BuiLding distriButed enterprise
This category features examples of information management and publishing
of building project information on a single project, across multiple projects,
or integrated with enterprise systems. Many involve the management of information
across distributed teams, multiple project phases, or participating companies.
Central Premises Information Repository the standard Bank of south africa Ltd WINNER
Standard Bank Group is one of the largest four
banks in South Africa, operating in 18 African
countries and 21 countries outside Africa. The bank’s
operations division staffs a Premises Department in
each of nine provinces. These Premises Departments
perform all architectural and engineering activities
for the bank’s branches, including CAD plan
designs, floor layouts, alterations, maintenance
requests/orders, and so on.
For a typical project, the Premises Departments
gathered data in multiple formats — CAD drawings,
paper documents, and photos — from a number
of distributed sources. Some data was stored at
bank headquarters, while other information was
maintained by the local bank branch itself. The
information was then collated, processed, and
converted to a format that project planners and
contractors could use. This process proved to be
time consuming and relied on the ability of
department staff to locate the needed documents.
Standard Bank created a set of user specifications
for a central facilities management system with the
option to store some data in distributed locations.
Other desired features were version control, workflow and process management, and support for
multiple media types. In addition, the bank, of
course, required strong and versatile security.
The management of Premises data had become
especially problematic because no holistic view
of it was available. Following the implementation
of a managed environment using Project Wise,
Standard Bank now has immediate access to all
data generated by any of its Premises staff.
Project Wise has enabled individual employees
access to all Premises data, a secure repository
for the data, time and cost savings when finding
and utilizing this data, and streamlined decision
making based on this data.
The bank envisioned a two-step implementation.
First, consolidate all information into a central
database, and second, expand the capabilities
of the system. In the future, the bank expects to
use the system to assist in scheduling both the
construction and financial tasks involved in
branch renovations.
