EXTRANET NEWS

Week of 2 February 2004
 
http://www.extranetnews.com
Editors: Joel Orr and N'omi Orr

261 Marsh Island Dr. * Chesapeake, VA 23320 * 757/548-1384

 

 

Check out the new EXTRANET NEWS
 LIVE TELESEMINARS, with Q&A:

 

  • "EXTRANET NEWS looks at Constructware
    Thursday, 12 February, 1-2 PM EST

 

  • "EXTRANET NEWS looks at Buzzsaw"
    Tuesday, 17 February, 1-2 PM EST

 

  • "What You Need to Know about Extranet Security"
    Tuesday, 24 February, 1-2 PM EST

 

  • More to come!

 

One hour, $39.
Go to www.extranetnews.com for details and registration.

 

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. BIW: BETTER AND BETTER
2. THE LIST
3. TIDBITS
4. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

……………………………………………..

 

1.      BIW: BETTER AND BETTER

 

Joel interviewed Colin Smith, CEO of BIW Technologies (www.biwtech.com).

 

When we last covered BIW, we titled the article, "Doing it Right." (http://www.extranetnews.com/2002_issues/EXTRANET%20NEWS%20%204%20February%202002.htm),

 

In the two years since then, the company has borne out our initial observations. It has worked its plan, and today boasts over 30,000 seats--triple the number they had when we last interviewed them.

 

"We are now, as before, a premium service," said Smith in our recent interview. "We charge for value. We don't want to compete on price--even though most builders are very price-conscious. But our customers are very happy with us."

 

Like most US vendors, that has led BIW to focus on owners. "Most of our users don't pay for their seats; they are provided by the asset owner or manager," said Smith.

 

Having started with a focus on retail-store construction, the firm is now expanding into utilities. "Suppliers of electricity, gas, and water do a lot of building, their projects are large and long-term, and they are less subject to the economic cycles of commercial construction," Smith said.

 

To our surprise, BIW's head count is slightly lower than it was two years ago. "That's always been part of our plan," said Smith. "It was our goal to increase revenues without raising overhead beyond a certain point. We are achieving that."

 

Technologically, BIW recently announced a fascinating innovation: "Accelerator Packs." Based on patented software (which they call "VDEFT": verifiable delta file transfer), this new product addresses the limited-bandwidth problem prevalent in the UK by compression and "differencing"--determining what has changed in a file, and sending only the changes, instead of the whole file.  This can reduce file-transfer times by up to 90%.

 

Another product accelerates publishing for AutoCAD, reducing the preparatory steps and hastening the overall process.

 

I asked Smith what he sees as important trends; here are two points he raised:

  • "Scalability will become an issue. Many customers have started pilot projects to try out ASP collaboration technology. If they decide to adopt a particular system for more or all of their projects, they need to be sure that the provider's application and its hosting environment are able to cope with the increased demands made by multiple project teams.

  • "Asset life-cycle will become increasingly important. Using a collaboration system for design and construction stages may be enough for some customers, but others will be looking to build up a knowledge bank that they can actively use post-completion for facility operation and maintenance purposes. We are already looking at how our application can separate and manage data relating to different phases of a project (e.g., initial construction, subsequent extension, partial refurbishment, etc.) so that the facilities manager's job is made easier."

When will BIW be coming to the States? "We will first expand to Europe. But it won't be long before we'll be crossing the 'pond,' I'm sure," said Smith.

 

BIW is now the largest of the six remaining Web-based project-collaboration firms in the UK.

 

Our take: In these volatile times, there is something positively awe-inspiring about a company that has weathered the recent economic storms and stuck to its plans. We see BIW Technologies as a sound business, with the interests of its customers close to its heart. Very good stuff.

 


2. THE LIST

 

Total companies: 269 (See who's on The List at http://www.extranetnews.com/).  

 

 

3.      TIDBITS 

 

·        LIVE TELESEMINAR!

