Review
Newforma takes to the cloud It has been a year of good progress for Newforma. The specialist AEC developer has added customers such as Aedas, BDP and Foster and Partners to its customer list and broadened its product portfolio. by Martyn Day
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bers even if they do not use ocument and projProject Center Newforma. ect management Newforma As the client base grew, a is traditionally Newforma to Newforma seen as a neces(N2N) link was added to the sary evil or something to ‘get Typical startup costs $5,000-$10,000 software, which automatically around to’ at some point in installation, plus a yearly co-ordinates folders, files and the future. Far too many fee in 50 seat bundles models without the need for small to medium sized firms ■ newforma.com expensive and limiting ‘vault’ rely on keeping their presystems. By linking two firms’ cious work in desktop folders, which can lead to lost or duplicated data. Newforma servers for co-shared project docThe software developers’ usual answer uments, it is possible to keep internal-only is a hulking big document management documents (such as email) safe and only system that requires data to be stored in a share data from selected folders. The N2N software ‘vault’, which imposes strict poli- link also enables seamless RFI, submittals cy and regulation to all uses. It is relatively and file transfers. The company then added access support common for document management softfor iPhone, Android ware to be imposed on project partners. and Blackberry with Newforma Project Center Newforma Touch, remote Since releasing Newforma Project Center enabling in 2006, the company has taken a different access to Newforma approach to the management of document Info Exchange. The types including email, CAD drawings, system can handle Requests For Information (RFI) and sub- tagged digital images mittals. From within Microsoft Outlook, and benefits from the documents can be added to related project fast search capability of Newforma’s index folders within the system. This Newforma system runs on a dedi- servers. Newforma Punch cated local server, which indexes the data that is added by each member to their List is a tablet-based account, making it fast to search even snagging/punch-list across projects. When completed it is pos- capture and managesible to close out a project by collating all ment tool. Here item relevant documentation (drawings, emails descriptions can be etc.) for client delivery in PDF or HTML logged, together with adding pictures, vidthrough a simple wizard. and sound. Through the web-enabled Newforma Info eos Exchange (a secure and smart FTP-like por- External team memtal), documents, large files, action items and bers can use the revision records can be securely synchro- Newforma Punch List nised and distributed to other team mem- app on tablet computwww.AECmag.com
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ers. These items can then be tracked, audited, queried, logged and exported into Excel format. The data collected works with Newforma Project Center and back to the Revit model, where rooms with open punch lists can be colour coded. This is the first of a number of tablet applications that are in development with the aim being that mobile data consumers and gatherers will not be left out of the loop.
New developments The company describes its non-vault based solution as a better fit to asynchronous data exchanges that dominate the construction industry’s workflows, and it hasn’t exactly handicapped the company to win over major architectural practices. But how would Newforma fare against cloud-based document management and distribution, software and services? The company has created a number of ‘suites’ to cater to design, construction and owners. Newforma Design Suite is aimed at architects and includes: Project Center, Contract Management, the Add-in for Revit and
Newforma is taking the mobile element of its solutions very seriously. Supporting a number of popular handsets and tablets, it is now possible to send back data from construction sites
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