Lydon Solutions

Construction Project Management Software Solutions

Company News

Welcome to the new and improved LydonSolutions.com

Company News |

We are excited to launch our new LydonSolutions.com website with a redesigned mobile-responsive theme and several other enhancements. You may have noticed that our ConstructionViz.com site also recently underwent a minor refresh. Read on to learn more about what’s new on both sites.

What’s New on LydonSolutions.com 

Web technology has come a long way since we launched our original site in 2009 and a redesigned version in 2014.  Not only have monitor screen sizes kept getting bigger and wider, but the portion of our web traffic from users on phones and tablets continues to grow. We also wanted to make it as easy as possible for web visitors to learn about our products/services, events, and resources.

With these goals in mind, our redesigned site is optimized to provide the best experience possible with room to grow for several more years.

Fully mobile-responsive for today’s devices

The new Lydon Solutions website has a brand-new design that should look good on the latest widescreen monitors while scaling down gracefully for comfortable viewing on mobile devices.

A spotlight on events

Our team attends multiple conferences and events each year not only to show off the power of Construction Viz and our other solutions, but because the invaluable feedback we receive from real-world construction professional shapes and improves our products. So we created a new Events section to let the community know about upcoming events we will be at and provide a way to schedule meetings with our team.

Magazine style blog

Our team regularly puts out blog articles on topics ranging from product updates to tips and resources for construction project management teams. Our revamped Blog section boasts a bold magazine-style article template, a dedicated blog search function, category pages, and related/suggested articles.

A focus on growing our team

The key to the success of Lydon Solutions is the outstanding people that make up our team. Our updated Career section will help us find the best and brightest talent to take our solutions to the next level.

Other under-the-hood updates

Many other changes lie behind the scenes, like using the latest and most secure web technologies, sitewide search, an improved contact form experience, various security enhancements, interactive widgets, enhanced administrative features that will make it easier for us to update the site, and more.

The Refreshed ConstrucitonViz.com 

We also refreshed ConstructionViz.com, the information hub for our construction project management solution, which we launched in 2016. The site now features a bolder home page, an expanded section for our growing lineup of Construction Viz Apps for Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365, and numerous design tweaks. Like our Lydon Solutions site, the new ConstructionViz.com also underwent the same sort of under-the-hood updates to improve performance, security, mobile-responsiveness, and administration

The above lays the groundwork for a couple of exciting enhancements on the horizon. First, we’ll be implementing a blog/news section on ConstructionViz.com to highlight product news and updates. Second, as we announced earlier this year, we are working on a new marketplace and streamlined installation process for our Construction Viz Apps. When the marketplace and updated installers are in place, any user will be able to select, buy and install our apps in a few simple steps. No IT expertise required.

Get a Free Consultation & Stay in Touch

We invite you to schedule a free demo and consultation to learn more about how Lydon Solutions can help your organization reduce cost, stay on schedule, and be more efficient with your construction programs and projects. And don’t forget to signup below to join our mailing list so you don’t miss any future updates.

We Have Big Plans for Construction Viz in 2019

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We’ll be expanding our lineup of Construction Viz Apps for SharePoint and Office 365, introducing a new marketplace to make it even easier to buy and deploy our apps, adding services to help construction organizations manage and get the most out of Office 365, plus a lot more. Read on for a preview.

The Construction Viz Story So Far

Construction Viz tackles the pain points of owners, construction project managers, and contractors like no other product on the market. Much more than just another Project Management Information System (PMIS), Construction Viz brings all your critical project data into one place with robust reporting and dashboards. It has all the tools you need to manage your projects—document management, workflows, forms, mobile and offline support—and is powered by the latest versions of Microsoft SharePoint, SQL Server, and Azure. You can use it with confidence knowing that Microsoft will support the underlying technologies for the long haul.

What’s more, Construction Viz is customizable using pre-built components and assets to suit how you work. Also, the solution is extensible and can be integrated with your other applications.

But we know that not every organization needs a standalone cloud solution. Maybe they just want to customize an existing SharePoint application. Or maybe they want to extend existing tools, or to use Construction Viz features within an existing SharePoint environment.

So last year we made Construction Viz even better by creating Construction Viz Apps. So far we have launched 15 different integrated Form Apps as well as the Scheduler, Planner, and Project Tracker Apps.

Construction Viz Apps are powered by React, a JavaScript library developed by Facebook and used by companies like Netflix, AirBNB and Dropbox in web and mobile applications. Embracing React and the app model enables us to do two things. First, organizations can deploy features of Construction Viz to their own SharePoint 2013/2016 environment or Office 365 / SharePoint Online with just a few clicks. Second, end users can pick exactly the features they need and install just those apps. Each app functions as a completely standalone application or can be combined to seamlessly work together. That way, you can start with the features you need and add more functionality later.

