5 Signs it’s Time to Up-level Your Project Information Management

Does your architecture and engineering firm have tools in place that provide your team access to the most current project information at all times? Explore how adding project information management (PIM) to your project accounting or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution provides next-level document and email management – empowering your team, improving accuracy, and reducing risk. Read on to discover five key benefits.

1. Find Project Information Faster

When a client calls with a project-related question, can your team quickly find the right files, or do you need to call them back after you locate the information? Considering that 19% of an employee’s time is spent looking for information (McKinsey) and 25% of poorly filed documents will never be located (Gartner), without the proper tools in place your team may be spending more time on this than necessary.

With a PIM system, architecture and engineering firms can find drawings or documents completed yesterday, last week, or last year, in a matter of minutes. All project information is accessible from anywhere in one secure location – including emails, documents, and drawings. So, when it’s crunch time, your team will have all the necessary information at their fingertips!

“I like that our documents are in one place, saving us time finding critical information when we need it most”

Stolfus and Associates

2. Take Control of Your Email

Email is not a project management tool, but for the majority of architecture and engineering firms, it’s one of the primary ways they manage projects. And, did you realize that employees spend 28% of their day managing email (McKinsey)? That’s almost a day and a half each week!

With hundreds of emails to manage every day, connecting your firm’s email to your project accounting or enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution produces big wins. All project emails will be available anytime, anywhere in one integrated and secure location with no duplicates – so your team can spend minutes, not hours. You’ll even have access to project emails for employees that are out of the office or no longer with the firm!

“It used to take us four to eight hours to track down a single email. But now with Deltek PIM, we can find that crucial email typically in less than a minute. It’s a huge time saver.”

CDG Engineers & Associates, Inc

3. Improve Information Accuracy 

Are your project drawings, correspondence files, submittals, etc. stored in multiple locations? Do you have files that are still stored physically and electronically for the same project? Are team members wasting time working in an outdated version?

According to Tech Crunchies, 83% of workers struggle with version issues daily. Firms with PIM can proactively manage projects through the entire project lifecycle, instead of waiting until the project is complete to start organizing files.

“Deltek PIM has enabled us to streamline our professional services delivery processes by providing clear visibility and accessibility to the contacts, organizations, opportunities, proposals, and project information that we use to deliver value to our clients.”

Associated Engineering

4. Make File Sharing Easy 

Design files can be huge and sharing them across offices and with external teams should be easy. Is your team struggling to find a platform that works for everyone, is secure, and doesn’t bog down servers or require expensive data storage?

Ninety-two percent of organizations believe that something needs to change and that they must modernize their information management strategy (The Association for Intelligent Information Management). With PIM, file sharing and workflows are streamlined, making teams more efficient.

“I’m fascinated by the way Deltek PIM integrates with our Deltek ERP solution. It is like a one-screen look into a project, but with more functionality.”

Cates Engineering

5. Reduce Firm Liability

Your organization’s intellectual property is one of your greatest assets. Are all your drawings, documents, and emails secure? Can you easily find what you need to protect your firm during a dispute? Are you clear on what information needs to be retained and for how long?

IDC found that 76% of companies experience significant business risks and/or compliance incidents as a result of broken document management processes and that an effective document management strategy could reduce costs by 30% and lower risk by 23%.

“Deltek PIM helps us proactively manage the volume of information associated with our projects and reduce our liability, which is tremendously valuable.”

CTM Design Services Ltd

Do You Know Where Your Project Information Is?

With Deltek PIM, your team will have easy access to the most current project information via a convenient hub in your Deltek ERP or project accounting solution. Your team will be able to get up to speed on projects quickly and respond to clients faster – improving the client experience and helping to increase repeat work.