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Five Best Practices |
n
Identify the right projects and streamline opportunity management:
Understanding which client relationships have been the most profitable and
which projects best-fit resource capacities and skill sets. By analyzing
past experiences with clients, suppliers and subcontractors, service
providers and other entities, companies can recognize and address risk
factors early on.
n Reduce
risk and drive bid and proposal efficiency: Companies should evaluate which
portions of the work pose the most risk, identify suppliers and
subcontractors that have the needed capabilities and define the contract
terms and conditions to balance risk with potential profitability.
n
Optimize delivery of
pre-construction tasks: Companies need to improve contract administration by
managing contract provisions, establishing key deliverables and tracking
requirements. They also need to manage equipment requirements by forecasting
usage through a rolling stock equipment strategy and handling preventive and
ongoing maintenance.
n
Control project
information and changes: From initial project planning through contract
closeout, companies need daily awareness of all relevant progress, cost and
schedule changes, productivity, subcontractor and supplier status, equipment
utilization, billings and closeout requirements. Lack of detailed visibility
into project status can lead to negative surprises that erode job profits
and can damage relationships.
n
Manage closeout and
ongoing operations: Companies need to integrate and improve key operations
through all phases of the project lifecycle, from concept through
completion. They need to connect all the project stakeholders, capture and
integrate communications, and streamline this otherwise tedious
administrative process to help fulfill all requirements and speed final
payment.
-Vinod Subramanian,
regional manager, Application Sales, OracleDirect |
In Focus
According to Agarwala, considering the industry's dynamics that are
presently being focused upon include sales, inventory, finance, procurement,
costing, integration with other PM tools, etc. Now, as well as in the future,
the focus will increase on consolidation across locations, projects, MIS, and a
complete WAN being implemented in the construction segment.
One of the biggest focus areas for construction companies is the area of
project management considering the sheer size of projects being undertaken by
companies. The growing size and volumes of the projects is also increasingly
making it difficult for companies to manage their data. As a result, they are
also looking for IT solutions that enable them to manage their vast data in
order to increase efficiency, reduce procurement costs and wastage, hence
boosting productivity and cut project execution time.
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Among the most visible growth at the builders end, the
erstwhile small time contractors have become 'corporatized'
-Sanjay Agarwala,
director, ESS |
On the Agenda
Some companies in this vertical are now also starting to look beyond a basic
IT infrastructure, looking at solutions that address their needs for different
parts of the business. According to Subramanian, as the magnitude of
construction increases and construction laws become stringent, the vertical is
looking at technologies which make processes easier and help increase
profitability. Companies are also looking at software to address their needs
across locations and provide a 360-degree view of their business. They are
demanding software solutions that give them a real time view of operations
across locations, thereby enabling them to reduce costs, wastage and therefore
increase RoI.
According to Kumar R, the industry is undergoing changes and IT is aligning
to the growth. Currently, the key pain area is to integrate operation for better
insights, which IT is already engaged in and in future, as the industry IT
maturity level grows, areas to look for will be CRM, BI, and collaboration with
external partners. Also, recent developments indicate that total outsourcing of
IT infrastructure is going to be the mantra in the coming years. This will gain
acceptance, as core business management becomes a challenge while coping with
the speedy growth.
According to Subramanian, rapid growth in this segment has led to a fight for
human capital, both at the executive and operation management levels. Stable,
consistent and predictable systems, and HR practices have become critical to
attract and retain talent. The need to deliver projects in time in spite of
staff movements is making it necessary to establish processes and support it by
IT deployments. For example, organizations like Ansal Properties are linking
their regular payroll and operational systems effectively to improve employee
relationships. Pendse recognizes HR as a key focus area for construction
companies and feels that IT can play a critical role in retaining talent through
areas like employee portals that help strengthen the relationship with
employees.
The legal framework in the country is also going through dramatic changes
with automation of land and immovable asset records, and this is driving
standardization of contracts and documentation. The ability to link data
including transactional records like agreements, invoices, project management
reports, purchase orders, clearance certificates, khata or title of property,
etc are becoming center stage. Organizations will be looking at leveraging IT
for overall alignment.
Going Wireless
Today, one of the biggest challenge faced by the construction industry is to
streamline operations across locations whereby enabling them a real-time view of
operations. As a result, the most common challenge faced by construction
companies in today's scenario is enabling round-the-clock access to information
across various construction sites. In line with this is the challenge of
connectivity, considering that most construction sites are located in remote
areas and also spread across huge distances, especially in case of
infrastructure projects. Companies are now increasingly looking at wireless
technologies and PDA based applications for connectivity and data access at the
construction site. HCC and Maytas Infra are currently in the process of
considering Wi-Fi connectivity at their project sites. According to Sagi,
wireless and handheld applications are going to find their way into the
construction industry considering the very nature of the projects. Pendse adds
that overall connectivity is going to be an issue that construction companies
will need to focus on considering the widespread nature of their operations.
Eventually, organizations will leverage IT to do bid analysis effectively,
manage projects more efficiently, close out projects on or before time and
manage global operations with amazing flexibility. While IT addresses all this
and more, one critical success factor for vendors will be to further fine tune
and customize their offerings in line with the processes specific to the
construction verticals. Construction, not being the traditional mainstay of the
IT industry, is one area that vendors seem to have let down the industry a
little, as they don't have much legacy to learn from. Therefore, customization
will hold the key to the success factors for how far vendors are able to make
in-roads into the super highway.
Shipra Malhotra
shipram@cybermedia.co.inPage(s) 1 2
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