Nothing else on the market offers the total package Construction Viz provides.

Looking Ahead for 2019

What’s next? Quite a bit.

New Marketplace for Construction Viz Apps for SharePoint and Office 365

Today many smaller organizations are embracing the power of Microsoft’s Office 365, but they may not have in-house IT support. Even at larger organizations, a department or group may want to install our apps without getting IT involved.

This is significant because installing our Construction Viz Apps—while easy— typically requires some technical knowledge. So our first big initiatives for 2019 are implementing an online marketplace for our Construction Viz Apps and streamlining the installation process. When the updated installers are in place, any user will be able to select, buy and install our apps in a few simple steps. No detailed IT expertise required.

Deeper Integration Between Construction Viz and Office 365

We are also deepening the integration between Construction Viz and Office 365 with enhanced data-sharing features. For example, we are building a custom data connector that extracts live lists and libraries from both on-premise SharePoint and Office 365 for storage in our data warehouse. This will extend the advanced querying, reporting, archiving, and backup capabilities of Construction Viz Cloud into SharePoint Online and Office 365 – functionalities not otherwise available on those platforms. Another related feature we have in progress connects our Form Apps with OneDrive, enabling users to pull documents from their OneDrive desktop client into their forms.

More Construction Viz Apps and Feature Enhancements

That’s not all. We will continue to expand and enhance our lineup of Construction Viz Apps. Our product roadmap includes plans to add functionality based on our existing Primavera P6 and geospatial tools, as well as integrations with Microsoft Office 365 productivity applications and Microsoft Graph. Also, we plan to take our offline form support to a new level by tapping the native offline capabilities of React. This would allow the entire Construction Viz solution to go offline – not only forms, but also any page, dashboard, view, and more. We are also looking to incorporate artificial intelligence technology (AI) into our Construction Viz Apps.

Managed Services for Office 365

Another significant initiative for 2019 will be our launch of a managed-services offering for Office 365 to help organizations get the most out of Microsoft’s cloud tools. Frankly, few organizations have the in-house expertise to take advantage of all that Office 365 has to offer, which includes tools like InTune, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Delve, Sway, Skype for Business, Planner, Power BI, and Advanced Threat Protection. Our managed services will help our clients make full use of Office 365 with features like Voice over IP (VoIP), device management, user administration, security, data migration, workflows, and more. And we’ll be there to provide help desk support.

Resources for Construction Project Management Professionals

We’ll support all the above with a website refresh, webinars and videos.

Get Started Today

As you can see, we have great stuff coming soon. But you don’t have to wait. You can get started with Construction Viz right away. Contact us for a free demo and consultation today. You will be glad you did.

Introducing Construction Viz Apps for SharePoint and Office 365

Company News |

Our new lineup of Construction Viz Apps gives you the ultimate in construction project management flexibility. Now you can select and deploy exactly the project management features you need right into your own SharePoint and Office 365 environments.

Did you ever wish there was an easy way to pick and choose the specific functionality you want for your construction project management software instead of “buying the farm” and only using 10%?  Ever wish you could use your own on-premise SharePoint or Office 365 SharePoint Online environment to manage a construction project enhanced with the latest and greatest technologies?

As of today, you can. 

Our new lineup of Construction Viz Apps enables owners, construction managers, A&E firms and contractors to individually purchase and deploy custom functionality into their own SharePoint 2013/2016 and Office 365 environments.

Construction Viz Apps are based on the same tools we have built and delivered to multi-billion-dollar construction programs and projects since 2009.  But here’s the upside: not only do our new apps include everything you need to manage your work, but we built them using React.  Why does that matter?  React is a leading-edge application development platform that is used by world-class technical companies such as Facebook, Instagram and Microsoft. Building our apps in React brings unparalleled speed and scalability to our construction project management solution.

And, Construction Viz Apps are completely responsive to mobile browsers and can be used in the field without an internet connection.

Key Features

Each Construction Viz App includes fully self-contained functionality and is based on our years of experience with SharePoint in construction and facilities management.

Some of the advantages of our Construction Viz Apps include the ability to:

  • Deploy in your own SharePoint 2013/2016 or Office 365 SharePoint Online
  • Be productive anywhere with mobile-responsive tools and offline access.
  • Work across all modern browsers
  • Purchase only the features that you need
  • Use apps individually or seamlessly combine them for more features and convenience
  • Install any app in minutes using client-side technology
  • Configure the apps to meet your needs using flexible components
  • Easily manage users and access with custom permission administration tools
  • Take advantage of your existing SharePoint investment and configuration (e.g. lists and libraries)
  • Always have the best technology and functionality with frequent enhancements and updates

Construction Viz Apps

Below are the first few apps that we will release this year – with more to follow.

