t an easy button in Vision to immediately win more business or manage more profitable projects. Architecture and engineering firms have to consider their people, process and culture first, and align Vision accordingly. This is an important distinction, and precisely where the Deltek Vision community comes in: Whatever your business challenges, Vision customers have been there already so you’re never starting from scratch.
At Insight, I was lucky to hear a session co-led by Megan Miller, sales and marketing coordinator at LJB and a member of the Vision Power User Group. She talked about a business development process her firm went through with impressive results. Also, similar to my interview with Bob Johansen, I couldn’t resist asking Megan for her three suggestions for getting the most value from Vision.
Megan’s comments reiterated that the value of Deltek Vision isn’t measured by software alone. It’s the ability to tap into a peer network of nearly 4,000 architecture and engineering firms – during three days at Insight and (more important) the remaining 362 days of the year. Powerful stuff!
Enjoy!
One very unique advantage that Deltek Vision customers have is the literally thousands of other firms using the product. So much expertise exists there and elsewhere to maximize the value of Vision to your company.
At Insight, I caught up with Bob Johansen with the Vision Power User Group. In this video, he suggests three things firms can do to optimize their existing Vision application.
Accolades are great. Personally, we all appreciate the occasional pat on the back. It’s nice to know we’re making a difference.
The same holds true for Deltek, and May/June were great months in reiterating how we’re helping AE firms grow and profit more.
These are nice compliments and teams at Deltek can stop momentarily to take a well deserved breath. But really – these are just data points. The reason we come to work every day isn’t to win awards. It is to continue innovating so you – the Deltek Vision customer – can help your firm accomplish its business objectives faster and more effectively.
Value can be defined many ways. At Deltek, our primary definition has and will always be how Vision helps each individual firm increase revenues and profitability along with the specific challenges they face. Being relatively new to Deltek (this is my fourth month), it’s clear to me that Vision customers have perhaps an equally important asset that they may not always think about: Community.
There are more than 3,600 firms using Vision around the world. Whether they have one office or 50, and are focused on the West Coast or Western Europe, 10,000+ people use Vision every day. They have developed processes and expertise – much of which they’ll share if you ask. This peer-to-peer support dramatically amplifies the benefits of Vision far beyond simply being the AE industry’s market-leading ERP software.
Packing for my first Insight, I’m struck by the sheer numbers: 1,000 AE professionals. 80 AE-specific sessions. Roughly 40 hours of educational content. And all designed to help customers network, learn, and ultimately solve whatever challenges their firms face.
That’s impressive in and of itself but community isn’t a once-a-year event. I think about what Barbara Bunting from Lochner said on a recent resource planning webinar: Her firm had specific issues. How did she find the solution? By talking to other Vision customers that had already successfully been down the integrated project and resouce planning path. Powerful stuff that really has nothing to do with software.
Barbara didn’t have to figure it out herself – Vision managers and project managers at other firms shared their own first-hand experiences. While the Vision Resource Planning module delivers the necessary functionality, the Deltek AE community helped Barbara with the true resource planning challenge: Understanding and preparing for the resistance she would face from her project managers.
Community is a powerful thing. For Vision customers, it exists in many ways, including user groups, Insight, Twitter as well as other social media channels (this blog included).
What Deltek Vision AE communities do you most value?
Jon Bornstein, JonBornstein@deltek.com
Deltek Architecture & Engineering 