THE AEC
OPERATIONS
PLAYBOOK
A R O A D M A P TO LO N G - T E R M S U C C E S S
I N T R O D U C T I O N Level Up Your AEC Operations
3
P L AY 1 Improve Project Delivery
6
P L AY 2 Invest In Talent and Culture
10
P L AY 3 Increase Profitability
13
17
P L AY 4 Implement a Plan for Growth
T E C H N O LO GY Faster, Stronger Play Execution
20
Deltek customers perform
better than their peers with:
•
5% higher win rates
•
15% more projects on or ahead of schedule
•
$54k more gross revenue per employee
•
4 months more backlog
INTRODUCTION
P ROJEC T DE LIVE R Y
TALENT
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INTRODUCTION
Level Up Your AEC Operations
W H Y I M P R O V I N G P E R F O R M A N C E M AT T E R S
With the rapid rate of change in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, your
firm needs to work smarter and faster than ever before. The growing shift to a dispersed workforce,
combined with increased competition and client demands put additional pressure on your profit
margins. This makes it increasingly important to deliver projects on time and on budget, yet 38% are over
budget and 35% are behind schedule, according to the Deltek Clarity Architecture & Engineering Study.
AEC leaders focused on improving operations often ask:
•
How can I increase project delivery capacity without sacrificing quality of work?
•
How can I develop our talent and culture into a competitive advantage?
•
How can I increase our profit margins without relying on reduced fees or discounts?
•
How can I deliver a long-term roadmap to grow our company?
If you are looking for answers to the above questions, and ways to level up your business to find
long-term resilience and success, this playbook will walk you through the steps you need to take to
deliver successful projects, retain the best talent, maximize efficiency and profitability, and create
a plan for future growth.
With 38% of projects over budget and 35% behind schedule, it’s
critical for teams to work more efficiently and effectively.
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INTRODUCTION
P ROJEC T DE LIVE R Y
How To Use This Playbook
TALENT
PR OFITABILIT Y
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What’s Your Next Play?
Treat this playbook as a reference
In this playbook for improving AEC operations, we’ll dive deeper into four key plays of successful AEC
guide for business transformation
firms. Every team is different, so some plays will be more important than others based on where you are in
(which sometimes occurs in a series
your journey. Use our self-assessment on the next page to get started.
of smaller steps):
1. Read the entire playbook to see how
the most successful AEC companies
level up and consistently win.
2. Check the boxes that resonate with
you on the “Assessment Checklist”
on the next page to determine where
your organization sits in terms of
maturity and goals.
3. Next, focus on one of the four
“plays” and work through the play’s
actionable checklist to achieve
outcomes that level up your firm.
Play 1: Improve Project Delivery
Play 3: Increase Profitability
As a project-based business, your company’s
Projects and talent will only get you so far –
reputation will be built on how you deliver your
you need to include a focus on efficiency and
work. AEC firms that effectively manage their
profitability in order to drive financial success.
projects and resources will be able to deliver
Play 4: Implement a
Plan for Growth
projects on time and on budget.
Play 2: Invest In Talent
and Culture
Once you’ve established an optimized mix of
The strength of your company is built on the
turn your attention to building a long-term plan
strength of your employees. Invest in the right
for growth.
projects, talent and profitability, you’re ready to
talent and nurture them with your unique
company culture to build a competitive
advantage for both your people and your firm.
4. Consider the next play to tackle.
5. Repeat, with a focus on a long-term
plan for success.
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Assessment Checklist: Are You Positioned for Exceptional
Project Delivery, Talent, Profitability and Growth?
Which key pillars impacting your company’s long-term success needs the most attention? Check the chart below in this self-assessment
to determine which efforts can deliver the most transformative results.
Success Pillar
Manage
Develop
Deliver
Measure
Projects
• Disparate spreadsheets
• Firefighting deadlines +
constant chasing
• Manual project creation
and guesstimating
• AEC project management
system deployed
• Real-time budget vs actuals
• Better processes and automated
project workflows
• Resource planning
• View Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) in one click by department,
teams, offices, divisions, clients +
more.
