Lydon Solutions

Construction Project Management Software Solutions

SharePoint

8 Reasons To Use SharePoint to Manage Your Construction Projects

How-To |

Read why we recommend SharePoint as the ideal Project Management Information System for our clients in the construction industry.

Microsoft SharePoint might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about construction project management. But it should be. SharePoint is your ideal foundation for a flexible, efficient and cost-effective construction Project Management Information System (PMIS).

Here’s why:

1.       You probably already have it 

SharePoint is the leading Enterprise Content Management System deployed by over 70% of Fortune 500 companies.  It is used by companies of all sizes in virtually every industry.

So chances are, your organization already has SharePoint. This means you’ll save money on licenses and training.

2.       It integrates with the tools you are already using

SharePoint integrates with tools you use every day, like Oracle, SAP, ESRI Arc GIS, Microsoft Office and more.

3.       All the features you need are available

SharePoint has all the construction project management tools you need – no coding required.

  • Sites – Configurable Web sites to aggregate and share your data
  • Communities – Forums where project teams can collaborate and share documents and data
  • Content Management – A complete document management solution, including forms (both online and offline), and workflows.
  • Search – Enterprise Search across SharePoint and even external systems
  • Insights – Powerful tools for reporting and ability to web-enable Excel, Visio, Project, Access, and Excel
  • Composites – Robust no code solutions and mashups can be built to parse and share data as needed

4.        Built-in collaboration tools

SharePoint, unlike most other construction PMIS tools, is designed to share data by default.  The data can be created in SharePoint, SQL or integrated from other applications. You can use SharePoint to collaborate across teams, departments and even with external stakeholders.  You control who sees and does what.

5.       Take the pain out of reporting and analysis

SharePoint features powerful reporting tools for quickly and easily aggregating and sharing data.

Here are just a few examples:

  • SQL Services/SharePoint Services – Build complex reports that pull data from any content source in SharePoint or SQL. You can define query parameters and even output in a paginated, printer-friendly format.
  • Dashboards – Build configurable dashboards and scorecards using SharePoint and third party tools.
  • Excel Services – Use Excel and Power Pivot to build complex pivot tables that link to all of your data sources. Then create your own reports in Excel and web-enable them with SharePoint.
  • Power BI – Leverage Microsoft Power BI to transform your data into rich visual displays and share them with your team on SharePoint.
  • Mapping – Display your data geospatially in a map using ERSI’s mapping web part.
  • Views – Every List and Library in SharePoint can be configured for multiple views, include public and personal, depending on the stakeholder.

6.       Be ready for the future with powerful configuration options and third-party support

Ever wish you didn’t have to go to your software vendor to make changes?  Maybe you would like to do it yourself or bring in a third party.  SharePoint lets you do that.

SharePoint is an extremely configurable application.  You can build out pages, forms, workflows, and dashboards without writing any code. For developers, the backend is SQL, so whatever you can think up can be customized. Both code and no code solutions can be built into your SharePoint environment that you can keep re-using.

And beyond that, there are thousands of companies that provide consulting or tools to support Microsoft SharePoint.

Do you know of any PMIS software product that will allow their clients to develop custom solutions on their platform?

7.       Security and reliability you can trust

Microsoft has built SharePoint from the ground up to be secure. You can set security policy at the site, content, folder and even field level.

Customers of Lydon Solutions can also rest assured that we host their SharePoint environments on Microsoft Azure. This is the same industry-leading cloud platform where Microsoft hosts its own Office 365 service. Read our post on Microsoft Azure to learn more.

SharePoint also has the advantage being a Microsoft product. Microsoft is the leader in the business software space. There is minimal risk that Microsoft will go bankrupt or be bought up and degraded by another vendor. The same cannot be said about many custom PMIS solutions out there.

8.       Flexibility depending on the maturity of your Project Management Office

There are no two companies, projects, people, or processes that are the same.  But most PMIS solutions force you to use their system their way (e.g. follow a specific WBS structure or rigorous steps in a process). While having a starting point is great, if you want to change those steps, it will cost thousands and your request will get added to a product roadmap which may or may not be included in the next release.

