Architen adopted a collective approach to the implementation of a new IT system, involving everyone in the company in the creative process of thinking of what they needed to get out of a new system. The ideas were varied, but what emerged was a common theme that a central hub of information was needed. After some research they found that Workspace could meet the majority of their needs with little bespoke development.
The initial implementation addressed the core problem areas of documents, contacts and emails. Email Management in particular was an area of the system that caught great interest, Sales and Marketing Manger Amy Wilson explains: “Email had always been a point of contention in the business with dissatisfaction at the manual process for filing emails in public folders". As soon as everyone saw the drag and drop functionality they wanted it, so we implemented Workspace company wide fairly quickly.”
Following the basic implementation Architen have undertaken a wide range of additional bespoke development. This includes the implementation of a new IPAQ system and integration with Google maps to give information on where projects, contacts and organisations are located.
“Google maps integration gives the project managers and maintenance team an unrivalled level of knowledge of where current projects are located.”
“Workspace could meet 80% of our business needs out of the box”
Christoper Rowell, Project Manager