Collaboration and Outsourcing

Recently I came across a very heated discussion about outsourcing and observed a lot of professionals who support both collaboration and outsourcing or support collaboration but not outsourcing. Majority of the participants involved in this discussion had a personal take on most of the outsourcing issue and I see no harm in that. But somehow we were missing the point?

It was supposed to be a debate on collaboration and somehow it crossed the line (which is very blurred) to outsourcing.

The boundaries of countries and continents have blurred, what we attach ourselves to are cities rather than countries. I am sure all of us are patriots and want to put our country first but when we talk contextually, we mention the city we belong to rather than a country. The point here is that the world is now a global platform. If an architect has an office in Chicago he would be more than willing to work in Shanghai and an architect in Mumbai would definitely be more than welcome to do a project in Dubai. Similarly he needs to collaborate with the local expert or the expert in the particular discipline to deliver efficiently.

The profession is changing, the technologies are changing, everyone can no longer do everything attached to the profession. It is best left to a person who does it best. So if a firm's core focus is design and that is what they do best, they have a partner come in who can give them BIM or CAD support. The geographical location then becomes secondary as is the location of the project . Costs maybe a critical issue in today's time but it is no longer a primary issue to partner/ collaborate or outsource on projects.

BIM Believers

I start this blog post with a quote borrowed from Seth Godin’s book the Linchpin—

"Part of the passion is having the persistence and resilience to change both your art and the way you deliver it."

This was mentioned in a BIM survey report that I happened to chance upon. I could not help, but read it again & again, and wonder how effectively it summarizes what all BIM believers try to advocate for the AEC industry.

First, I would like to mention a few concerns and general perceptions associated with BIM Implementation, which a lot of us may have heard or had in the past,

Investment

· Financial Investment in Software

· Time Investment in Training of staff

Resources

· Revit Professionals not readily available

· Can’t afford the downtime to transition

· Revit too complicated to learn & implement within our organization

· Don’t have enough resources to dedicate.

Expect too little or too much

· Construction Documentation is not possible

· It is only a 3-D modeling software

Our Consultants don’t use Revit

· Most of the services consultants use CAD

I use the term BIM believers because I believe on the inevitability of BIM. In the present scenarios this is a,

· Business reality for some

· Approaching vision for believers, &

· Leap of faith for many others.

But, as the industry moves forward, one way or the other we realize that BIM is the future and is here to stay.

Believers like us feel we may see a delay in its acceptance and usage but it would only be a matter of time, where it deployment would be a more strategic option than adopting it just because “everyone is using it”.

Smart phone applications for Architects

Smart phone applications that relate to architecture are on the rise, but they’re not always easy to track down

An article By C. J. Hughes

Architects cannot design an entire building on a smart phone just yet. But increasingly, there are applications, or “apps,” for Blackberries, iPhones, and other mobile devices that might appeal to architects, and in some cases, enable them to do their job while on the go.

Read More

Source: Architectural Record Website

Architects - To Tweet or Not to Tweet

Increasingly, architects are tapping into social media to connect with peers and promote their work.

This article on the role of social media in the architecture industry talks about the benefits of being actively involved online the social network bandwagon.

Design firms that have integrated social media into their practices report a spike in interest in their work — particularly from journalists, publishers, and other architects. However, few can say their efforts have directly led to new projects … yet. Social media is so new to the profession that it may take a few years before the benefits can be measured, but some firms are investing now with high hopes for future rewards. Read More

Source: Architectural Record website