Each year as late November rolls around, tradition dictates that we stop and give thanks for all that we enjoy as Americans. Before we strap on our feed bags this Thanksgiving, hopefully we'll all take just a moment to do that.

But rather than ramble in this forum about those things for which I'm thankful in my personal life this Thanksgiving, I decided to stay on theme - IT. Here's my list of IT trends and technologies for which I am thankful. They are key underpinnings of my RiverGuide business and are gradually having a positive impact on the late adopter construction IT industry.

Web-driven usability.

Usability has always been important, but not until the widespread adoption of the Web did it take center stage. With new development techniques, innovative new companies and a massive testing ground of over a billion users, we've seen giant steps forward in usability lately. And this progress isn't just confined to the web; it is translating into improved user interfaces in traditional applications as well.

Web services.

Integration has been one of the greatest challenges in IT for the last four decades and the problem becomes exponentially worse with each new system deployed. Numerous technologies and middleware systems have claimed to address the issue, but not until the advent of Web service technologies like XML has a solution proven so viable.

Software as a Service.

While most construction IT systems are still based on client/server architectures, SaaS is making inroads in our industry. The benefits of SaaS are tremendous, even if it's not for everyone. However, there are many trickle-down benefits as SaaS ups the ante with regards to usability, cost of ownership and pricing models tied to usage and value.

Offshore development.

Developing and implementing new systems has never been easier and more cost effective. With huge bandwidth under our oceans, we can now communicate and collaborate with the enormous population of educated and skilled developers offshore. Even if moving development offshore doesn't make sense for everyone, there is value in some level of offshoring within most every construction firm or construction IT vendor.

Open source.

While it may seem misplaced in our capitalist society, open source is for real. The Linux operating system, MySQL database, Apache web server and thousands of other free software components available today are proving to be critical building blocks for very practical, real-world applications. Moreover, the quality and responsiveness of the open source community are setting a new standard against which commercial software developers must compete.
I hope more construction firms become thankful for these advances as adoption accelerates in this industry.

February 25, 2007

Very true, Christopher. Companies like Red Hat and MySQL have built great businesses supporting open source infrastructure software. SugarCRM is the first company I've seen building a business supporting open source apps. Could someone build a business supporting an open source construction management system of some sort?

Don Fornes

December 2, 2006

I am a major proponent of open source but this must be balanced with products that are supported.

Christopher Garlick
Civilized Solutions Inc.