Architectural project management software has tools for estimation and planning, scheduling, cost control and budget management, resource allocation, collaboration software, communication, quality management and documentation or administration systems, all of which can deal with the complexity of large architectural projects.

For architectural firms, project management success is critical to bottom-line profitability. The right project management software can contribute to this success by boosting collaboration across a firm and increasing project visibility and communication. But it wasn’t always this way. “In the past, architectural firms managed their resources, projects, schedules and documents in a very static way,” says Paul Smialowicz, a licensed architect, developer of ArchAdministrator and founder of PS Software Solutions LLC, Colts Neck, N.J. “Today, firms are migrating to software solutions that allow them to employ a more dynamic approach to office and project management. Principals and project managers harness the power and flexibility available in today’s software offerings to perform on-the-fly project scheduling, ‘what-if’ cash flow projections, dynamic document tracking/sharing and more.”

Making prudent decisions is key for architectural firms and the right project management software assists in making them. “Good project management software goes beyond schedules and also tracks costs to date and compares this with budgets,” says Doug Rawson, P.E., president/ CEO, Base Builders LLC, Reno, Nev. “This is very important because being on schedule does you little good if you are over budget. With the right tools, an architect designing metal structures will see both the progress and costs so they can make good decisions about their projects.

“Furthermore, the best software solutions are also capturing the institutional memory of the projects. All of the information from design features and materials, to conversations with owners and consultants can be logged and documented with the project. This institutional memory gives the firm a repository that can be searched to get answers about decisions made on a current project, or to find past projects with a particular design feature or material they would like to incorporate into a new project. Having these features built into an integrated system that also produces timely, relevant reports gives the project manager a single place to manage all the disparate pieces of information.”

The right project management software solution can pay for itself. “This is an investment with a positive ROI,” Rawson says. “We conducted a survey of our users in 2010 and 80 percent of the respondents said that our software had a positive impact on their bottom-line profits. In today’s economy, with ever shrinking fees, you need every advantage you can get to remain competitive and profitable.”

Sometimes architectural firms use many different project management software solutions to attain their goals. “Baskervill’s technical staff utilizes a variety of tools to manage metal architecture projects,” says Ray Trevillian, AIA, vice president/director of industrial group, Baskervill, Richmond, Va. “With eight different market segments, our multidisciplinary firm is varied in our approach to successful project management. The key to our success is the consistency of each project manager. For example, MS Project allows more advanced scheduling on more complex projects that are larger in scale or longer in duration. It is also helpful in the management of drawings during the design process. MS Project is a good tool to track project development progress: percentage complete. It actually has more capabilities than most people realize in terms of project management support, like manpower allocations and management, but we rely on other tools in-house such as Deltek Vision for that function.”

Create accurate schedules

Sharing calendars and viewing team availability is faster than ever with today’s project management software. “Instead of having to call to see if someone is available to take on work, meet with a client or own a specific task, today’s scheduling software automates that process,” says Brian LaMee, director of product marketing, Deltek, Herndon, Va. “This gives project managers a holistic view of their projects to see where there are gaps in the schedule as well as the impact of potential changes. What used to take multiple phone calls and emails today is done automatically in minutes.”

Project management software has made designers more efficient and effective in scheduling and running their projects. “This has freed up resources and allowed more time to be spent on the creative side of design,” says Rawson. “Having the freedom to research new Software Delivers Projects on Time and on Budget By Mark Robins, Senior Editor Project management software prompts architectural firm success products in the metal architecture industry allows the architect to integrate more diversity of products and materials into their designs.”

BuildTools incorporates a scheduling system into its project management software that has a workload view to let users see where a resource/ subcontractor is scheduled to work on all projects. “We’ve built it like many of the desktop Gantt chart scheduling systems, but refined it for use in the construction industry, by multiple users in several locations,” says Chad Mayes, director of business development, BuildTools Inc., Minneapolis. “It keeps the entire team informed of changes to the schedule. All changes are pushed out to the trades, along with relevant plans and other documents.”

Handle and close RFIs

Tracking RFIs has become a much more viable process with technology such as the Internet, network document management systems and email applications like Microsoft Outlook. “It’s now more viable, and sustainable, to maintain RFIs electronically using various tools to create and archive site visits and dayto-day communications and project reports,” Trevillian says. But this too, has not always been the case.

Generating proposals has historically required hours of tedious, manual work. “For example, first, you search for similar proposals,” says LaMee. “If you find what you need, you copy/paste that as a starting point for the current RFI. Then you track down other existing documents that have the information you need for this RFI, including the right boilerplate material and resume info. For project references, you have to ask billable people for project examples and details on those projects. And when you ask them, their first response is ‘haven’t I already given you this information before?’ Yes, but it is buried in old proposals that you may or may not know about. But you are not done. To include resumes for the project team, you have to ask them for updated info on their role on a project. Rounding out the nightmare process, you have to glue it all together so it reads as an original document and ensure it looks professional. This process-in use at many firms-is repeated for each and every proposal.”

LaMee sees key challenges with this approach such as:

• Are you copying the latest and greatest infor- mation? Do you have the latest employee resume? The latest company information?
• In addition to potential copy/paste errors, the fact that you are creating a proposal based on old content makes it a nightmare for keeping styles and formatting consistent.
• You’ve spent all your time tracking down old information rather than customizing this proposal and giving your firm the best chances of winning.

