They got this: Newforma corrals cloud services

From construction sites to PTA meetings, the ubiquitous desire to get everyone “on the same page” certainly predates the internet, and may even harken back to ancient choir directors cheering the invention of paper in 100 BC.

Today, project collaboration in the AEC space absolutely depends on technology to enable communication, enhance coordination, and update team members across multiple disciplines, in real time. As a result, recent years have seen an explosion of cloud-based file-sharing tools such as Box, Dropbox, and ShareFile, services designed to make data accessible from any WiFi hot spot.

“They do a fine job of bridging the gap between your desk and the field to provide simple, secure file sharing across your project team… but they lack project context,” noted Allison Hunter, Denver-based product manager for Newforma Project Cloud. To provide that context, the Manchester NH-based software provider announced Aug. 11 the release of a new Cloud Services offering — Project Center 11.7 — which “integrates behind-the-firewall” information with easily accessed functions based in the cloud. “It provides an intuitive and simple user interface, accessible from browsers or a mobile device, to ensure everyone is working from the most current files,” explained Hunter.

CLOUD HISTORY, CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

A worthwhile goal to be sure, but last week, influential UK-based tech blogger Paul Wilkinson suggested that the 12-year-old firm was embracing the cloud reluctantly, playing “catch-up” with competitors. “To me, it seems Newforma is finally now positioning itself as an ‘extranet’, pointing out the challenges of trying to manage project information via email or via generic file-sharing solutions,” he posted Aug. 16 on his popular blog, Extranet Evolution. “Newforma is now, arguably, having to catch up with rivals who not only saw the cloud on the horizon but used it as part of their core offering.”

That comment struck Newforma’s Aaron Kivett as “a bit unfair,” said the firm’s Kansas City-based “director of cloud services”, a position created this summer with the launch of the new hybrid platform. Kivett noted last week that the latest offering has been in beta testing for a year, and that prior to that, Newforma had been working “in the cloud” in some form since even before he joined the firm in late 2010. Prior to that, Kivett had been director of information services for Kansas City-based BNIM Architects, where he first was introduced to his future employer over a decade ago. “I was Newforma’s 24th customer,” he added with pride.

Full story: http://www.builtworlds.com/news/2016/8/19/leave-it-to-us-newforma-expanding-its-cloud-services

by ROB McMANAMY