 John Bodrozic, president of Meridian Systems, kicked off the conference by presenting Meridian's vision for the future as well as industry trends that are impacting project and program management software technology.
This year, Meridian invited an independent analyst, Scott Tiazkun, Technology Analyst for Tiazkun Associates, to attend the event. In his in-depth event coverage, available on the Meridian Systems Web site, Scott reports that Meridian's Prolog® and Proliance® platforms are moving ahead to keep apace of technology needs and business process improvements. He reports that John Bodrozic illustrated the extensive solution set that Meridian customers need to achieve greater business efficiency, including scheduling, estimating, document management, online project plans and specs and a corporate portal. Bodrozic also illustrated how Meridian and partner solutions were helping to fill these needs.
Bodrozic spoke about other trends that will move project management into the future, including software platforms transitioning to Web services models, new methods of data collection and dissemination (such as mobile phones and digital pens) and the growing importance of Building Information Modeling (BIM).
BIM enables 3-D modeling via a digital representation of the building and its components and structures. It is being promoted as the methodology for solving waste and inefficiency in the design and build cycle. "BIM will affect all our lives," Bodrozic told the crowd during the opening keynote session.
Meridian's project management systems are slated to begin integrating with BIM systems. This is just one aspect of Meridian's best-of-breed solutions which are keeping up with new technology and new ways to execute business. Other features that were spotlighted include corporate portals, online project plans and specs, scheduling, supply chain collaboration and new mobile and field solutions for clients.
With upgrades and changes needed to keep current, Bodrozic said Meridian is counting on ISV partners, consulting partners, VARs and Meridian Professional Services to keep up with all the new solutions and integrations that are needed to keep users current. "We live in a world of uncertainty and volatility," he said."We need to control our businesses and IT systems better so that it creates business value for your enterprise."
Tiazkun concludes the report by saying that Meridian Systems is one vendor that provides Web-based software that addresses the planning and executing of construction projects and capital management programs. Meridian, which has been in this space for over 17 years, offers industry specific collaboration, document management, cost controls, workflow management and reporting which address the needs of both large and small enterprises as they attempt to manage and deliver their construction projects on time and ideally under budget. The Meridian Prolog and Proliance software solution sets are the very definition of construction project management software and have succeeded where others have failed.
Meridian invites you to download featured 2010 User Conference keynote speakers from Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), the General Services Administration (GSA) Public Buildings Service (PBS), and Kristine Fallon Associates (KFA) as well as the entire report that covers several other sessions including:
 |
The Future of BIM and Project Controls Technology Keynote |
|
Construction Project Management—Focus of the Community: User Poll |
|
Customer Case Studies: How Users Train and Transform with Meridian |
|
Meridian Supports the Engineering Behind Disney's Imagineering |
|
Expanding the Power of Meridian Systems–Partners Extend the User Experience |
|
Prolog in the Public Sector |
|
Looking into the Future with Web-based BIM |
|
Best Practices in Project Management |
|
Construction Project Management Software–A Short History and Analysis |
|
Building Maximizer Newsletter from Building Operating Management 
