The environment faced by modern construction engineering industry is increasingly complex, with scattered project sites and many participating units. High risk, rapid change, strict quality requirements, short construction period and low cost have become the main characteristics of project management. At present, it has become a consensus to realize project management informatization in the field of construction engineering. The Ministry of Construction clearly pointed out in the Outline of the National Construction Industry Informatization Development Plan from 2003 to 2008 that informatization is the only way for the construction industry to achieve sustainable development and an important way for the construction industry to achieve leap-forward development. According to ENR, American construction industry uses information technology to assist project management.
The number of companies has increased by 16% in the past two years, and it is expected to double again in the next six months [1].
1 project management information mode
At present, the application of project management informatization in specific engineering projects mainly has three modes:
(1) developed by myself. According to the characteristics of the project, consulting companies and software companies are hired to develop themselves, and fully undertake the design, development and maintenance of the system.
(2) direct purchase. The main participants in the project, such as the owner or general contractor, invest in purchasing (generally need secondary development) commercial project management software and install it on the company's internal server for all project participants to use.
(3) Lease service, namely PM-ASP (Project Management-Application Service Provider). Hiring a project management information system fully developed by PM-ASP service providers is usually charged according to the rental time, the number of projects, the number of users and the size of data occupied space. See table 1 for the comparison of the above three modes.
Due to the characteristics of one-off, one-piece and fluidity of engineering projects, PM-ASP model is increasingly welcomed by most owners, project management companies and construction engineering companies. In the United States, more than 200 ASP service providers have provided PM-ASP services. It is estimated that by the end of 2004, the total market value of PM-ASP services will reach about $654.38+0 billion [2].
Application Mode of 2PM-ASP
In the United States, where the application of project management information is relatively high, PM-ASP products and services can be roughly divided into the following three application modes:
(1) PCN (project collaboration network). PCN is mainly used for daily information exchange and collaborative work of all participants in engineering projects, such as document management, online communication, workflow automation, etc. The main functions include: uploading and downloading files and drawings, online printing, backing up files, version control, tracking file access records, adding notes to files, online discussion, red line marking and so on. Companies that provide such services include Buzzsaw (www. Buzzsaw.com) and Citadon CW (www. citadon.com of Sitatong Company).
(2) PIP (Project Information Portal). PIP provides most information needed by all participants in the project management life cycle, such as project coding, authority management, cost management, schedule management, quality management, etc. Companies that provide such services include Building.com's Building.com(www.building.com) and Buildingonline.com's Building Online.com (www.building online.com).
(3) Project Procurement Exchange (PPE). PPE provides electronic procurement and bidding services for building materials and services in the field of engineering projects, and automates the procurement and bidding process. The main functions include: browsing product catalog and price online, sending inquiry and order, exchanging price data, online purchasing and bidding. Companies that provide this service include BuildPoint.com's BuildPoint.com (www.buildPoint.com) and PurchasePro (purchasepro.com of www.PurchasePro.com).
At present, some PM-ASP service providers have integrated the above three modes into a full-service information portal, such as Primavera's Prime Contract (www.primecontract.com) and Aconex's CX solution (www.aconex.com).
Functions of 3PM-ASP
Depending on the application mode you choose and the manufacturer, the functions provided by PM-ASP will be different. In a word, a successful PM-ASP usually provides the following functions:
(1) document management. Centralized storage of project-related documents, such as project drawings, contracts, engineering photos, engineering data, cost data, etc. Allows project members to centrally manage and track documents.
(2) Workflow automation. Allow project members to automatically handle business processes, such as business contact forms, submission forms, change orders, etc. According to the predefined workflow.
(3) project address book. Store the address book of project members centrally, which is convenient for project participants to find.
(4) Centralized login and modification control. Log in to the information portal with personal user name and password, and track the uploading, downloading and modification of documents.
(5) Advanced search. Allows project members to find files based on keywords, file names, authors, etc.
(6) Online discussion. It provides a public space for project members, and project participants can discuss a certain topic. Project members can post questions, reply and express opinions.