SharePoint, on the other hand, was designed to be configurable.  You can make changes without going to Microsoft to do so.

Ready to save time and money on your construction projects with SharePoint?

Contact us for a free consultation to learn how SharePoint can help you take control of your construction projects.

Filter your SharePoint view to show documents requiring your action

Tips from the Field |

Learn how to configure your SharePoint view to show items you created or that require your review

SharePoint makes it easy to configure a view to see the items you need.  You can set one or more filter parameters when you create or edit a view. This comes in handy when you need to see just the documents you created or modified – or items requiring action by you.

The best part is that once you understand how to a configure a view, most apps across SharePoint (e.g. lists, libraries, etc.) behave the exact same way.

Scenario 1:  Show only your documents

The SharePoint document library can be a crowded place if you are part of a big team. But SharePoint has a quick out-of-the-box filter to create a view showing only your own documents. Here’s how:

  1. Select a list or library
  2. Click “Create” and select “Standard View”
  3. Scroll down to the “Filter Options” in the View Menu
  4. Select “Show items only when the following is true”
  5. Under “Show the items when column,” select following options from the dropdown box:
    • the field you want to filter (e.g. “Created By” or “Modified By”)
    • the “is equal to” condition
  6. Enter “[Me]”) in the filter criteria box
  7. Click “OK” at the bottom of the screen to create the view

Scenario 2: Show items requiring your review

Maybe your team wants to implement a document review process. In this case, it would be helpful to have a view showing documents where you are a reviewer. SharePoint makes it simple to do this.

First you will need to have a column to track reviewers:

(Your SharePoint administrator may need to help you with these steps)

1.       Add a Column called “Reviewer” to your SharePoint List or Library.

2.       Under “The type of information in this column is,” select “Person or Group”

3.        Go down to the “Additional Column Settings” section. Under “Show field,” select  “Name (with presence)”

You now have a new column called “Reviewers.” Make sure that when items are added to the List or Library, this field is populated with a name.

Follow the steps above in Scenario 1 to configure a new view, but use “Reviewer” as the filter instead of “Created By” or “Modified By.”

Scenario 3:  Show all items requiring review

Here is a variation on Scenario 2. Maybe you need to see all the documents or items that are pending review from everyone on your team. A status field column would be helpful here.

Once again, you may need your SharePoint administrator’s help depending on your user permissions.

1.       Create a new Column called “Status”

2.       For “The type of information in this column is,” select “Choice (menu to choose from)”

3.       Type each status choice in the box below.

4.       Under “Default Value,” select the appropriate status. For example, “Open.”

Make sure all new Documents or Items added to the List or Library have the new Status field populated.

Now you can group the Documents or Items by their status (e.g. Open, For Review, and Reviewed) by selecting the “Group By” option when creating or editing a view.

That’s it. You now have a new view showing all your documents and list items by Status where you are the Reviewer.

SharePoint has many other view options that you can access in same way to create custom filtered views. You can also edit existing views to customize what they display.

Want more tips and tricks for construction project management professionals?

Our new Tips from the Field series features handy information for construction project managers. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our latest tips and tricks delivered directly your inbox each month.

And if you are an Excel user, be sure to check out last month’s installment to learn how to export your project data from SharePoint to Excel and keep it automatically up-to-date!

Join Us for the 2016 AACE Western Winter Workshop

Events |

We are thrilled to be Gold Sponsors at the 2016 AACE Western Winter Workshop happening March 3-6, 2016 in Indian Wells, CA.

AACE’s annual workshop provides an excellent opportunity for construction industry professionals to come together and discuss the latest in scheduling, cost engineering, and project management trends. We always look forward to occasions like these to share the benefits of our award-winning Construction Program Management Portal. Our solution enables construction PMs to increase project efficiency, reduce costs and stay on schedule.

