|  | Michael Laird selects Workspace
Michael Laird Architects invests in portal to capture, store and retrieve documents through a centralised corporate intranet
Edinburgh-based Michael Laird Architects, has placed an order for Workspace, the portal-based knowledge management software from construction IT specialist, Union Square Software. All corporate information, from project documents to customer records and guidance procedures, will now be stored in a central repository, which will significantly reduce the volume of paper-based correspondence and make it easier for staff to share information within the business.
Michael Laird Architects is an award-winning company which specialises in commercial office buildings and has designed the headquarters for some of Britain's best known companies including The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life. Prior to the company's purchase of Workspace, Lairds were using their own self-built IT system to manage documents, which had been developed over a 12 year-period and had become outdated. In order to continue business expansion they needed to modernise their IT infrastructure and wanted to provide all employees with the ability to capture, store and retrieve documents through a centralised corporate intranet.
Commenting on the decision to implement Workspace, Nick Gunn, Associate at Michael Laird, explains: "We like to think of ourselves as a forward thinking company and have always endeavoured to exploit IT as much as our resources would allow. A major driver for having an efficient way to handle documents is data security - we're in the business of creating and managing information for our clients and it is important that this information is kept safe. Previously, it was too easy for users to accidentally delete or compromise files. However, the portal we now have means that, although all project information can be accessed by any employee, the source data cannot be altered."
Nick Gunn continues: "Our old IT system had grown organically over several years, with new functions being added according to the company's needs. As a result the application had grown extremely large with many complicated facets to it. We decided that a new IT based administrative system was going to be more cost-effective, and would provide us with a modern, scaleable platform that would better suit our long-term growth strategy. Having looked at a number of products on the market, Workspace from Union Square was clearly the best choice in terms of cost, functionality and ease of use."
Commenting on the benefits of the Workspace solution, Nick Gunn says: "Having all of our information in one place with user-friendly search functionality is extremely valuable; all information that is project-related is now effectively at our fingertips, and everything is consolidated into a single interface, which makes inputting and retrieving data consistent for our staff. We can find everything we need a lot quicker."
Nick Gunn concludes: "We have a very good working relationship with Union Square. They are very knowledgeable about our business and the construction industry in general, and they are very responsive. We like the fact that they are our sole supplier for our administrative system because it means that we have a single point of contact for all technical and user related issues. We have found them to be very helpful and reliable at all times." |
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