Project Tracker App – Project Tracker redesigns document management from the ground up. Keep everything you need to know about your project at your fingertips in interactive dashboards with logs, reports, search, and more.

Forms Apps – Add an extensive library of mobile responsive construction forms with built-in permissions, comments, workflows and reminders to your SharePoint environment. You can customize virtually any part of the form to add logos, fields, permissions and more.

GIS Map App – See where your project is happening. The GIS Map App enables you to add geospatial data to your own SharePoint to create interactive maps with linked photos, videos, libraries and more.

Scheduler App – Stay on schedule with a simple yet powerful tool to manage and assign resources. Includes Gantt charts, critical path, Microsoft Project import and more.

A Solution Tailored to You

We designed Construction Viz, our flagship construction project management software, from the ground up to be the most flexible, customizable and extensible solution available. For anyone looking for a complete project management information system (PMIS) available in the cloud or on-premise tailored to them, there is no better solution available.

But not every organization needs or wants a full PMIS package. Which is where our new Construction Viz Apps are the perfect solution. Now, if you only want to add specific features to your organization’s existing SharePoint, you can select and deploy specific Construction Viz Apps into your own environment. Whatever your needs, you can select between Construction Viz or our new Construction Viz Apps for the ultimate flexibility to deploy the solution that fits your organization’s requirements

It has taken years for the technology to progress to a place where it meets our vision of what a PMIS should look like.  Are you ready?

Sign-up for a demo of Construction Viz Apps

How to Get to ‘One Source of Truth’ on Large, Multi-Year Programs

Company News |

See how Exponent, an engineering and scientific consulting group, uses Construction Viz to make it easy for client teams to efficiently communicate and keep project data up-to-date when managing complex construction projects.

The presentation shows how Construction Viz, our flexible construction project management solution powered by SharePoint, is enabling one major utility to manage a large-scale, multi-year transmission tower program spanning thousands of locations and hundreds of thousands of activities.

Construction Viz provides a centralized and complete source of project information with features such as offline mobile inspection forms, tower activity tracking, interactive dashboards, and more.

About the presentation:

Andy Much, lead developer for Lydon Solutions co-presented “How to Get to ‘One Source of Truth’ on Large, Multi-Year Programs” with Winnie Hung of Exponent, at the AACE 2018 Western Winter Workshop.

Construction Viz: Looking Ahead for 2018

Company News |

2018 promises to be an exciting year for all of us at Lydon Solutions. We will be building on the success of Construction Viz – our flexible, subscription-based construction project solution powered by SharePoint 2016 and SQL 2016 – with some very exciting new announcements for the coming year.

As we look forward to 2018, we cannot help reflecting on our past years to see the trajectory of where we are heading. Here is a brief look back – and a preview of the awesome new offerings we’ll be introducing next month.

Our Mission to Build the Perfect Construction Project Management Software Solution

2009 – Pioneering SharePoint as a Construction Project Management Solution

We founded Lydon Solutions in 2009 as a woman-owned business enterprise with the mission of offering the best tools for managing construction projects.  Our experience deploying many systems over the years convinced us that SharePoint is the ideal foundation for a construction project management information system.  SharePoint’s flexibility and extensibility have made it the most widely adopted platform in the enterprise. However, no one was using its full potential to manage construction projects. We set out to change that.

Our initial development was rudimentary.  We started delivering solutions using out-of-the-box tools like Microsoft InfoPath and SharePoint Designer and subcontracting hosting to another company.  This approach got us into the market quickly and helped us hone our skills, understand the software industry, and build the foundation of how to deliver complete solutions.  Our offering worked well for our clients who were just starting to understand the benefits of a web-based construction project portal.

Market conditions soon changed. We found that our clients wanted more:  More functionality, more reporting, and more dashboards. They also wanted a single point of contact for support issues.  Out-of-the-box offerings began to lose their appeal since they lacked the flexibility and scalability to build into more robust solutions.

2012 – Extending SharePoint with Client-Side Development and Custom Features

We responded to the limitations of an out-of-the-box approach by incorporating client-side development, creating a set of standard forms, adding robust reporting, and incorporating third-party tools as needed for dashboards and custom functionality.

We also began offering our own SharePoint hosting as early adopters of the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to give our clients a complete one-stop solution. There was little information available about doing what we needed to do in Azure when we implemented our data center in 2012.  Our clients were just starting to embrace the cloud as well – so it was unfamiliar territory for all.