EXTRANET NEWS LOOKS AT CONSTRUCTWARE

Dr. Joel Orr examines one of the most successful builder-extranet vendors, providing you with an overview of the company and its services:

 

oWhat makes Constructware different?

oWhat do users say about the company?

oWhat do their competitors say?

oQ&A

 

Thursday, 14 February 2004, 1-2pm, EST.
Cost to attend: $39.
Go to www.extranetnews.com for more info and registration.

·        LIVE TELESEMINAR!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EXTRANET SECURITY

Dr. Joel Orr is the lead presenter of a ONE-hour teleseminar that can save you time and money. You'll learn the answers to questions such as:

 

oWhat, really, is extranet security?

oWhat are the weak points in most extranets' security?

oHow important is physical security relative to encryption and passwords?

oWho is telling the truth about security?

oand much more!

oQ&A

 

Tuesday, 24 February 2004, 1-2 pm EST.
Cost to attend: $39.
Go to www.extranetnews.com for more info and registration.

·        COFES2004: The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software
1-4 April, 2004, in Scottsdale, AZ. The usual extravaganza; not just talks! Meet with other leaders and the engineering media. A chance to get together with other smart people under magnificent conditions and talk about the future of engineering technology! Keynote: Dr. John Koza, inventor of Genetic Programming. Mark your calendar!
http://www.cofes.com  Check the site to learn who has already registered to attend!

·        Culled from David Coleman's excellent www.collaborate.com:

IIR's Braintrust International 2004, February 8-11, Scottsdale, AZ 
See; www.iirusa.com/braintrust

Virtual Team and Leadership: Tools and Best Practices for Effective Virtual Work Online Conference – March 9-11, 2004. This online conference is an international online conference designed for those leading virtual organizations and teams. Join other managers, thought leaders from innovative organizations, and human resources/organization development professionals to learn the latest in virtual team and virtual leadership strategies and tools. Attending this three-day, groundbreaking online conference will offer concrete strategies and tools for successfully leading your virtual team or organization. See: http://www.icohere.com/virtual2004?code=icohere

O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Feb.9-12, Westin Horton Plaza, San Diego, CA, USA 
See: http://conference.oreilly.com/etech

Demo 2004,Feb.15-17, The Westin Kirkland Resort & Spa Scottsdale, Arizona
See: http://www.demo.com/demo

The IASTED International Conferences on Web-based Education and AIA (Artificial Intelligence Applications), Feb.. 16-18, Innsbruck, Austria.
See: http://www.iasted.com/conferences/2004/Innsbruck/wbe.html

Chief Learning Officer Spring 2004 Symposium, February 16-18 Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, CA
See: http://www.cloevents.com/

Orlando Learning Technologies Conference,February 18-20, Sheraton World Resort in Orlando, Florida 
See: http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=l&pn=oregister

Knowledge Sharing, Creativity and Innovation  and the Second Communities of Practice in Action Conferences, Feb.. 24-25, London, UK.
See: http://www.unicom.co.uk/km  

AIIM 2004 Conference and Expo, March 8-10, Javits Convention Center, NY, NY 
See: http://show.aiimexpo.com/aiim2003/V40/index.cvn?ID=10012&stab=1

CM Connect Europe 2004, Strategies for Enterprise Content Management, March 18-19, Amsterdam Hilton 
See: www.cmfocus.com/events.asp

Virtual Communities, The 7th International Conference, June 14-15, Crowne Plaza Promenade Hotel, The Hague, The Netherlands.
See: http://www.infonortics.com/vc/vc04/vc04.announce.html

Organizational Effectiveness through Collaborative Excellence, September 27-29, Fort Worth, Texas
See: http://www.workteams.unt.edu/conf/Fall2004/Call-for-presenters-2004.htm


 

4.  QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

"Duty is ours; results are God's."

                   --John Quincy Adams

 

 

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