Automating the proposal process produces materials faster and more efficiently, allowing users to spend more time where it matters most-thinking about the prospect. “By using a proposal generation tool, you can pick the template best suited for each opportunity and quickly add whatever information you need,” says LaMee. “This includes project and employee information, without asking billable resources to spend time on something that isn’t billable. You can quickly identify and add commonly used data such as projects, clients, employees, appropriate images and a text library with boilerplates into your proposal template.”

Track communications and bids

Tracking and maintaining project communications and reports is now more viable and sustainable using various electronic storage tools, like the Internet, internal network storage systems and especially email. “Email has changed the world and the way we communicate,” says LaMee. “We can respond to questions faster and communicate with people no matter where they are and even when they are not at their desk. But with all of these communications flying around, capturing or collecting them in an easy manner is challenging, especially when you have so many different people communicating on the project. Have you ever received an email asking for a copy of an email?

“Today’s project management tools collect these communications centrally and associate them with specific projects. So if I need to see who approved design changes, I don’t have to ask. Instead, by looking at the project in the PM tool I also see every communication associated with it, including the email from the client where they approved the changes and increased budget.”

Where are we on that bid? What is the next step to move that forward? In today’s highly competitive environment, architectural firms are pursuing more projects and business development teams are juggling even more opportunities. To successfully do this, “today’s project customer relationship management tools keep track of all of the opportunities we are pursuing, what the next step is and even activities and reminders for those next steps,” says LaMee. “Instead of remembering to follow-up with the client in two weeks, my CRM system can automatically remind me. More importantly, others in the firm have full visibility too. This means if I forget to follow-up, someone else will get the reminder so we never miss a step with prospects.”

Project management software allows bid packages to be easily created from the budget module. Users can “create a cover page, specify a due date, automatically include the appropriate specifications- specific to the recipients–select the subcontractors that are to bid the package, select the documents and then send,” says Mayes. “Once sent, the system tracks when the contractors have downloaded the documents, when they have submitted their proposals-via online form or simply by replying to the email request-and will send a reminder if bids are not received by a specified date.”

New technologies, better management

Next-generation architectural project management software will further strengthen the integration between financial, project and document management. “These advances will allow architectural firms to approach projects and practice management holistically,” says Smialowicz. “It will provide architects with a more efficient means to document, track and deliver their architectural services. I believe ‘all-inone’ software solutions will eliminate the need for double-data entry and ultimately the wide array of software programs that isolate, rather than integrate, information managed by architectural firms.”

Today’s technological developments in project management aid accessibility and collaboration. “We now see collaboration tools that allow people from halfway around the world to collaborate on the same document via the Internet without having to get on a plane,” says LaMee. “With the birth of cloud-based collaboration tools-including a ground-breaking ‘social teamwork’ solution that Deltek will soon be unveiling-people can collaborate and share information on a project, tasks and project communications without having to connect their networks or all get on the same software system.”

Building information management is a new software technology allowing users to better manage their projects. “Its influence on architecture PM software is in its push to break down the virtual walls/ firewalls between project team members,” says LaMee. “Project management tools are extending the reach of our tools outside of our walls as well. Clients are already accustomed to architects sharing more information with them, specifically BIM models and such, through collaboration platforms. Therefore, the expectation for other tools to support pushing information outside the walls is growing as well. For example, a client may expect the ability to review and process invoices online, review project schedules and provide feedback on the project.”

At Baskervill, “we utilize BIM as a project management tool to tie project management software into the process with other tools like Bluebeam, which is used to perform shop drawing reviews and checks,” says Trevillian. “It is also helping us to go paperless, as well as manage more project management functions within one system. Our adoption and conversion to BIM is client driven. We have committed to completing our conversion by the end of the year or mid-2012.

“Project management software has had a positive impact on both productivity and accuracy within all stages of design and implementation of a project. Additionally, it has enabled increased production times and given us more flexibility to break design up into the different phases/ disciplines. Baskervill is constantly evaluating the tools at our disposal with which to provide better services for our clients. These evaluations have led us to implement tools such as Bluebeam, MS Project and Deltek Vision in our daily work. The transformation we see today is the result of new systems and is changing the face of architecture and our industry.”

AIA contract documents save time and money

The American Institute of Architects’ Contract Documents deliver a comprehensive suite of more than 100 contract documents addressing the full spectrum of both large and small design and construction projects. AIA Contract Documents offer yearly subscriptions to Microsoft Office-based software that make it easy to create, customize and manage contract documents and payment forms to help save time and money.

“The construction and design industry use our agreements and forms more than any other,” says Courtney Holmes, marketing manager, American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C. “That’s why we’re the most widely accepted in the industry so you feel confident knowing you are protected and using a time-tested, rock-solid contract.”

A cost-effective option for both large and small businesses, AIA Contract Documents software comes as a yearly subscription which provides access to 100-plus AIA Contract Documents that meet the needs of its diverse user population. The Microsoft Office based software platform offers users flexibility in customizing and managing contract documents, more effective collaborating among parties, and unprecedented choices in generating and printing documents. The software also offers online resources, such as webinars, podcasts, content and software training tools.

AIA offers two types of software products to meet architects’ needs. “Unlimited licenses are for larger companies giving you the ability to select document types from the entire AIA Contract Document library, draft you own version and finalize to PDF format as many documents as you would like over one year,” Holmes says. “Limited licenses are for smaller firms giving you the ability to select document types from the entire AIA Contract Document library for one year, but you can only save to final PDF format a limited, predetermined number of document units, which are used up as you save final PDF versions of your documents.” Go to www.aia.org/contractdocs to learn more.