Seedlab IT Plan

8/4/2019 Seedlab IT Plan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/seedlab-it-plan 1/14

MAMD 2012 - Technology Management

Group D - Maria Prieto Moreno Pfeifer, Critobal Gonzalez Bardales, Jon Zubicoa, Jonas Stahl

Technology Management

IT Plan





Management technologiesby Jonas Stahl

Under management technologies we include those tools that facilitate theeveryday running of a business, including Customer Relationship Management(CRM), Project Management (PM), Human Resouces (HR) and Finance & Accounting (F&A). These tools all fall within the umbrella of ERP - EnterpriseResource Planning, as tools for managing information, both on an internal and onan external level.

Market research:

There are a vast variety of softwares available which carry out ERP tasks. Someare designed for specific uses (for instance, dedicated PM Software), while othersembrace several of the management tools that fall within ERP.

These software options encompass a host of different tools and capabilities, oftenoffering quite varied solutions between them. Wikipedia, for example, provides anexhaustive comparison table of numerous Project Management softwareplatforms and their respective tools and properties:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_project_management_software

ERP software packages can be broadly divided into three categories: proprietary(also called legacy) ERP packages, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and ‘free’ open-source platforms. These differ in the manner that users pay for usingthe software: either with a licence fee, periodical (monthly, yearly, etc)subscription charge or free to use (albeit often with surplus charges for premiumeditions, add-ons, etc) respectively.

Another important distinction between the disparate ERP solutions available isthat while some are installed locally to be run off the user’s own computer or localnetwork, others are web-based and are accessible only over the internet.

A considerable number of ERP software packages are also more geared towardsmanufacturing industries, offering tools such as warehouse management,electronic point of sale, etc. As a service provider and for our sector (design andconstruction), we believe the the most interesting and useful ERPcomponents/modules would be PM, CRM and F&A.

Amongst the numerous ERP options available, a few have caught our attention:

- ProjectOpen: an open-source tool that seems to be fairly comprehensive in thetools it provides, with include PM, CRM, HR and financial and timesheetmanagement. It is available in numerous languages and can be freelydownloaded, although the web-based solution does have a SaaS monthly hostingfee.

- ProjectNet : another open-source solution that is available for free. It does,however, require an Oracle database to run, which is a proprietary commercialproduct with an associated licence fee. It has gotten good reviews from bothtechnical and educational publications.

- 37 Signals Suite: a suite of web-based software solutions from 37 Signals,comprising Basecamp HQ (for project management), Highrise (for contact-management), Backpack (an information sharing tool) and Campfire (a chat andonline collaboration tool). Although not strictly an ERP solution, it combinesseveral related tools in a very user-friendly and aesthetically pleasant interface. Italso has a CloudHQ extension for synchronization with Google Docs and Dropboxwhich could be interesting, and can be accessed on a mobile. The suite costs $99

per month for the most basic option.





- OpenBravo: a commercial but open-source ERP provider, it is an award-winningweb-based software solution. It has three editions: a free ‘community’ edition, abasic and a professional edition (prices vary, as do the available modules andcapabilities). It also boasts a network of partners for implementation and ITsupport. It has good compatibility and synchronization options with other toolsand formats.

Funding:

As a start-up venture which is currently still fairly small in scale, we are budget-conscious and would like to avoid large up-front capital costs in favour of moremanageable monthly payments or using freely available software where possible.

At the same time we have ambitious plans for our company, and would like toimplement a tool that is scalable as our company grows and more users need towork on the tool concurrently. The software also needs to be able to deal withmore complex project structures, billing arrangements and such as our needschange.

Our goal is to implement an ERP solution that is manageable in cost in line withour current financial constraints and the size of our firm, but at the same timeone that is powerful and adaptable tool so that we can continue to use it as ourbusiness and grows and our requirements increase.

We are inclined to opt for an all-in-one ERP solution so that any costs are moremanageable - by being one software package rather than numerous ones fulfillingdisparate tasks. We feel this should also reduce any costs associated to theimplementation and any training that might be required.

Furthermore, our intention is to keep our hardware costs (and associatedmaintenance, replacement, etc) to a minimum. To this end we are keen tomaximise our use of online tools, cloud services and web applications.

The ROI that we anticipate from utilizing an ERP package comes from being ableto manage a greater information database, allowing for more effective and fruitfulcustomer service, better organization and financial planning as well as utilizingBusiness Intelligence (BI) capabilities to allow us to make more informed andconsidered strategic decisions, analyze our past performance and consider newbusiness opportunities.

