EXTRANET NEWS/aec * 15 October 2001

Published by Cyon Research Corporation; Stephen Orr, Editor 
In your emailbox every Monday * http://www.extranetnews.com

 

'Ol GloryEXTRANET NEWS encourages its readers to remember the sense of national unity, of mutual support, of family that we all experienced in the days immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11. We are at war; let us each consider what that means in our individual lives,
and act accordingly.

We have it in us to do the right things.

May God bless America!

 

¡EXTRANET NEWS is available in Spanish! Click on the link at the bottom of this newsletter to add the Spanish edition to your subscription!

  1. IRONSPIRE PRIMESITE: HAVE IT YOUR WAY
  2. EXTRANET INDUSTRY REPORT 
  3. TIDBITS 
  4. THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK 
1. IRONSPIRE PRIMESITE: HAVE IT YOUR WAY

EN speaks with Mary McDougall, VP & COO:

IronSpire just announced PrimeSite 2.0, an enterprise version of JobSite 2.0--the latest release of their construction extranet. To me, IronSpire's main distinguishing characteristic has always been its willingness to work with any and all applications that the customer is already using. The company seemed particularly savvy from an IT point of view, basing its product on Webridge technology, a stable and powerful B-to-B portal kit, and hosting its service with Intel.

Further evidence: IronSpire has patent-pending "dynamic XML" technology, with on-the-fly user customization of forms. That is part of what is new in PrimeSite, along with "branding": PrimeSite can now be hidden under the skin of your portal, visible only through its slick functionality and a little "Powered by IronSpire" logo.

"We are seeing a transition among the construction firms we talk to," said McDougall. "They are becoming painfully aware of how little consistency they have among projects, in terms of software used, and of how poor their ability is to aggregate information across projects. We can help, without requiring them to change project management or accounting or other tools."

The company has an HQ head-count of only about a dozen. Some of the development is contracted out, and distribution is by means of a national network of nine resellers. "These are people who are already calling on our prospects--mid-size construction companies," said McDougall.

IronSpire does not yet publish seat counts. Visit http://www.ironspire.com for more info.

Our Take: We have always applauded IronSpire's adaptability; the dynamic XML sounds like a good thing. And we think their relying on Webridge, resellers, and Intel makes them a low-overhead supplier, better able to endure a market slowdown than if they had a big development group of their own.

On the other hand, can this kind of service really be sold by resellers? We hope so; the product is impressive.

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2. EXTRANET INDUSTRY REPORT

The List: We maintain a list of all the extranet vendors we have identified so far. Here are our latest findings. 

  • CURRENT COUNT: 237
     
  • ADDED: 3
    • InfraSoft Arenium, Web-based collaboration for civil engineering;
    • Plumtree Corporate Portal, software for creating intranets and extranets;
    • Tecnomatix eMPower.
  • DELETED: 3
    • PartSolutions.com
    • RedSpark.com;
    • SwiftTouch.com.
  • DISCOURTEOUS SITES - 5:  (These are browser "highjackers"--once you point your browser at their site, you cannot "back" out. [But we have verified that double-clicking on your browser's "Back" button will let you escape...]):(Do you think that posting highjackers here is actually rewarding them with "ink"? That thought just occurred to us, especially since the number is increasing...)
Please send us your discoveries for updating the list. Write to: mailto:editor@extranetnews.com

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3.TIDBITS
HPAC Magazine has published a special report on rebuilding following the September 11 attack. View it at http://www.hpac.com/wtc/. 
 
On-line Seminar - Architect at the Center: Harnessing the Internet to Manage Collaboration - Friday, October 19, 2001 (NEW DATE) 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. U.S. EDT http://www.aia.org/pia/virtual/. 
 
F.W. Dodge's Outlook 2002 Executive Conference for the Construction Industry; 10/29-30, Capital Hilton, Washington, DC. http://www.construction.com/outlook2002/default.jsp 
 
The interop AEC+fm 2001 Conference will be held on October 29 and 30 in Sydney, Australia. The Conference is being organized by the Australian Chapter of the International Alliance for Interoperability. For information, email E_Hensley@gatewaynet.bigpond.com   
 
Citrix iForum 2001, October 29 through November 1, 2001, Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort, Orlando, Florida; http://citrix-iforum-conference-trade-show.com/extranets.html 
 
Tendering Online - November 1, Solihull, UK - exploring e-tendering which is gaining wide adoption in UK AEC contract/service procurement. More information - http://www.cnplus.co.uk/promotions/e_tendering/. 
  
ENR will host its 5th Annual Construction Summit in Washington, D.C. at the Capital Hilton on November 5th and 6th, 2001. See : http://www.enr.com/seminar/2001seminar/ENRConf2001.asp.  
  
LiveLinkUp 2001! Open Text User Conference; Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada; November 5-9, 2001; http://www.opentext.com/livelinkup/.  
 
Computers for Construction is set for November 13-15 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA. This is a great place to learn about extranets. Online registration is now open! Go to http://www.computersforconstruction.com for complete information. Or call (800) 451-1196.
 
CIMdata PIMC 2001 - Plant Information Management Conference; 13 - 15 November 2001; Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin; Noordwijk, The Netherlands; http://www.CIMdata.com/pimc2001  
 
RECI_2001 - Real Estate, Construction, and the Internet; 13-15 November 2001; Harvard Graduate School of Design Center for Design Informatics. http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/news/conferences/reci/ 
 
Project Extranets II - London, England, Dec 6. We will explore the frontiers of application of project extranets in UK AEC, encompassing cultural issues in implementation, knowledge management, and supply chain integration. For info: mailto:natalie.rubinstein@construct.emap.com.  

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4. THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.

--Josh Billings

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