Workshop attendees: Don’t miss our presentation on ‘Visio Services and PowerPivot Services for SharePoint – The One Two Punch’ on Friday, March 4th at 4:15 PM. We will be discussing how you can utilize Microsoft Excel PowerPivot and Visio with SharePoint to connect and share files, interactive diagrams, and flow charts across your organization. Check out our Excel PowerPivot and Visio blog posts for a preview on how you can super-charge these applications for your next construction project.

If you’re attending the show, make sure to stop by the Lydon Solutions booth. We’d love to say hi and give you a demo of how our innovative offerings can help your business!

Not able to make it this year’s AACE Western Winter Workshop? Contact us for more information about our services and schedule a free consultation.

 

Mobile Dashboards for Construction Project Management

Company News |

We have good news for construction project managers. You can now easily provide real-time dashboards and KPIs to your team – no matter what OS or device they use.

We are big believers in the power of dashboards for construction project management. Our award-winning Construction Program Management Portal is built around robust custom dashboards. Construction projects are complex, with lots of moving parts and dependencies. Dashboards offer stakeholders a visual summary of a project’s status at a glance. And of course, more detailed information is always only a click away in our portal.

But wouldn’t it be great if your team could access these dashboards from anywhere on any device? We agree. Which is why we are very excited to offer construction project managers an even more powerful way to deploy dashboards.

Enterprise Mobile Construction Project Management Dashboards with Microsoft Data Zen

Lydon-Solutions-Construction-Project-Management-Dashboard-Example
Easily provide real-time dashboards and KPIs to your team with the Lydon Solutions Project Management Information System

Lydon Solutions now provides enterprise level dashboard and KPI reporting using Microsoft Data Zen. Now you can easily provide your team with interactive dashboards that show real-time KPIs in a visual and easy-to-understand format.

Your users can interact with these reports regardless of the device or operating system they use. That means mobile users see the same information as team members back in the office.

Best of all, no special coding is required. You can build and deploy these dashboards yourself. Data Zen makes it simple to combine information from virtually any system you use (including SharePoint).

With the Lydon Solutions Project Management Information System (PMIS) and Data Zen, you now have several powerful new capabilities, including:

  • Interactive charts – Display data in robust graphs, charts, tables, maps, and KPIs. Quickly drill down to more detailed information.
  • Real-Time Reporting – Build robust dashboards using real-time information from all your data sources. No custom coding required.
  • Support for multiple platforms and devices – Use your preferred device. Data Zen supports iOS, Android, and Windows phones, tablets, and laptops.
  • Better team Collaboration – Share KPIs and dashboards in real-time. Collaborate with team members using integrated instant messaging.
  • Dashboards on an enterprise scale – Deploy your dashboards across your entire organization and leverages SQL server and Active Directory for permissions.

Lydon Solutions continues to push the envelope of what is possible in managing your construction projects. Thought you knew SharePoint? Guess again. Contact us for a free consultation.

3 takeaways from the 2015 CMAA National Conference

Events |

Photo courtesy of CMAA. View more event photos on their Flickr page.

We are proud to have been a Bronze Sponsor at the 2015 CMAA National Conference held in Orlando last week. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth and came out for our presentation, ‘Microsoft Excel PowerPivot and SharePoint – The Perfect Solution’.

We always enjoy the opportunity to show the powerful features of the Lydon Solutions Construction Program Management Portal in person to industry professionals looking for a better way to manage their next project. Visitors to our booth were able to see firsthand the robust features of our Portal, including custom dashboards, collaboration features, and easy reporting tools.

CMAA National Conference SharePoint
Pictured: Rusty Ostboe, VP of Lydon Solutions & Paul Bedford, SharePoint Practice Director/Architect

Attendees at the CMAA conference came from construction companies ranging in size and resources. But all the industry professionals we met faced similar challenges.

Here are our three takeaways from the conference:

1.   Construction professionals love Excel: Our presentation on Microsoft Excel PowerPivot and SharePoint was a big hit with conference attendees. Several people came up to us afterward to say they were amazed at what is possible with Excel and SharePoint. They were unaware of the inherent functionality of these two applications and how simple it was to use them together. You can read more in our recent blog post about the power of Excel and SharePoint.

