Engineering Inc. - November/December 2004 - 16

But even the most devoted match internal project manage- other enterprise
systems a fea- Where once the accounting traditionalist cannot ment
processes with their finan- ture increasingly in demand by weekly or
monthly help but marvel at the innova- cial system's capabilities. other
engineering firms. report was satisfac- tions in today's accounting and
Because time truly is money We shouldn't have to enter financial
management applica- for project managers, the system the same information
multiple tory, real-time infor- t i o n s for engineering firms. also must
be easy to learn and times, nor should we have any mation is now the D e s
i g n e d specifically for the u s e . Engineers need to have trouble
identifying whose project standard and a dif- needs and processes of the
A/E access to the information that or client experience will help us
ficult one to meet. industry, these systems offer an helps them drive
their business, p u r s u e other opportunities, u n p re c e d e n t e d
range of user- provide better service to clients Fl i c k e r says. All
the systems JOHN DALLEN friendly, back-office and man- a n d work
efficiently, Brehm have good features, but what's NOLTE ASSOCIATES agement
features that support says. They need to make deci- r e a l l y important
is how they the needs of the entire organiza- s i o n s in real-time,
while also relate to the culture and person- tion, from top managers to
the minimizing the amount of time ality of our firm. n e w e s t
entry-level employee. spent with administrative tasks. Sy s t e m
interoperability also The capabilities of these systems John Dallen,
senior vice presi- was an important requirement to be integrated with
other data- dent and CFO for Nolte Associ- f o r Greeley & Hansen of bases
also help facilitate organi- ates in Sacramento, Calif., agrees. Chicago,
which evaluated avail- Expectations have risen as to the z a t i o n - w i
d e information ex- able financial management sys- change, while Web-based
access speed and accuracy of the infor- t e m s prior to an upgrade in
keeps an increasingly dispersed mation provided to managers, 2000. More
than anything else, workforce connected. project managers and administra-
our managers wanted all their These advances go far beyond tors, he says.
Where once the project and personnel informa- t h e mere ability of
software weekly or monthly report was tion in one place, explains Paul
developers to stuff their products satisfactor y, real-time informa-
Haglund, the firm's director of with bells and whistles, how- tion is now
the standard and a finance and chairman of ACEC's ever. David Marvin,
president difficult one to meet. We shouldn't have and CEO of Wind2
Software in to enter the same Data Without Borders Ft. Collins, Colo.,
says such ver- satility is essential to keep pace Those concerns are
certainly on information multi- with the 21st century business the mind of
Eric Flicker, former ple times, nor environment. A C E C chairman and chief
should we have any There is far greater emphasis financial officer for
Philadelphia- on generating revenue, particu- based Pennoni Associates,
which trouble identifying larly as we emerge from the eco- is in the
process of evaluating whose project or nomic difficulties of the past few
alternatives to the company's 15- years, Marvin says. Engineer- year-old
DOS-based accounting client experience will ing firms are once again
looking system. help us pursue other at the fundamentals of business, The
[current] system actually oppor tunities. trying to see how they maximize
w o r k s quite well as far as the their profitability and minimize basic
accounting aspects are con- ERIC FLICKER costs. cerned, Flicker says.
Opera- PENNONI ASSOCIATES, INC. E r i c Brehm, executive vice t i o n a l
l y, however, it's rather president of professional services clumsy
compared to more cur- automation at software devel- rent systems. It also
lacks the fea- oper Deltek Systems in Hern- tures we need to maximize our
d o n , Va., notes that the A/E staff 's productivity and ability to
business is increasingly project- collaborate. o r i e n t e d . Yet
because many Among the items on Pennoni's firms are working with software
wish-list of system features is that was designed for more rou- the
capability for financial func- t i n e business operations, they t i o n s
to work seamlessly with find it increasingly difficult to marketing, human
resources and 1 6 E N G I N E E R I N G INC. N o v e m b e r l December
2004
Engineering Inc. - November/December 2004

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