• Data integrity
• Effective resource planning:
optimized for scale
Talent
• Spreadsheet management
• Collaborate using email
• Scheduling war
• Mobile task management
• Optimizing utilization
• CRM and forecasting for accurate
project planning
• Workload + culture balance/blend
• Improved onboarding and
employee engagement
• Self-guided employee learning
path and mentoring
Profitability
• Spreadsheet management
• Lack of data reliability: no trust
• Not predictable
• Trend analysis
• Strategic pricing analysis: tighter
• Accounting system separate from
and accurate estimating
project management system • Project financials and
integration to another system is
accounting in ONE system
necessary
• Fast + effective invoicing and
accounting period close
• AEC-specific system fully
integrated with finance and
accounting
• Business intelligence and Key
Performance Indicator (KPI) tracking
to better project and firm profitability
Growth
• Spreadsheet management
• Pricing guesstimates
• Monthly revenue forecast process • Fully integrated revenue
• Tracking all sales activities
forecasting
• Clear view into your pipeline
• Focused long- and short-term
strategic plans
• Client portfolio aligned with
your positioning
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P L AY 1
Improve Project
Delivery
S TA R T W I T H E F F I C I E N T P R O J E C T A N D R E S O U R C E M A N A G E M E N T
Is your AEC company keeping pace with the competition and are your
employees performing as efficiently as they could?
By starting with efficient project and resource management processes, you will be able to deliver your
projects on time and on budget. AEC companies that master exceptional project delivery will find
that success leads to better retention and development of talent, increased profitability, and a faster
trajectory to scale for future growth.
Top project management challenges include: competing
priorities, staff shortages, and inexperienced project managers.
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6 Steps to Deliver Projects On Time and On Budget
1. Review your ongoing processes
3. Set your project budget
6. Follow up with progress
management
Before you kick off any new work, review your
Once you’ve built your project and resource
internal project and resource management
management foundation, you should have a
Once the project is underway, progress
processes. Regular timekeeping will help you
clearer picture of your true costs, which can
management should become a top priority.
establish an accurate view into how long your
help you develop better pricing. With a more
Manage progress through regular meetings and
team is spending on various projects and tasks.
accurate price quote and cost estimate in hand,
provide clear assignments to the team. Establish
Review the calendar weekly for any potential
your project manager can create a more realistic
formal progress reporting that is regularly
staffing conflicts to ensure all your projects are
budget to measure project progress.
communicated and provides the project status
properly resourced. Project managers should at
minimum provide monthly reports on progress
and completion status of projects. Whether you
invoice clients monthly or as work is completed,
invoicing must happen on a consistent schedule
to improve cash flow.
2. Confirm a precise scope of work
A critical component of any project’s success is
visibility to the client.
4. Establish the right project team
Take time before the project begins to staff
the project with the right people for the job.
Determining the decision makers and team leads
ahead of time will help you to select the best team
with the appropriate skill set, ultimately saving you
time down the road.
a clearly defined scope of work. The more you
can get the client to specify their exact needs and
expectations, the fewer surprises will come your
way as the project progresses. In addition to a
signed Statement of Work, consider establishing a
process to help avoid scope creep.
5. Kick off the project and get
everybody aligned
CASE STUDY:
Improving Project
Performance
“The more people at the company that
understand the impact to the business, the
more you can impact the business overall.”
The Statement of Work is signed, the budget is
— Dave Rosencrans, Director, Operations,
set, but the project kick off will be the first chance
Ecotope
for your client to really see how you execute work.
Establish deliverables and a clear timeline so
Read the Customer Story
everyone starts with aligned expectations. Make
sure the right people are in the room for each
phase of the project kick off.
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SPOT L I G H T:
3 AEC Project Management Killers
1. Scope creep
Successful projects start with an accurate,
2. Not having a risk
management plan
3. Poor resource planning
While it can be tempting to start a project with
realistic and detailed scope of work. Without a
Risk management is one element of great project
whomever is available, having the right people on
well-documented and agreed upon plan, scope
planning that is often missed. When you plan
a project will save you time, protect your project’s
creep and over-servicing will tank your
ahead for the worst case scenarios you can
profitability, keep your team from becoming
profits. To avoid scope creep, AEC project
mitigate risks faster, keeping your projects on
frustrated, and most importantly ensure your
managers should:
track. Common risks in AEC projects are:
project’s success.
•
•
Time and budget misallocation
•
Communication breakdowns and
isn’t clear, isn’t documented, and is overly
misunderstandings
complicated, so keep it simple!
Have a clear vision for the project and
agreed upon milestones, goals and success
measurements with your client and
project team.
•
Plan for changes in your project. Change
is inevitable even with the best of plans.
