Priority One Solutions  
 
 

Thomson Adsett


Printer Friendly Version Top tier Australian architectural firm, Thomson Adsett, has taken steps to maintain its position at the forefront of architectural service provision by investing in proven, best-of-breed IT solutions.

The project (which covers infrastructure, data storage, networks, security and systems management) was driven by emerging trends in customer demand and demonstrates Thomson Adsett’s commitment to service excellence. The new infrastructure will enable clients to interact with the firm using innovative e-business solutions.

Clients will be able to access up-to-the minute drawings and project information as well as interact on-line with their project manager, architects and designers.  


THE CHALLENGE

Thomson Adsett designs buildings and interiors for the healthcare, retail and commercial sectors.

Apart from their significance in terms of size and functionality, the designs are major contributions to Australia’s 21st century urban landscape and represent significant investments. Projects are typically large, complex and involve a number of stakeholders requiring access to Thomson Adsett’s designs, ranging from the firm’s client to local council planning departments, engineers, builders and tradesmen.

Like clients in all sectors, the property market is demanding increasingly more from its service providers. For firms like Thomson Adsett, this means delivering higher standards of visual detail via 3-D architecture and 3-D rendering, demonstrating 360 degree views, providing virtual ‘walk-throughs’ and faster project cycles.

This provides the client with an extraordinary life-like view of their project prior to construction. However, the Catch 22 is that these solutions also dramatically increase the file-size of documents, making them harder to transfer and store electronically.

Considering the life-cycle of these documents, the number of iterations involved and the risk of human error (in terms of version control), Thomson Adsett looked to technology for the answer.

According to the company’s e-business project manager, Wayne Burkhalter, the firm understood the need to take a more strategic view of information technology and what it could do for their business and clients.

“The directors realized that IT had an increasingly important role to play in the business – one that would require an ongoing commitment to investment,” Mr Burkhalter said.

Having the directors’ backing meant that Wayne Burkhalter was able to approach the IT project from a perspective of pure business alignment.

“We started with the business goals and mapped out precisely what kind of service level we wanted to deliver. The overarching goal was to improve Thomson Adsett Architects customer service and competitive edge by enabling clients to better integrate with the firm”

The vision was to enable clients to log on to Thomson Adsett Architects web site via a single user interface. Clients would then be able to access a secure area, check their project’s progress, send messages to the Project Manager, change instructions, and basically log changes and track interactions with Thomson Adsett Architects throughout the entire lifecycle of the project.

Different access rights would provide different views of the project for different people. For example, a manager might need to view everything related to the project, while the accounts payable clerk will only access invoicing and payment documents.

This secure, interactive online environment would provide time and cost efficiencies for both client and the firm. The ability to exchange files electronically would help eliminate time consuming and costly activities such as using couriers to deliver and collect plans.

Risks from human error, such as missed messages and confusion over different versions of the same document, would also be eliminated.

The work flow, document management and storage side of the solution would improve version control. Archiving intelligence would ensure that documents were always up to date, accurate, stored in the right place and accessible simultaneously by all parties involved in the project (via assigned access permission).

Robust Infrastructure

The infrastructure required to support an online business environment of this calibre required a total overhaul of Thomson Adsett Architects existing systems. To support the firm’s business processes, the infrastructure project focused on the issues of capacity planning, online security, communications and the ability to interact more with clients using a single, secure web-based interface.

Prioirty 1 Solutions was selected as the IT partner for the infrastructure project. Their charter included designing, pricing, sourcing and implementing the infrastructure.

“I had worked previously with Prioirty 1’s consultants, so I knew and trusted their knowledge and ability to develop a secure platform. I also believed Prioirty 1 would deliver the best value for Thomson Adsett Architects dollar,” Mr Burkhalter said.

In addition to supporting information exchange between Thomson Adsett Architects and its clients, the infrastructure also needed to support large-scale document exchange within the firm itself.

“Over the years, Thomson Adsett Architects has built up an incredible wealth of design concepts and planning detail,” Mr Burkhalter explained. “This project presented an opportunity to create a knowledge database and share that knowledge between the firm’s offices,” Mr Burkhalter said.

In accordance with the brief, Prioirty 1 delivered Thomson Adsett Architects a flexible, scalable and secure solution that features best-of-breed technologies.

“The choices were all about risk management for both Thomson Adsett Architects and its clients,” Mr Burkhalter explained. “The technologies sourced and recommended by Prioirty 1 are all tried and tested and used by major organisations throughout the world to support business critical applications.”

The network re-design is based on HP switches and IBM Servers running MS Windows 2000/2003 with full Active Directory and DNS integration. It connects all of the firm’s regional offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Lismore, Rockhampton, Indonesia and Malaysia; then connects each of these with the head office in Brisbane.

The network also supports Thompson Adsett Architects Voice of Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone system.

Prioirty 1 recommended replacing the firm’s existing PCs with higher-end Sun workstations to run AutoCAD for computer aided design and Revit for 3-D modeling. (In addition to the high-end workstations, the company also has Apple Macs for its interior design division.)

Next, they rolled out the company’s new desktop SOE (consisting of Windows XP and MS Office) across all locations. Other components recommended for the new infrastructure included:


Tivoli will be used as the primary Backup and Archival software and will manage the infrastructure from a single, central point at head office. This is seen as a long-term investment that will help Thomson Adsett Architects reduce the cost of Backup and Archival processes.

The infrastructure’s firewall solution, Check Point, is also installed centrally and will protect the entire network from unauthorised access, viruses and other intentional or non-intentional malware. It is the central engine that will ensure the security of Thomson Adsett Architects online business environment as well as the privacy, security and integrity of their client’s information.

RESULTS

Wayne Burkhalter is confident that the resulting infrastructure is future proof in that it is easy to manage and upgrade as required.

“The framework provided by Prioirty 1 enables Thomson Adsett Architects to upgrade in line with need, rather than just for technology’s sake,” he said.

The construction industry is well known for its emphasis on delivering agreed commitments and results on time. Failure to comply usually results in penalty payments. Mr Burkhalter is confident that Thomson Adsett’s new infrastructure will deliver a range of time-saving efficiencies for both the firm and its clients.

“By taking basic project management tasks online and making it possible to collaborate with clients quickly within a secure environment, there’s no doubt that this project has resulted in productivity and quality of service improvements.”

Commenting on the infrastructure that is now in place, Mr Burkhalter said: “What Thomson Adsett Architects have is a solution that is totally aligned with the company’s business requirements. We have the foundations in place for a safe and secure environment that is also flexible enough to support Thomson Adsett Architects future as it continues to respond to client needs.”