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1. BUILDONLINE: FROM THE
2. THE LIST
3. TIDBITS
4. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
1. BUILDONLINE: FROM THE
[Editor Emeritus Joel Orr
interviewed Mark Suster, CEO of BuildOnline.]
I think Mark Suster gets it: Collaborative software for the construction
industry is not rocket science. “Unlike some of our better-known competitors,
we did not believe this business is a “land grab,” where you have to get lots
of customers, even if it costs you. We saw ourselves as driving change for our
customers, through intense focus,” he explained.
“The “land-grab” model also
says you should use other people’s software wherever you can, to get up and
running quickly,” Suster continued. “We have been
criticized for rejecting that idea and building our own software. We felt all
along that we had to own our intellectual assets; that’s
where our added value is, and that is what enables us to customize our software
for large customers.”
The landscape of
From the press release: “Under
the terms of the deal, BuildOnline has also secured
business in Germany and Austria worth in excess of £5 million (€8.2 million)
over the next two years. The deal sees MyBau’s
shareholders, Bilfinger Berger and Strabag [major German and Austrian construction companies –
Ed.], agree to roll out BuildOnline’s
products across both of their companies.”
The BuildOnline
strategy is paying off. Since its inception in 1998, the company raised two
rounds of about $17 million each. In 2000, the firm “landed” Balfour Beatty,
the largest
There are four product lines
– ProjectsOnline; TenderOnline;
TradeOnline; and SupplyChainOnline.
“ProjectsOnline represents 70% of our business. That’s
our strength: Collaboration. Not only do we have strong document management, we
also have very strong process management – what Americans call “workflow.” It’s
all Web-based, with Java applets to improve performance. As an ASP, we use UNIX
servers and Oracle.”
“More and more, we are
learning that customers want the system behind their firewall. So we also offer
installable software,” said Suster.
Many of the firm’s customers
are involved in large civil engineering projects, including much infrastructure.
“One of the great things
about the dotcom revolution is that it put IT on the agenda in the boardroom,”
said Suster. “But now, business exigencies are
pushing IT into the background once more. We have to demonstrate our value in
both business and IT terms.”
BuildOnline’s products are multilingual;
this is one of their strengths, for working in the diverse environment of the
European construction industry. “My long-term plan is to become fully
international – but not before we are profitable in
Regarding competition:
“Frankly, we wish there were more. It would help legitimize the concepts for
some of the more conservative customers.”
Our take: This firm has good
technology, and is sufficiently well-capitalized to make a go of it. Their strategy of “going deep” with a small number of important
initial customers rather than chasing after “seat count” has proved itself.
And the fact that CEO Suster is a professional
businessman, rather than an engineer, is very significant. “It’s less about
strategy than about people. As an Accenture
consultant, I showed clients how to create and implement strategy. But my
biggest challenge is finding the right people. Two or three good people can
make all the difference in the world for us,” he said.
We agree.
2.
THE LIST
Total companies: 249 (see
who’s on The List at http://www.extranetnews.com)
ADDED:
3.
TIDBITS
* Go to http://www.enr.com/new/indcal.asp
for ENR’s construction-industry calendar.
* BAM! What just hit the
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* Attend A/E/C SYSTEMS 2002,
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at the
4.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
‘Don't
be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you
conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well,
the big ones tend to take care of themselves.”
--Dale
Carnegie