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June 2006

Harvard Report Shows UK Leads Way in Benefiting from Online Collaboration

The results of extensive research measuring the value of online collaboration and project management (OCPM) technology to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry carried out by the Harvard Graduate School of Design found UK companies are realising more benefit than their US and Canadian counterparts. The year-long study, carried out with an aim of 'replacing opinion with fact' was sponsored by five OCPM technology providers, Business Collaborator Ltd (the only UK sponsor), Constructware, e-Build.ca, Meridian Systems and Primavera, and involved analysing data from over 4,500 projects as well as carrying out in-depth examination of nine case studies.

Tim Blower, Consultant at Business Collaborator Ltd, said:

“We sponsored the study because we wanted to be closer to our customers, both in terms of gaining a better understanding of their project objectives, and also to help them to justify their commitment to collaboration technology. ”

As more UK companies embrace OCPM technologies over traditional project communication methods such as email that are more prone to inefficiencies and mistakes, the study aims to identify the benefits of using online collaboration tools ranging from tangible (cost savings resulting from specific processes such as e-document transfer and e-RFI's), quasi-tangible (improved planning and faster decisions often benefiting the organisation), and intangible (business benefits such as knowledge management, improved supply chain integration and performance measuring).

The UK participants lead the way in placing more emphasis on the intangible and quasi-tangible benefits that OCPM technology bring to their organisations rather than merely recognising the efficiency savings in monetary terms.

Steve Head, Service Support Manager at Nationwide Building Society, a long-standing client of Business Collaborator Ltd, comments:

“We focused on organizational-level benefits rather than individual project-level benefits. The reason for this is that business benefits rather than cost savings have always been more important to our organization. Performing the right tasks correctly, staying consistent with our mission, vision and values, and supporting our goals and objectives have been among our most important goals in deciding to implement this technology.  ”

Investing in OCPM technology can present an ideal opportunity for a company to examine its existing processes and workflows. Due to an increased workload of branch refurbishment projects in the pipeline, both UK banking organisations involved in the study decided they would review existing processes and establish their procedures rather than later having to modify the processes to suit the technology. This allowed Nationwide to standardise on their processes and learn from, and more importantly, improve upon, what they have been doing for years. This allowed Nationwide to improve programme management by tracking project milestones, provided a stand ardised way of working, and better integration of the supply chain.

Nationwide also captured the knowledge that already existed within their organisation and supply chain and disseminate best practice on future projects.

Comments Steve Head;

“We have been feeding the learning gleaned from each project back into our knowledge store - for example how difficult shaped branches were handled, imaginative use of materials, effective building techniques etc. We have even had competitive suppliers learning useful tips from each other and sharing expertise! ”

In the study, Nationwide realised the most combined quasi - and intangible benefits from their investment out of all the companies questioned.

"ITG Group" (a financial company with over 30 million customers in the UK who preferred to use an assumed name to protect banking privacy) decided to re-engineer their design approval process in order to keep up with a very tight schedule of branch refurbishments. The design team worked on photomontages uploaded onto their Business Collaborator - based server instead of traditional drawings, each one supported by detailed design sheets. All revisions were checked by the project manager, who would record any exceptions in a database log. This re-engineering of the design process allowed 1,750 sites to be refurbished within a 14-week period.

This is the most up-to-date research of its kind and provides an objective, substantial, and comprehensive study into the use of and return on investment for organisations using OCPM technology. One of the key lessons that came through it all is that technology can and does make a significant difference when used appropriately, effectively and with full sponsorship of key executives in the company.

Limited supplies of the study are available from us. Alternatively, further information about the study is available on the Harvard website.