Allowing for some flexibility in your project
will empower your project team to make
necessary adjustments and changes without
risking deadlines.
•
Communicate clearly and often,
•
Re-work and revisions
•
Scope creep and over-servicing
•
Resourcing challenges
Resource planning fails when the process
Why AEC
Firms Without
Documentation
Spend 100x More
and if possible – centralize project
communications to make it easy for both
your project team and client to collaborate.
Get tips to reduce risk and prevent litigation
from William M. Mattes, Attorney at Law,
Dinsmore & Shohl.
Read the Blog
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Checklist: How to Improve Project Delivery
Review the checklist of key items your team should consider tackling to master Play 1: Improve Project Delivery.
Check all of the items that you have already put in place, then work through the rest to complete this play and level up your firm.
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Make it as simple as possible to submit time
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Build a risk management plan to give your
requirements are documented, tied back
team a plan of attack in case challenges like
the project process. Hours should be
to business needs, reviewed with client and
time and budget allocation or re-work arise.
controlled with approval on a weekly basis.
include sign-off.
Clarify projects on a weekly basis with the
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projects and evaluate progress in terms of
as needed.
value and percentage of project completion
to the finance team on a monthly basis.
Manage staff capacity to avoid idle
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projects on time and on budget.
Formal progress reporting - project
managers to manage progress through
weekly meetings, with more in-depth
Develop project templates to help your team
become more consistent with each project.
Ɇ
Implement a project management system
to help standardize processes, streamline
efficiency, and increase automation.
Standardize Statements of Work by
developing templates and a process to help
Establish and evaluate project goals and Key
basis. Take proactive action to deliver
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Have project managers provide status of
project team and shift staffing assignments
avoid scope creep.
Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a monthly
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Take extra time to ensure that client
accurately and promptly, without hindering
hands or burnout.
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Identify the most profitable projects –
supported by data and business intelligence
that you can trust. This will help your firm
better predict which projects will be more
successful, and which could fail.
reporting either as part of month-end or
more frequently.
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P L AY 2
Invest In Talent and Culture
B U I L D A C U LT U R E T H AT AT T R A C T S TO P TA L E N T
Competition to attract and retain top talent is fierce, and the more time
you spend recruiting or onboarding employees, the less time is spent
on billable work. An investment in developing talent and an appealing
culture for your firm will ultimately result in a happier and more efficient
workplace.
The capacity to build and maintain a strong team of professionals is fundamental to executing the
other three plays of this playbook:
•
Projects: Assigning the right people to the right projects and tracking utilization will help to
improve the velocity and quality of project delivery to your clients.
•
Profitability: Aligning hiring decisions with projected revenue will help you to
increase profitability.
•
Growth: Knowing when to bring in contractors or hire additional employees while
reducing turnover will ultimately help drive business growth and help improve employee
retention rates.
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6 Strategies for Investing in Talent and Culture
1. Set the right project team
4. Measure and optimize utilization
6. Provide development and
learning opportunities
Projects fail when you staff them based on
Utilization is the best KPI to measure when it
availability instead of the right skills for the job.
comes to maximizing your return on employee
One of the best ways to build employee loyalty
Gather the right managers to select the right
efforts. Start with a resource overview, so you
is to show staff that you are investing in their
team, especially on bigger projects, from
know what everyone is working on. Manage your
professional development and growth. Hungry
beginning to end.
bench, and provide coaching for those that
talent will be looking to nurture new skills or
are underutilized. Project managers should be
leadership opportunities. By providing these
2. Attract and retain top talent
reviewing available hours for all employees on a
opportunities within your firm, you will be better
Competition for top talent is fierce. Develop a plan
weekly basis, and making sure billable work has
equipped to retain talent, reduce turnover, and
for employee engagement and retention. This
been assigned. Evaluate actuals against bookings
develop a stronger pool of skills to leverage for
includes building a unique culture for your firm
to track realized utilization versus planned so you
new projects.
that draws in new talent looking to thrive in the
can inform future resource planning.
culture you’ve built.
5. Forecast revenue and people
3. Know when and how to leverage
contractors
Hiring decisions should always be based on
Contractors are a vital part of AEC business.
should be done on an ongoing basis to have a
However, it can become costly if you don’t
view of upcoming billable work. Build a long-term
control their usage. Set up a process with Human
resourcing overview so you can evaluate what
Resources, project managers and leadership so
types of employees will be needed for upcoming
you can make the best decision for your project
opportunities.
revenue and resource data. Revenue forecasting
and your budget.