Decisions:

In line with the way our business works currently and our future plans, we havetaken the following decisions with regards to how we approach selecting the ERP

package that is right for us:- Web-based : Given our international reach and the fact our partners are locatedin different geographical locations, we would like to use a web-based tool tofacilitate access from anywhere and to improve collaborative working.

- All-in-one: We would like to use an all-in-one ERP solution if at all possiblerather than a multitude of applications running in parallel. We feel this will makelearning the new software easier, allow for greater integration and cross-referencing of information from one central database and also due potential totake advantage of more advanced tools as our business grows and our demandschange.

- Open-source or SaaS: As a small and new company we are conscious of our

budget constraints and would like an inexpensive application - either a free open-





source solution (although the majority of these have associated costs) or a SaaSoption to allow us more manageable monthly costs. We also feel this will provideus greater freedom rather being tied down to a specific software provider andyearly licence fees, enabling us to customize the tool (through add-ons, thenumber of permitted concurrent users, etc) to suit our needs at any particulartime.

We also believe it would be interesting for our chosen platform to have somebusiness intelligence capabilities, to help us make strategic decisions for thecompany:

“Coupling BI capabilities with ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems can bea challenge. The integration is most easily achieved if you have a single ERP

system working across your organization; with this consistency, less

customization needed in order to accommodate the data, schema and reportingidiosyncrasies that are inevitable with multiple ERP implementations.” (www.compareerp.com)

On the basis of these criteria and having trial-tested the online demos/trialversions of a few software options, we have chosen Openbravo as our tool of

choice: http://www.openbravo.com/

We have also taken into account reviews by trade publications and IT-websites,which for the most have backed Openbravo as an easy-to-use but effective andpowerful tool. Below is just one example of these reviews which provides aconcise summary of what we have read in numerous other reviews:

http://www.softwareadvice.com/distribution/openbravo-professional-edition-profile/

First and foremost, this platform ticks the boxes on our main criteria outlinedabove. Additionally, we like the look and feel of the user interface and believe itwould be fairly straightforward to customize and adapt to our needs:

The fact that it is web-based and linked with other tools we intend to use - suchas google docs, facebook and twitter - is also a plus. The tool also seems to befairly customizable for distinct sectors, so we anticipate utilizing some tools morereadily at first and gradually expand as we familiarize ourselves with the fullcapabilities it has to offer.





Finally, we think the cost structure of the tool could suit our needs very well. Wecould start by using the free community edition on a trial basis to test thesoftware more thoroughly over a period of time and ensure we are happy withour choice, then adopt one of the basic edition options, which have a startingprice of $365 per year with a maximum of 3 concurrent users (sufficient for thestart) and proceed to upgrade further as the need arises.

Implementation Plan:

Implementation should be straightforward we feel. To start we can just sign-upand ‘have a go’ for a period of time with the community version to get to gripswith its capabilities and tools. We would also have to spend some timecustomizing the layouts and menus to our needs.

Once we start working with the tool in earnest, we also plan to allocate a periodof time to aloow us to migration our stored contacts and data from differentsources and repositories. We also believe the tool will require substantial data-entry to start up to have all our clients, projects, etc in the digital database for

ready use.

Ideally we would also like to invest in some formal training upfront to ensure atleast the most important personnel (perhaps one person who can then trainfurther staff members) is well aware of the tools capabilities to ensure we use itto the best advantage possible. Further training (internal or external) may also berequired as more staff begin to use the platform, when the software undergoesupdates or when we start using additional add-ons and customization as timegoes by.

Integration

One of the reasons for our choice of ERP platform has also been the fact that it iscompatible with some of the most important formats we use - such as Excelspreadsheets and pdf, which can be exported directly from the web-basedplatform. This will be a key factor when working with clients and consultants whooperate with these more widely used formats.

We also anticipate that our ERP platform will be linked with some aspects of ourcollaboration and communication tools, such as for the version control of documents, project calendars, etc. On the whole though, we see Openbravo asmainly an internal tool to help us to keep track of our business and strive forbetter profitability.

Management and use:We believe that our ERP platform needs to become an everyday tool used by all -particularly at a management level. By ensuring we input all information(however trivial) on business transactions and our clients, this will make itavailable to all and thus facilitate future decision-making and retrospectiveanalysis.

