The Ups and Downs of Cloud Computing. IT Forum Steering Committee Panel Presentation Thursday July 31st 3:00-4:30

Transcription

1 The Ups and Downs of Cloud Computing IT Forum Steering Committee Panel Presentation Thursday July 31st 3:00-4:30

2 Meeting Objectives Real Life Cloud Applications used in Construction Peer based examples of cloud applications Decision factors on going to the cloud Pro s and Con s of those decisions Business benefits of General Applications and the cloud Questions & group discussions

3 The Team Howie Piersma - Pepper Construction: GC Chicago VP IT, 30 years Raynald Morris W.M. Jordan Company: GC Virginia CIO, 28 years Nige Wingate - Mortenson Construction: GC Twin Cities IT Director, 15 Years Steven Mulka - SIS Software: Microsoft Solutions ATL Partner, 26 years Cloud Man Everyone : Contractors, Worldwide Persona of all IT, 8 years

4 Rank your knowledge of the cloud (Rate yourself on a scale from 1-10, 10 expert) POLLING QUESTION

5 Damn the Torpedoes the cloud it is

6 Cloud Best Practices Check the contract and SLAs carefully Make sure there s an exit strategy Uptime, maintenance, downtime Not to exceed costing/escalation cost cap Keep control of data access Understand who owns the data Do not assume the data is backed up Get in writing how the infrastructure gets upgraded over the life of the contract Legal Subpoena data access Escrow Agreements, application and data

7 Cloud Computing

8 Cloud Computing

9 Cloud Models Private Cloud: Cloud Services for the purpose of one company Public Cloud: Commodity Software Services Hybrid Cloud: Mix of Private and Public Cloud Services

10 Private Cloud Data Center Co Location: You own Servers/Apps in a shared facility providing Internet Connectivity and Power Managed Provider: You Rent Servers/Apps in a shared facility providing rack space and connectivity ASP: Application: Service Provider: Providing specific Software to meet a business requirement

11 Public Cloud PUBLIC CLOUD: Software Solutions delivered over the internet from 3 rd Party Providers SaaS: Software as a Service PaaS: Platform as a Service IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service

12 Traditional IT model on premise mixed with Private or Public Cloud computing Hybrid Cloud

13 What Cloud platform are you using today Infrastructure as a Service Platform as a Service Software as a Service No Cloud Thingy POLLING QUESTION

14 DISCUSSION

15 Cloud Collaboration Raynald Morris Chief Information Officer W.M. Jordan Company

16 Cloud Collaboration Challenge (Business Need) Keep the field in the field Need access to: , PM information, models, drawings and specifications Methods to address challenge Smart devices to access Exchange/Outlook for SharePoint for PM information Autodesk products for model access Bluebeam (Revu/Extreme/iPad app) for drawings and specifications

17 Cloud Collaboration Considerations/Factors driving cloud based system for drawings and specifications Centralized storage of data and backup Secured Simple to use Simple access for all project team members Subs, suppliers, designers, consultants and owners Collaborate with project partners on the same documents In real time if possible

18 is Evil Cloud Collaboration

19 Types of Users W. M. Jordan Company Team 200+ Subcontractors/Suppliers 5-10 players per project Designers/Owners 50% utilization Tools Windows platform ios devices (ipad) Site office kiosks JoBox (field kiosks) Cloud Collaboration

20 Windows Platform Cloud Collaboration

21 ios Devices (ipad) Primary field device Otter box/lifeproof Cloud Collaboration

22 Site Kiosk Cloud Collaboration

23 JoBox -W.M. Jordan proprietary tool Cloud Collaboration

24 Business Use Examples Cloud Collaboration Preconstruction- Bluebeam Studio Estimating/Marketing arranges design review sessions Teams markup individually or collaborate together live Construction - BB Extreme/Revu/iPad App Upload plans and specs Perform linking procedure Index to sheet to details finish schedule, door schedule Document issues Identify issues Add necessary details about issues Distribute and track to completion