2.   Companies are looking to do more with Microsoft SharePoint: It’s no secret that we are big believers in SharePoint as an ideal Project Management Information System (PMIS). So we were thrilled to hear from companies big and small who were actively using SharePoint for every project. What they needed now was help taking SharePoint to the next level. We had several great conservations about simple enhancements to make SharePoint an even better fit for their workflow and business needs.

3.   There is a lot of frustration with custom solutions: We spoke with construction professionals from several companies frustrated with custom built PMIS solutions. These tools had been expensive to deploy, didn’t meet their needs and were poorly supported. This is a big problem for our industry. We’ve talked about why most construction PMIS implementation fail before.  And we’ve shared tips on how to deploy a PMIS for your construction business the right way.

The CMAA National Conference was a great chance to connect with friends, old and new. We especially enjoyed sharing our solution as well as learning from conference attendees. Not able to make it to this year’s event? Contact us to see how Lydon Solutions can help streamline your next project.

Excel as a Construction Project Management Tool

Reviews |

Learn how you can unleash Excel’s hidden superpowers for your construction project team

Excel is currently the mostly widely used project management tool for construction professionals. You may not want to hear that ­­– especially if you are a VP who just implemented a multi-million dollar project management system­­ – but it’s true. Many of those overseeing programs in your company turn to Excel to handle day-to-day project management and reporting. They do this even if you have multiple in-house project management software packages at their disposal.

The widespread reliance on Excel for construction project management might surprise some readers. After all, using Excel for real project management tasks used to be a taboo in the construction industry. But most, if not all, of the construction project managers we talk with admit that Excel is their go-to tool for multi-million – even billion – dollar projects because it is easy to use.

Pros & Cons of Using Excel for Construction Project Management

Excel is a flexible and easy project management tool because it is simple for project teams to update data and create and share reports. Collaboration is easy, since everyone has Excel and is familiar with the software. This is not the case with the limited licenses and steep learning curve of proprietary project management tools.

But the same construction professionals who told us they relied on Excel were also quick to complain about its shortcomings. The most frequently mentioned limitation on using Excel to manage projects include:

• Files are stored locally so sharing and backups becomes a problem

• Consistency and control across spreadsheets isn’t enforceable

• There are often user errors and version control issues

• Excel isn’t a database

It is a classic love/hate story. The construction project managers we meet love Excel for its simplicity and ease of use, but dislike where that simplicity causes the tool to come up short.

The thing is, Excel in recent years has gained some lesser known capabilities – we consider them superpowers really – that make it an even better construction project management tool than most realize.

Excel Power Maps
Power Maps
Power Pivot
Power View

 

 

Unleashing Excel’s Superpowers for Construction Project Management

The good news for our fellow Excel-loving construction industry professionals is that recent enhancements to Excel enable it to be a more effective construction management software package.

So what’s changed?  With the release of Microsoft’s Excel PowerPivot Add-in, which is already built into to Excel 2010 and 2013 and can be turned on from the COM Add-ins menu, Microsoft has morphed Excel into a relational DAX database.  Combined with SharePoint Power Pivot Services, the entire project team can connect, report and share Excel files across the organization.

Imagine the possibilities. You can take existing Excel cost reports and other tracking spreadsheets and use Excel Power Pivot and SharePoint Power Pivot Services to turn them into full blown web-enabled applications that leverage SharePoint permissions.  It’s now possible to connect Excel to many different data sources such as SharePoint Forms and Lists, SQL tables, Access tables, and even other Excel files.  No longer do you need to purchase or build an expensive custom coded solution. These capabilities turn Excel in a project management superhero for construction professionals.

And this evolution of Excel and SharePoint places the power of building and managing solutions in your hands.  Users can straight away leverage their existing Excel files that they know and love and immediately create robust cost management tools. No long and expensive development cycles, no coding and no complicated proprietary tools required.

Ready to unleash Excel’s superpowers for your team? All of these functions and more are incorporated into Lydon Solutions Program Management Portal for Construction. Contact us for your free demo or download our brochure.