One of the benefits of opting for a SaaS option is that the maintenance andhosting of this is outsourced to a certain degree, although we will look to acquirethe service through one of Openbravo’s partners to ensure we have some ITassistance in place if and when this is required.

We will also need to ensure that we have some guidance in place with regards to

whose responsibility it is to keep particular aspects of the database updated.





Collaboration, Communication technologiesby Maria Prieto Moreno Pfeifer

Market research:

After a deep research about this topic, I would like to introduce you first to whatis the meaning of COLLABORATION SOFTWARES, AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGIES.

It is the term used to describe a range of software applications designed TO

ALLOW multiple users to collaborate on related tasks on either local or remote

servers.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collaborative_software

The world is changing, AND THE METHODOLOGY of working with it. As

enterprises become more diffuse, COLLABORATION between the different teams

and employees could become a real challenge. It is necessary to implement a

new platform in our business , implement technologies that easily, allow us to

COMMUNICATE with the rest of our team, in real time, if it is possible. Because Seedlab is placed across different locations, projects and constraints…

we need to focus on the benefit from IT for collaborating each others, from USA,

to Spain, Brazil and London.

We need to work together to reach a single goal, share knowledge and

information, as fast as possible.

We are looking for a software that allow us to work simultaneously on the

same set of data. The key is to IMPROVE our COMMUNICATION.

You could click on the appendix, to compare the different softwares and prices

that we took in consideration, then name a few.

Teambox, twiki, Activ collab, Zimbra, Basecamp, Writeboard, Google docs, Stixy,

Project2manage, Project Pier, Skype, Boardvantage, Sciforma, Proworkflow,

project viewer, teamdesk, Inflectra, Jive, Aceproject, Zoho projects, Central

desktop, Bird view, Easyprojects, Hyperoffice, IBM software…etc

We know that our first constraint is money, but we prefer to save in other issues

and invest in a good platform, because our first challenge in seedlab is to have a

fluid communication.

Between those, we have chosen BOARDVANTAGE.

Each of us have an ipad to be 24 hours easily connected, the laptop, to be 24

hours connected, is too big and the phone is too small, so the best size that work

for us, in hour 24h CONNECTION, is the ipad. Apart from that one, we would

have other devices, but all of us, would have the ipad.

The leading provider of secure board portals for the browser and the iPadis BoardVantage.





With this platform TEAM, TASK AND TIME, are now control in seedlab.









This collaboration platform delivers for SEEDLAB the security of a board portal

and the ease-of-use of a modern social network.

Funding:

As you can find above, in seedlab the key of success, because we are all around

the world, is the communication between us. We know there are several

platforms that would be free or cheaper, but the storage they offer is not enough

for us, and they offer a minimum in projects or in users. We are able to pay till

99$ a month, for a professional service to cover our necessities and for us is

really important to have the team spaces and the videoconferencing, apart from

the shared calendars and other features.

It is a guarantee for us that the leading provider of secure board portals for

the browser and the iPad is BoardVantage.

Decisions: We have decided that a good device for us for what we call the 24h

CONNECTION, would be the ipad because is really thin and easy to use, you could

bring it everywhere.

Implementation Plan: One of the partners in the team, will lead and control the implementation

carefully.

We are going to offer boardvantage to have one month free to start using it. We

will pay for one day training course in order to know all the features that its offer.Also boardvantage offer a support team that would help us during the

implementation of the software and a service of consulting solution.

IntegrationThis platform is perfectly compatible with the other software used in seedlab, it

would be really well integrated in our ipad and would allow us to be always

located.

Management and use: All of us, the four partners would use it continuously, if we expand our team or

we think it is necessary to add anyone in our platform, like a special client or any

supplier or consultant, We will have a discussion between us to see if we

introduce them in our collaborative team, maybe during the short-long period of

each project.





Design and production technologiesby Cristobal Gonzalez Bardales

Market research:

We use BIM technology ‘Autodesk Revit Architecture’ because we stronglybelieve it is the future in architecture and the design-build industry, it facilitatesthe design team collaboration from start to finish, with everyone working in a 3Dmodel. We also make use of the free open source softwares available in the net,for example: in regards a CAD system, we use ‘DrafSight’ - A professional grade

open product that let us create edit and view DWG file. (This is a 2D tool verysimilar to AutoCAD)-; for photo editing we use ‘gimp’ -for photo editing-; ‘foxit’ -for viewing, editing and printing PDFs-; ‘open office’ - word processing,

spreadsheets, presentation, graphics, databases-; ‘Fast Stone image viewer’ - asan image browser, converter and editor-; and ‘Google earth’ -f or satellite

imagery, maps and terrain.- For a more experimental and strategic design work,we’ relay on the Plug-in for ‘Rhino’ called ‘Grasshopper’ (parametric design),combining with other collaborative online tools for Rendering, 3D printing andCNC printing.

