Lotus has changed the face of architecture at Johannesburg architecture design firm, Osmond Lange. With the installation of two Lotus R5 application servers and 30 Notes clients, Osmond Lange has found an answer to its communication and co-ordination challenges.
One of Osmond Lange`s major projects is Melrose Arch, which will see shops, office space and residential quarters layered to form part of one precinct. Estimations are that the project will take seven years to complete and IT manager at Osmond Lange, Bob Barwise, is adamant that this would have not have been possible without the communication capabilities provided by Lotus Notes.
"A fast turn around time is made possible by electronic communication, it would have been otherwise impossible to complete a project this size in the given time span," he says.
Barwise points out that although this is the first project in which Osmond Lange used Notes, it signifies the technological advances that are beginning to come to the fore at Osmond Lange. "Lotus is set to change the way we function as a company," says Barwise.
An example of this can be found by looking at electronic drawings. "Should a drawing get lost, as often happens with faxes, we face serious legal and cost implications," says Barwise. To counteract this problem, Osmond Lange in conjunction with Lotus business partner, Collaborative Business Solutions (CBS) have implemented a single database to serve the needs of this project.
"All documentation is electronically mailed to the database, informing relevant parties that updated information is now residing on the database for downloading at their discretion," explains Richard Woock, MD at CBS.
In an additional development Osmond Lange has brought a number of consultants and contractors into the project. With access to the database being of paramount importance to the company these other firms are also migrating to Notes, to ensure access to the database. "One or two Notes clients are to be installed at each of the consultant`s premises," he says.
"We are able to pool our knowledge by creating discussion rooms where architects and consultants from the various firms can give input into a particular situation," Barwise says. "Furthermore top level management are able to search for a particular drawing by date, consultant or land parcel and track performance."
With only the first phase of Melrose Arch completed at this time, Barwise predicts that as the more people become involved with the project, the value to be had from the collaborative capabilities of Notes will increase as it is vital to the project`s co-ordination and completion.
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