“Project Manager” is an invaluable tool allowing us to centralise, in real-time, all project data. Being able to track project performance in real time down to a granular level means we are able to reduce project downturns by 20% and address issues before they become a problem.
The system builds on our original, simple use case to create a game-changing solution for our industry. The ability to easily and accurately evolve means we were using Project Manager within one month.
Delivery of multi-million dollar construction projects on time and on budget requires timely and accurate reporting on all parts of the process; cost, governance, resourcing, scope, schedule and more. Up until now, this has been a complex manual process subject to the interpretation and input of dozens of individual employees, each responsible for one part of the project and its associated tasks, employees and budget carried across from the bidding process.
Our global construction client relied on these individuals’ monthly spreadsheets in an attempt to keep track of whether things were going to plan. But being individual meant that there was no uniform structure in assessing and valuing risk, individual assumptions on what was expected was varied, budgets were not linked to specific programme activities, alternate scenarios could not be easily generated and evaluated and there was no consistency regarding how to deliver the project which has a huge impact on resourcing. It was like combining apples with oranges to try and extract an understanding of how things were tracking.
As a result of the disconnect between the parts of the project, its performance was effectively owned by one Project Manager with no ownership by each of the individuals that contributed to its success. Latency and bias in the reporting cycle meant governance was often disregarded, inconsistencies were difficult to trace and so ultimately, management had no confidence in the monthly project report.
Project Manager allows projects to be broken into sub-projects with parent and child structures in order to manage revenue and costs at a detailed level. Project Management responsibility and ownership can now be defined down to a task level in order that budget and performance ownership and leadership is crystal clear. The system also captures the roles and responsibilities of project stakeholders with access and version control respecting this hierarchy.
Seven elements are now shared on the solution: Contract Summary, Scope, Plan, Resources, Schedule, Assumptions and Pricing. All of these can be changed centrally during the project delivery but governance is enforced by the system, forcing stakeholders to follow corporate processes and delegated authority levels.
Because Project Manager is linked to all relevant data sources, information such as cost codes are linked directly to the Finance software of the organisation with all costs reconciled automatically. Cost curves are used to clearly track the project performance either overall, by package, task or discipline. Similarly, the solution is linked directly to the CRM, HR and other relevant data sources.
Management now has a precise and real time view of how a project is performing. It is able to integrate and collaborate with all stakeholders across geographies to make trusted decisions, predict outcomes and accurately forecast risk.
Competitors quoted 24 months for partial scope delivery. With Ikon, we delivered an end-to-end digital project & portfolio management solution in 8 months.
Gavin Britton, Digital Portfolio & Products Director, Atkins
As a result of orchestration on Ikon, the number of project downturns is reduced by 20% together with an improvement of project margin and resource utilisation - the two most important KPIs in the AEC industry - without any manual effort.
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More than 20,000 large projects of Atkins, a well-known British AEC company, worked with separated management processes, resource planning and solution testing. Low compatible systems and manual reporting were used. Ikon allowed Atkins to integrate in real time data from finance, ERP, management, HRMS, CRM, and many sources, creating a “single source oif truth”, dashboards, resource management, trend and discount analysis, and more. Atkins is one of the a architecture and engineering consultancies responsible for designing some of the most iconic buildings in the world.
Aecom is one of the largest multinational engineering and infrastructure consulting firms, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges. Headquartered out of the United States, it operates across all continents with 86.000 staff and is ranked 189th on the global Fortune 500. It delivers professional services throughout the project lifecycle, with projects spanning from transportation, water, new energy and environment in both the public and private sector.
Atkins is one of the leading architecture and engineering consultancies responsible for designing some of the most iconic buildings in the world. The industry is under pressure with increasing competition, low margins and relative high risk. To survive and grow, the industry needs to modernize while driving productivity through agility and innovation in order to win bids, improve margin and offer new services.
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Is the AEC industry broken? The discussion about a growing view that the current Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry operating model, relied upon all over the world for the delivery of infrastructure, is broken. Success in the AEC industry is now measured in isolation by each federated entity in the supply chain. Sharing data and using technology is the key to changing the landscape.
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