Funding:

By using some free open source software for some of the software packages used

more as secondary tool, for example, instead of purchasing licenses for

Photoshop, Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, ACDC, Acrobat, etc. We can concentrate

big part of our savings by spending it on a strong BIM package, which is use

more in a day-by-day base; other tools that we use but on less daily basis that

are easy to use, handy and free are: PDF Tools, Team viewer, Google Maps, and

although SketchUP and Rhino are not free softwares they’re relatively inexpensive

and very strong for conceptual design stage.

Decisions:

Working the majority of the times in BIM had allow us to be better, faster andmore cost effective because the whole project trade coordination runssignificantly better than with CAD. We still have the necessity of working in CADbut mainly for 2D and very specific details, or for converting files and checking

drawings from some of our collaborators. We relay a lot in the early stage of ourwork in conceptual tools like Sketch Up, Rhino, Grasshopper, and in a moreadvance stage importing this to our BIM platform.


We together with a team of expertise in the fields of information technologies,

research development and computational design, will create an individual and

personalize interface engine for each of their clients' projects, using the latest

technology and making it reachable and friendly to use to our client / viewer /

and collaborators. This virtual platform serves for all the different agents to

collaborate in an open manner and work towards common goal.





Integration

All the tools we’re using have been integrated 24/7 working as an extension of our body, thanks to the so fast and everyday growing mobile technology. We’retaking advantage of its many uses aside of being just a communication tool, as asmall and quick design tool, like a portable first aid kit. We can be on a meeting,far from our office desk, in any part of the word, and communicate with ourpartners, view drawings in AutoCAD, edit pictures with Photoshop, createSketches, measure distance in a picture, show 3D models or any type of presentation to a client, and many other tools with just a click in our mobiledevice.

IT Infrastructureby Jon Zubicoa

The term IT infrastructure is defined as a combined set of hardware, software,networks, facilities, etc. (including all of the information technology), in order todevelop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support IT services.

source: ITIL v3

Market research:

EQUIPMENT

IT equipment covers these sets of products:

-Computers (both desktops and notebooks)-Imaging equipment (printers, scanners and MFDs)

-Telephones

-Software

INTERNET CONNECTION

Regarding Internet connection we have considered products marketed with theterm "broadband". This term means a provision of high data rate access to theInternet (256 kbit/s or greater) and includes a broad range of technologies:

● DSL (ADSL/SDSL/VDSL)

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) provides a connection through the telephone

network. DSL can operate using a single phone line without preventingnormal use of the telephone line for phone calls.

VDSL is the newest and most advanced standard of digital subscriber line(DSL) broadband wireline communications. Designed to support the widedeployment of triple play services such as voice, video, data, highdefinition television (HDTV) and interactive gaming.

● WiFi

Wi-Fi is the standard method to connect a high-speed local area networkvia wireless transmitter/receiver. WiFi is convenient for mobile Internetusers and can bring service to areas where wiring would be costly.

● WiMax





WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) it also transmitsinformation via airwaves, but it handles network traffic more efficiently.

● Cable modem

Cable Modem transmits data via airwaves on the cable televisioninfrastructure. Cables have low interference, high speeds, and allow

television use, but with a high cost of bringing service into an area.● Satellite

Data is transmitted via satellite. There are many factors that affect thereception of the Internet using this technology, including wind, rain, andtrees. However, it is ideal for those living in isolated rural areas.

● CellphonesCellular broadband is wireless high-speed internet access through aportable telephone or cellular device. Information is transmitted throughcellular towers.

● Fiber-optic

Fiber optic wires convert electrical signals carrying data into light, and

send this light through tiny transparent glass fibers. Is extremely fast andhas little interference. It is a expensive method to deploy.

● Power-line internetPower-line Internet technology uses power lines to send and receive radiosignals. Because of the extensive power line infrastructure it is ideal forthose living in rural and low population areas with little cost in terms of equipment, cables or wires.

