Page 16 - Q3_2017_REI_Corp_Newsletter

INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
CONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGY
BITS
R osendin Electric is keen on staying ahead of
the technology curve. One of the really cool
things about working at Rosendin is the cultural
willingness to work across disciplines for the greater
good.
For a number of years, Sam Lamonica, VP/Chief
Information Officer, and Fred Meeske, Director BIM
Services, have been working together to ensure
that the IT Department stays in lockstep with the
BIM Department. In fact, neither are sure how to
define the convergence of IT and BIM, or BIM and
IT. Hence the acronym BIT, or Building Information
Technology.
Currently, the two teams are collaborating on best
practices for engaging field and operations teams
at project start-up. The goal is to ensure that all the
technologies and services needed from both groups
are provided on Day 1. This critical undertaking was
necessary to avoid the potential “I needed it last
week,” or “Where is it?” situations.
Over the next year, Sam and Fred will be co-
authoring several articles sharing their IT and BIM
trials, tribulations, and success stories.
THE BIM/IT (IT/BIM) JOURNEY
Building Quality. Building Value. Building People.
Since the beginning, Building is what we do. When
it comes to technology, our industry has finally
16 The Feeder | Q3 2017
reached convergence and it sounds easier than it
really is. We want to share what we discovered that
made us better along our BIM journey, or IT journey.
We start with one simple method for improvement:
listening to your customers and other project team
members. Explore the best practices to meet
the unique project team requirements based on
your teams’ experience with them. Be bona fide
collaborators. This becomes especially true when we
start thinking about software.
Everyday we are notified about a company
introducing a new software that’s better than the
rest, with more shiny bells and whistles than ever
before. We simply MUST have it! There are times
when utilizing the new software is dictated by one
team member, which can add significant time,
cost, or both to the project. The result is not true
collaboration, but more specification by a single
participant.
Clearly, the most successful projects IT and BIM
have been a part of required us to meet project goals
with clearly defined deliverables that maintained
efficiency and worked for all team members.
The take-away from this is to talk to each other, find
out what you need and come to an agreement. Do
not dictate how it’s going to be done. In the end, this
process yields maximum results for all involved.