Projects

Project Websites

Why Extranets

The Internet has been making everyone rethink the way they do business, and it’s having a dramatic affect on how we manage facility design and construction projects. Over the past several years there has been a proliferation of project websites (or extranets), popular because they directly link the internal systems of clients, consultants, subcontractors, and vendors to provide quick access to real-time information. Vital project data, such as drawings and schedules, is all contained in a single repository on the web from which diverse team members can access and contribute. Paper shuffling is considerably reduced, and team members do not have to wade through multiple versions of e-mails, memos, and hard copy documents to figure out the latest piece of information. The Internet has facilitated and improved communication, but it has also increased the expectation of information being available faster, and now issues of security, data integrity, and storage are becoming even more critical.