How to evaluate a Web based Project Collaboration System  

There are significant benefits to be reaped by using a web based collaboration system for the management of information on projects. However with numerous systems available in the market place, what should you look for when evaluating the most suitable system for your business?  The Following check list is prepared by QA Software to assist companies in making such an evaluation.

Vendor

The Vendor or Service Provider supplying the project collaboration system plays a crucial role in ensuring a successful outcome. Some key questions for the vendor are:

• How long have they been in the business of supplying solutions to the Engineering and Construction Industry?
• What engineering and construction experience does their staff have?
• How many existing customers do they have?
• Get the names of some existing customers and use them to get an objective reference?
• How many projects use the system?

Functionality

The functionality of the system will determine whether the promised benefits of increased productivity and reduced risk leading to savings in cost can be delivered. Systems on the market vary from simple filing sharing over the internet to complete project information management systems with built in business rules to automate the flow of documents and provide advanced management of communications.

General Questions

• Is the system easy to use?
• Can the system be used with minimal training?
• How long does it take to setup a project?
• Is it easy to find information in the system?
• How fast does the system work?
• Can you work with multiple projects without having to logout and login each time?
• Does the system have a management summary to it is easy to see the status of your actions in a project?
• Can the system provide you with a high level overview of all projects you are working on without having to login to each project in turn?
• What level of configuration is possible in the system in terms of security, access levels, and business rules?
• Does the system allow simple import of data from popular LAN based systems?
• Does the system have a similar LAN based alternative for smaller projects?

Document Control

• Does the system support uploading drawings and documents in batches?
• Does the system support uploading drawings and documents off-line by email?
• Can the system integrate with AutoCAD to extract drawing information direct from Title blocks?
• Does the system have a document register rather than just folders?
• Does the system store only one copy of every drawing?
• Does the system support multiple file formats for the same document at a particular revision?
• Can the system handle any file formats?
• Does the system support automated distribution matrices to reduce the effort required to distribute information?
• Does the system allow distribution of documents via Transmittal?
• Does the system cater for automatically notifying users of revisions for documents?
• Does the system support workflow for review and approval of documents?
• Does the system have best practice business rules for document revisions, status codes, document reviews, and document approvals?
• Does the system dramatically reduce the work load for document controllers or just transfer their workload to the internet?
• Does the system support Check-in/Check out concepts?
• Is it easy to find a drawing in the system?
• Does the system support viewing and redlining of drawings?

 Communications

• Does the system support unlimited types of correspondence?
• Does the system enable the correspondence templates to be customised per company per project to maintain business branding?
• Does the system enable correspondence to be sent to people not using the system? (e.g by email, fax or hardcopy?
• Does the system support integrated fax services for sending information by facsimile?
• Does the system support the management of incoming emails from non system users?
• Does the system support the management of incoming faxes without the requirement to print and scan them?
• Does the system build a thread of related correspondence?
• Does the system store only a single copy of each mail file attachment?
• Does the system support the use of a filing system other than folders?
• Does the system auto file all incoming and outgoing correspondence?
• Can the system send you auto alerts of mail that you have not yet responded to or is overdue.
• Does the system support standard user preferences like Auto responders and mail formatting?
• Can the system enable you to have all your tasks forwarded to another party while you are on leave?
• How easy is it to find mail in the system?
• Does the system allocate reference numbers to all incoming and outgoing communications? Is the reference numbering system configurable?

Other features

• Does the system support the creation, and management of tender packages?
• Can Defects or punch lists be managed and updated easily via the system?

Support

Having timely access to quality technical help and user support is an essential part of the complete package.

• What is the cost of support services?
• What is the response time for support requests?
• Is it possible to have the system customised to suit any specific requirements your business may have?
• What is the turn around time on such customisations?
• What experience does the vendor have in providing customisations?
• Ask for customer references to contact to verify support service levels.

Training

• Does the vendor offer training by qualified trainers with industry experience?
• What amount of training required for a typical project?
• What are the rates for training services?

Security

• Ask where the system is hosted and where the data is stored.
• Ask if you can self host the system.
• If self hosting is desirable, ask how many customers self host the system and get their names to verify the effectiveness of self hosting.
• Ask what security is in place to protect access to data in the system.
• Ask what measures are in place to protect privacy.
• Ask who owns the data in the system.

Commercial

• How is the system priced?
• Is there is a minimum contract period?
• Are there are any termination costs?
• What features are not included in the standard cost?
• Is viewing and redlining included in the standard cost?
• Is document and drawing workflow included in the standard cost?

• Ask the cost of getting archives of your project data.
• Does the vendor have any plans to increase their pricing in the next 12 months?
• Ask if there are costs for data storage and if so, how is this priced?
• Ask for the costs of adding new users to a project.
• Compare the total cost of the system including hosting costs, training, data storage, archives etc over the life of your project to get a realistic price comparison.

Other Services

How frequently are data backups taken?

Where are data backups stored?

Ask if it is possible to get archives of data at any time and if so what the cost is?

What format are the archives supplied in?

Are the archives supplied with a proper application to view, search for, and print the information from the archive (essentially an offline version of the on line system)?

Future Directions

As technology advances at a rapid pace, today’s systems may well be out of date in a few years. It is important that your vendor has a plan for continuous improvement for their system to both reflect user feedback and take advantage of changes in technology.

• What ongoing development plans does the vendor have for the system?
• When were the last two system upgrades delivered and what new features did they include?
• When is the next release planned?
• What new features will it include?