25 Index Cloud Collaboration

26 Sheet Cloud Collaboration

27 Zoom Detail Cloud Collaboration

28 Elevation Drill down Cloud Collaboration

29 Issues Cloud Collaboration

30 Track Cloud Collaboration

31 Track

32 Cloud Collaboration Benefits Construction teams remain in the field Using most up-to-date information Linked documents Drawings, Specifications, Submittals, Product info, RFI s, Markup documents and communicate information to project team Speed up document review process Open item or punch item distribution/tracking/resolution Reduction in costs digital documents versus printing/shipping

33 Cloud Collaboration Pros/Cons + Low short term costs - Long term costs may become higher than anticipated + Simple one-time setup. - Large system complexity + Easy access to data. - QOS or speed can be impacted by connectivity type + Data backup/redundancy - Security/location/recovery of data/archive/owner use + Less hardware infrastructure/software administration - Results in less control of systems and software

34 Options Bluebeam Latista BIM SharePoint Others Conference attendee feedback Cloud Collaboration

35 AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

36 Customer Relationship Management Nige Wingate IT Director Mortenson Construction

37 Mortenson CRM Why Mortenson implemented CRM Outgrew old system (combination of in-house apps and Gentrak RFP) Scattered and inaccessible data Need for better customer insight Need for better forecasting and positioning

38 Why we decided to go cloud Mortenson CRM Exhaustive review of all options (2006) Salesforce growing exponentially Integration of user requests (Salesforce runs a suggestion box and voting system) Frequent upgrades and improvements (four releases annually) Ability to access from anywhere, very important to road users Minimal technical administration No costly infrastructure required (Happy IT)

39 Business Benefits Mortenson CRM Business (not IT) configures the application Scalability Ease of use for busy marketing and BD team members Extremely accurate forecasting Easy sharing and collaboration Real time data mining Data centralization

40 What does the solution look like? Mortenson CRM Different views for different roles BD, Marketing, customer relationship management, SLT, group leadership, etc. Managed by users, including account creation / termination (Happy IT) Phone and tablet apps as well as PC

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45 Mortenson CRM On the downside Reporting requires output to Excel Positioning plan limited by object limitations (2) Not inexpensive (but predictable costs) Availability Availability extremely high Some planned maintenance but weeks of notice Second Guessing Our users would definitely make the same decision again But Less additional data fields, easier to use

46 Options Salesforce MS Dynamics Team Support Wintac Infusionsoft Netsuite Dozens more Mortenson CRM Learn More:

47 AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

48 Specialty Cloud Applications Howie Piersma VP of IT Pepper Construction

49 Applicant Tracking Training Safety Pepper Specialty Cloud Apps

50 Specialty Cloud Apps-Applicant Tracking Requirements One location for all applicants Include employment opportunities & job descriptions Upload resumes Secure and confidential Conforms with hiring regulations Ability to perform background checks Ability to send drop letters

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56 Specialty Cloud Apps-Applicant Tracking Pros/Cons + Great as cloud solution because there s not much integration to other systems + Available to anyone, anytime anywhere + Branded like our corporate website + Hyperlink from our corporate website + Notifications to HR

57 Specialty Cloud Apps-Training Requirements System for required & optional training Training courses & testing Track results Send results to our in-house HR system Certification expiration dates

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61 Specialty Cloud Apps-Training Pros/Cons + Available anytime anywhere + Interactive courses + Ability to pause training and finish later + Supports videos and other multimedia features - Required a web service interface to provide data to in-house system - Not really a complete LMS system

62 Specialty Cloud Apps-Safety Requirements Safety Inspection Process Work with Multiple Safety Inspectors and Projects in one place Safety Ratings Reporting Exporting ratings to use in other systems for Prequal process

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65 Specialty Cloud Apps-Safety Pros/Cons + Data entry from website and mobile devices + Track both Safe and Unsafe observations + Alerts for critical observations or incidents - Required custom report to export data and web service to other systems - Not easily customizable

66 Cloud Apps-Summary Choose an app that has cloud benefits Don t expect to have customization Determine any data integration needs ahead of time Make sure you use a reputable cloud provider Review and ensure you have a good contract Have an exit strategy if/when you want to migrate to another system Hopefully future cloud systems integrate or federate more seamlessly with AD or LDAP to avoid redundant maintenance of user credentials and other information

67 AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

68 Do you think the clouds are here to stay? Yes No Too early to tell POLLING QUESTION

69 THANK YOU!