Our innovation to meet our customers’ emerging needs paid off.  SharePoint combined with client-side enhancements delivered via our dedicated hosted environments worked well and proved popular for our construction-industry clients over the next several years.  We learned a lot in the process about end-to-end solutions from requirements to hosting.

Market conditions shifted once again. Our customers wanted sites implemented faster.  There was no time or money for spinning-up dedicated environments.  They also wanted complete solutions with complex reporting, integration with line of business applications, and responsive sites and forms for mobile users.

2016 – Launching Construction Viz as a Cloud-Based Project Management Solution

Meeting the demand of our clients for faster deployment of mobile-responsive project sites with robust features required a new approach.

We responded with a new product offering, Construction Viz, where we combined SharePoint 2016 and SQL 2016 for the best of reporting, integration, custom forms, and GIS mapping into a software-as-a-service platform.  Construction Viz is a complete end-to-end solution configurable to each customer’s needs.  It is the culmination of seven years of continuous development that has resulted in the best of the best we have to offer.

But we are not the type to rest on our laurels. Many in the construction industry are now adopting Office 365 with SharePoint Online and moving their businesses to Microsoft Azure.  Our customers told us that they wanted to have a solution wherever they want, whenever they want, and pick as much or as little of a solution as they want. We listened. Which brings us to our exciting new offering for 2018.

Taking Construction Viz to the Next Level in 2018

In February 2018, we will be supplementing Construction Viz with new custom bundled SharePoint applications that our clients can deploy themselves.  These client-side apps are a complete package that include forms, logs, reports, search, and more. Customers can add Construction Viz Apps in minutes to their own environments, including on-premise SharePoint 2013 or 2016 as well as Office 365 SharePoint Online.

Clients now have the ultimate choice:

1. They can use Construction Viz as a fully hosted or on-premise construction project management solution.

OR

2. They can take advantage of our new apps to add specific functionality from Construction Viz into their own environment even if they use Office 365.

Construction Viz truly is project management perfected for your needs!

It has been quite a journey to get where we are.  Market conditions, customer needs, and iteration after iteration has brought us here.   If you want to use SharePoint to manage your projects, which most companies do, look no further. Lydon Solutions has you covered with Construction Viz and our new application offerings.

All of us at Lydon Solutions are looking forward to 2018 and wish you all a very happy new year.  Thank you for some great years – and we cannot wait to take Construction Viz to the next level with you going forward!

See What Construction Viz Can Do for Your Team

Find out more about Construction Viz by visiting our microsite, or contact us to schedule a free consultation and demo. Join our mailing list below to be the first to hear about the launch of our upcoming Construction Viz Apps.

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Happy New Year from Lydon Solutions

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Lydon Solutions wants to thank all our clients, partners and colleagues for a successful 2016. We look forward to working together in the new year!

Author: Rusty Ostboe

As we say goodbye to 2016, our team here at Lydon Solutions has many reasons to be thankful. We get to help businesses and organizations in the construction industry do their jobs better with technology every day – and have a lot of fun along the way.

We were thrilled to launch Construction Viz this past fall. Construction Viz is a new, flexible, subscription-based construction project management solution based on our award-winning program management portal. It has been very exciting to see the enthusiastic reception that the platform has received.

And we are excited to continue teaming up with you — our clients and partners – to lead the way with innovative construction program management solutions in 2017.

Finding Ways to Give Back

For all the above reasons and more, we feel very fortunate and appreciative. Which is why all of us at Lydon Solutions are committed to giving back to our community wherever we can.

I had the honor recently to represent Lydon Solutions and help support two very good causes. If you are able, I encourage you to learn more about these organizations and the ways you can also help them with their work.

We were very happy to participate in the A Taste of Switzer event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Switzer Learning Center located in Torrance, CA. The Switzer Learning Center serves children and families with mild to severe learning, social, emotional and behavioral challenges. Programs include a 3rd-12th-grade special education school and family services clinic. It was great to see more than 20 local restaurants, breweries, wineries and caterers team up to donate food and beverages to make this event supporting Switzer Learning Center a success. Lydon Solutions was honored to be able to donate to this organization to further its important mission.

We were also glad to once again support School on Wheels as a premier sponsor of their Sip of South Bay event put on by Joyful Giving this past November in Southern California (see event photos here). School on Wheels is a nonprofit organization providing academic support to homeless children in grades K-12 through tutoring and mentoring programs. By providing educational support and reducing gaps in their education, School on Wheels’ tutoring program improves the children’s chances for academic success, and serves as a consistent support system to homeless students at a time of great stress and fear.

On behalf of everyone at Lydon Solutions, we salute these two organizations – and the many others like them – that are doing good and important work every day in our community. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to assist their missions.

Looking Forward

To all our customers, partners, colleagues and friends: We wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2017.