(7) schedule management. Create the project schedule online and send it to the relevant responsible parties of the project, and track, compare and update it in real time according to the project progress. If the project is delayed, it can automatically call the police.
(8) Project video. Through the webcam at the site, you can remotely view the project site through the Internet, monitor the progress of the project in time, and solve problems remotely.
(9) Cost management. Decomposition and tracking of project budget and cost, comparison of budget and actual cost, and control of project change.
(10) online procurement and bidding. Browse product catalogs and prices online, send inquiry sheets and orders, and compare and analyze bid prices online.
(1 1) rights management. Set access rights according to the roles of project members.
Four advantages of using PM-ASP
Compared with self-development and direct purchase mode, PM-ASP mode has the following advantages:
(1) price advantage. In PM-ASP mode, project participants do not need to buy expensive software systems and hardware equipment, but rent remote application services provided by PM-ASP service providers. During the lease period, project participants only need to provide their own business data and pay the rent, and they can get the corresponding application services at the client, while PM-ASP service providers are all responsible for the deployment of hardware and the development, design, implementation, management and daily maintenance of system software, thus avoiding huge initial capital investment and greatly avoiding investment risks. Moreover, PM-ASP has many users, and the appearance of scale effect makes its price more competitive than the other two models.
In the construction industry dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, advanced project management information system can be used with low initial investment, which is very attractive to most small and medium-sized construction enterprises.
(2) Technical advantages of outsourcing. In the construction engineering industry dominated by large-scale manufacturing industry, IT system is not the core business of construction engineering companies, but only plays an auxiliary and supporting role. Therefore, outsourcing IT system is undoubtedly a wise choice. WITh the rapid development of it technology, it is difficult for traditional construction companies to keep up with the development of IT technology. As a PM-ASP service provider whose core business is to provide IT application services, its IT technology must keep up with the development of the times in order to ensure the technological advancement of PM-ASP. Because the software is installed on the central server of PM-ASP service provider, the technical update and upgrade of the whole system can be completed as long as the software of the central server of PM-ASP service provider is upgraded, and users do not need to buy and install a new version of the software.
(3) fast implementation and convenient use. As the system has been pre-deployed by PM-ASP service providers, users can start using the system immediately, saving a lot of valuable time. PM-ASP does not need to buy or install any software or hardware. As long as they have access to the Internet, users can use the application service system of PM-ASP anytime and anywhere through a web browser, and users do not need any IT personnel to implement, manage and maintain the system.
(4) The use characteristics of the project information portal determine. For a project, the owner is often the general organizer and integrator of the project. Generally speaking, nature is the host of the project information portal [3]. In view of this feature, the choice of project information portal will be decided by the owner. For most owners, due to the one-off characteristics of the project, PM-ASP mode with low upfront cost and fast deployment time is undoubtedly the best choice.
Five obstacles encountered in promoting the implementation of PM-ASP
Although the project management-project service model has many advantages mentioned above, there are still some obstacles to the smooth implementation of the project management-project service model in the field of construction engineering in China:
(1) It is difficult to quantitatively analyze the return on investment. At present, many companies are reluctant to use project information portal or PM-ASP for project management, partly because they still lack clear and reliable data to support the return on investment of using PM-ASP. A large part of the benefits brought to enterprises by adopting PM-ASP are hidden benefits, such as the improvement of work efficiency, the timely enjoyment of information, the standardization of management and the support of decision-making, which are difficult to estimate in a quantitative way. Therefore, before there is more clear and convincing data, many enterprises are still skeptical about the return on investment of PM-ASP.
(2) The security and stability of the system. The security of the system should be the most concerned issue in the use of the company. At present, the vast majority of PM-ASP only use simple security policies such as user name and password to protect the system, which is difficult to meet the user's requirements for system security. PM-ASP is a completely Internet-based system. If the system fails and the network cannot be connected, users will not be able to work. At the same time, whether the data will be updated in time and whether it will cause data loss are all very worrying issues for users. All these put forward high requirements for the stability of PM-ASP system. At present, many enterprises use information systems to manage projects and back up a written document at the same time, which is precisely because of anxiety about system stability.
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