AEC Software: How Everyone, Not Just Accounting, Can Benefit from the Right Technology

Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms have to field things from all directions. Seller/doers are responsible for finding and winning new business. Accounting is tasked to keep cash flowing. No matter your role in your firm, AEC Software will play a part in completing your job successfully. Most AEC software solutions are capable of supporting those needs. However, there are some key areas that always seem to get left out—specifically, project management, HR, and IT. What causes this? It might just be a “squeaky wheel” scenario, where the higher profile areas of the firm get the most attention.

High profile or not, all these functions play a crucial role in your firm. Since the key to the success of any organization is to be connected, it’s only logical that everyone should be leveraging the same AEC software and other systems to do their jobs. True organizational connectivity can only happen when technologies connect.

There can be serious consequences when there is a lack of a connected AEC software. New business opportunities could be passing you by. Money might be lost on projects. Your technology budget might be spent on the wrong things. Inefficient accounting processes could negatively impact cash flow. Losing business—and employees—because of incorrect project staffing.

These priority issues can be avoided with aec360 by HSO because aec360 addresses every facet of your AEC firm. To illustrate, we’re hosting a five-part webinar series consisting of 30-minute sessions. Each session, led by Andy Yeomans, EVP for aec360, will focus on one particular role or department and describe how aec360 and the Microsoft cloud can make a major difference in how you do your job, and the ultimately, the results will speak for themselves.

Session 1: Empowering Seller/Doers to Find and Win More Business

Wednesday, June 1, 2022, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
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Seller/doers are tasked with producing revenue. That need never slows down or takes a break. The key is a healthy pipeline, which can be a challenge in such a competitive industry. To find and win more work, seller/doers need to not only uncover new opportunities with existing clients, but also connect with prospective clients. Both need a clear view of relationships, both  internal and external. In this session, proven strategies for increasing win rates and developing a healthy pipeline will be discussed, including how to:

• Put your firm’s existing relationships to work for you to help realize new opportunities and increase win rates.
• Leverage your firm’s understanding and qualifications to create successful proposals
• Utilize pursuit intelligence and go/no-go decision support tools to drive effective pursuit decisions and improve your bid-to-win ratio
• Acquire and maintain a 360-degree view of your clients, relationships, pursuits, experience, and growth initiatives to uncover and win more work

Session 2: Empowering Project Managers to Deliver Profitable Projects

Wednesday, July 13, 2022, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
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AEC project management teams are involved in every revenue-producing engagement in the organization. They are tasked with balancing project profitability with on-time and on-budget delivery. Because there are many factors that can impact both, there is potential for negative impact on the bottom line—and ultimately, your firm’s reputation. Connectivity is the key to help you build and deliver high-quality projects while keeping budgets under control. In this session, proven strategies for managing the entire project lifecycle for on-time and on-budget, first-rate project delivery will be discussed, including how to:

• Develop more precise project estimates and budgets by building the project plan before delivering the bid
• Drive on-time delivery with more efficient planning and managing of resources
• Give project and budget control back to your project managers
• Use real-time insight to better drive utilization and project margins
• Develop collaboration across project teams to work more effectively

Session 3: Empowering Accounting Teams to Accelerate Your Firm’s Cash Flow

Wednesday, August 10, 2022, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
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Arguably, accounting teams are the backbone of any company, especially AEC firms. Because they are in control of cash flow, they must look out for areas where cash flow can be interrupted. From inefficient processes to lack of visibility, there are numerous ways to hurt the flow of revenue. In this session, strategies for optimizing your most valuable resource other than your employees—your cash—will be discussed by showing you how to:

• Organize time and expense capture and approval processes to improve efficiency
• Fine tune timesheet accuracy and easily gather missing timesheets
• Automate the review and approval of client invoices to confirm accuracy prior to disbursement
• Empower project managers and other key employees to aid in the collection of open invoices

Session 4: Empowering HR Teams to Find and Retain the Right Talent

Wednesday, September 14, 2022, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
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AEC firms need smart, capable people. Acquiring and maintaining good talent was already a challenge, and then the great resignation came along compounding the problem. Firms are competing for the best of the best, so you need to excel at managing your employees’ skills, qualifications, and performance goals. In this session, the ways how a connected AEC software can strengthen your talent strategy will be shown by:

• Develop a centralized, self-service enabled database of your employees and their proficiencies and qualifications
• Ensure all sections of your business, including marketing and project management, have clear and easy access to key employee data
• Accurately track experience and qualifications to develop strong resumes and position the right people on the right projects
• Retain talent by perfecting your performance management practices to aid in the development and growth of your employees’ skills, experience, and training

Session 5: Empowering IT Teams to Drive Efficiencies, Automation, and Insights

Wednesday, October 12, 2022, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
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AI, RPA, low-code/no-code…What’s first? IT teams in today’s AEC firms are presented with daunting challenges. Cloud transformation is happening at a rapid pace, the industry is adopting emerging technologies, and employees are in need of more sophisticated tools to help them more effectively do their job.

You must figure out what technology your firm should be adopting and how to do it on a budget. In this session, how you can drive better efficiencies, automation, and insights across your firm will be discussed, including:

• Integrating systems and processes to decrease manual and redundant tasks while increasing efficiencies
• Transforming legacy applications, digitize manual processes, and drive automation with the Microsoft Power Platform
• Utilizing RPA technology to automate repeated processes and focus on actions that add value
• Facilitate real-time visibility across the firm by leveraging Microsoft’s industry leading data and analytics solutions like Power BI
• Make your IT footprint simpler and lessen your total cost of IT ownership (TCO)

Achieve the Benefits of a Connected Firm with AEC Software Everyone Can Use

To be a successful and competitive AEC firm, it must be connected —and the only way to achieve that is by getting everyone in sync. Register for one or all of these sessions to see how AEC software can help make your firm more connected. For an AEC firm to be successful and competitive, it must be connected—and the only way to attain it is by getting everyone in sync on the AEC technology they use.
You can register for one or all of these sessions to see how aec360 can help your firm get connected.

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