● T-lines

In T-line internet access data is carried over fiber optic lines or copperlines. They are fast but highly regulated and generally intended forbusiness use.

WEB PRESENCE

The most important piece of any business web presence is probably the website.However, in addition to the website, there are a number of alternatives toenhance the web presence on the Internet: newsletters, social and professionalnetworks, blogs, apps...

There are several free blog hosting platforms in the market: Joomla, Tumblr,Wordpress, Drupal, Blogger...All of them offer professional and fully customizabletemplates, bookmarklets, photos, mobile apps, and social networks.

Funding:EQUIPMENT

Currently, every member of the practice is provided with his own equipment sowe consider that additional investment will not be required. As most of thepractice do, our plan is to outsource printing large sets of plans, 3D models andlaser cuttings.

INTERNET CONNECTION

It will be necessary to make an investment to upgrade our current fixedconnections to a more powerful one, which is VSDL2. However, in the case of theconnection for the portable devices the whole team already works with 3G/UMTStechnology.

WEB PRESENCE





There are different affordable options to develop our web presence. The webhosting for the website we need can be achieved with a reasonable investment of 100$/year.

Blogs and social and professional networks registration is free.

However, apps development could become very costly and unaffordable for a

small start-up like ours. Apps are getting more and more popular and gainingground so it will be interesting to take them into account, but we think is betterto wait until the practice will increase and expand to the point that the cost of the app will not take most of the budget.

Decisions:

EQUIPMENT

Being a practice spread throughout the world is everyone´s decision to choosethe particular details of his equipment and devices. Nevertheless, due to the hugeseparation between us, effective communication is vital, therefore, in order to be

constantly available for any requirement we choose to use smart-phones andportable devices with 3G/UMTS technology which allow a synchronouslycommunication when possible and asynchronously communication always.

INTERNET CONNECTION

Newer technologies in use such as VDSL2 uses 4 channels for data transmission,two for download and two for upload, therefore power transmit increases. And, inthe case of mobiles and portable devices, 3G (UMTS) technology.

WEB PRESENCE

Due to the benefits that a large web presence generates it is our aim to be asspread as possible over the net by existing in networks, both social andprofessional, blogs, websites...

We will focus on our blog for three reasons: one, because of its ease of set up, tohost, to customize and to publish. Secondly, due to its scalability, blogs can beextended with plug-ins and specific developments as needed. And thirdly,because they are SEO optimized by design thus content freshness helps a lot. Asfree blog hosting platforms roughly offer the same alternatives we decided tochose the one we were most familiarised with: Blogger.


EQUIPMENT

Plans printings, 3D printing and laser cuttings will be outsourced to specialisedcompanies like cadventure in the UK (www.cadventure.co.uk) or stereoprint inSpain (www.stereoprint.com).

INTERNET CONNECTION

Internet connection service will be provided by different telecommunicationoperators on based countries, i.e. Spain:

Telefónica VDSL2 offer consists of a 30Mbit/s access with an upload capacity of 1Mbit/s.

Jazztel VDSL2 offer consist of a 30Mbit/s with an upstream rate of 3.5Mbit/s.

WEB PRESENCE





As we are not intending a very complex website it will be developed by ourselvesprobably using a web hosting open source.

Integration

EQUIPMENTOur content management system can be used and updated with differentbrowsers (Mobile, Touch, Desktop).

WEB PRESENCE

The practise´s web will be integrated by links from the blog and the socialnetworks content.

Our plan is to start with a simple web which could be easily manage using a blogas a an open source CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. We choose to have a CMSto properly exploit our content, it has the multiple language possibility, keeps thecontent profiled and has a more intuitive editing. In addition, blogs designsupport media elements, linking and social features.

At the same time, by linking our website content inside our social page, socialnetworks enhance web presence.

Management and use:

As our practice is mainly based on a professional networking, it is our plan toreceive professional assistance by some of our collaborators in return for ourservice provided. This could be easily implemented using special software likeTeamViewer.

EQUIPMENT

In addition to ours collaborators help, we can ask for some assistance to themanufacturer or other technical assistance service.

INTERNET CONNECTION

In addition to ours collaborators support, we can ask for some assistance to thetelecommunication operators assistance service.

WEB PRESENCE

The web presence will be managed by ourselves through the use of our blog as aContent Management System. Besides, it will be supported by the periodicalcontent updates from the social networks. Blogging platforms are easy tomaintain, which is a great feature for web publishing.

Documents

Seedlab IT Plan