The availability of good candidates in the marketplace remains a top concern,
with 90% of firms reporting it was one of their top 3 recruiting challenges.
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Checklist: How to Invest In Talent and Culture
Below is a checklist of key items your team should be considering to master Play 2: Invest in Talent and Culture.
Check all of the items that you have already put in place, then work through the rest to complete this play and level up your company.
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Focus on attracting and retaining top
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talent by developing a plan for employee
engagement and retention.
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culture and establish a path for growth.
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to establish the right balance of full-time
employees and contractors.
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your team, saving time and improving
skills for the job.
collaboration.
team’s time and mitigate burnout.
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Encourage managers to take a hands-on
approach to coaching.
“76% of millennials consider professional development
opportunities to be an essential element of company culture.”
EXECU-SEARCH
their careers.
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Consider culture as a competitive advantage
and a recruiting tool to retain and attract
top talent.
Invest in tools and processes that support
Staff projects with staff who have the right
Track utilization to make the most of your
remain with your company as they build
Build a long-term resourcing overview to
Match pipeline and revenue with capacity
Provide opportunities for growth and
ownership to encourage employees to
identify when to downsize or begin hiring.
Build a plan for mentorship and continuous
feedback of new employees.
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hiring contractors.
Set up an onboarding process to help new
employees feel part of the company’s
Establish a process to manage
Improve Engagement
and Retention
Learn how one engineering company is
embracing innovation to transform remote
working challenges into new opportunities.
Read the Blog
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P L AY 3
Increase Profitability
I M P R O V E C A S H F LOW W H I L E M A N A G I N G C O S T S
If you have the right processes, the right resources, and the right people
in place, you’re well on your way to increased efficiency and profitability.
When you have control of your budgets in real-time, you will be able to quickly adjust resources and
timelines as priorities change, resulting in more proactive project management. Efficient processes
will enable employees to spend less time on non-billable and administrative tasks and more time
focusing on what’s important. Increased margins and an accurate view of your costs will power your
company to record growth in record time.
Deltek customers perform better than their peers with better pipeline visibility, control of projects,
and higher yield per employee. This includes:
•
$54k more gross revenue per employee
•
$49k more net revenue per employee
•
7% higher net revenue growth forecast
Increasing profitability is a top financial challenge for 53% of
architecture and engineering firms.
D E LT E K C L A R I T Y A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D E N G I N E E R I N G S T U DY
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6 Components of a Highly Profitable AEC Firm
1. Accurate estimates
With greater visibility into your company’s
project data, you can glean better insights and
more accurately predict the time and resources
a new project might require. Track your project
history and use it effectively to inform new
project estimates.
2. Healthy staff capacity
Your employees are your greatest asset, as well
as your largest cost. They define your firm’s
ability to execute on client needs. But without
complete visibility into staff capacity, you don’t
know how many projects you can take on or how
much you’re wasting on under-utilized resources
or unexpected freelance costs. With a clearer
line of sight into your firm capacity comes better
are a must for any project-based company. The
simpler it is for your employees to track and
submit time, the more likely they are to use it
effectively, giving you the information you need,
when you need it.
4. A healthy pipeline
It feeds your bottom line and nourishes growth.
more time focusing on what’s important. Deltek
It’s crucial that your firm knows exactly what kind
customers perform better than their peers with
of work it excels at and what is most profitable.
15% more projects on or ahead of schedule and
By tracking and analyzing historical project data,
$54k more gross revenue per employee.
you can be sure your firm is targeting the right
types of leads and landing more projects that
contribute to your bottom line.
5. Scope creep control
Extra items are sure to be added to the scope
money is being spent effectively.
time on something that you’re not being paid for
the most accurate budget information in realtime. Who wants to get hit with giant overrun
after it’s too late to do anything about it? Easyto-use, mobile-friendly time tracking methods
processes so that employees spend less time
on non-billable and administrative tasks and
after fees have been established. But spending
Timesheets are the biggest hurdle to getting
The right tool will effectively streamline your
A healthy pipeline is the lifeblood of your firm.
insight into capabilities, allowing you to ensure
3. Effective time tracking
6. Purpose-built AEC project
accounting and enterprise
resource planning (ERP)
software
7. Effective KPI tracking
Successful, high-growth firms are tracking
metrics. By tracking KPIs and increasing project
manager access to information, more AEC firms
are delivering projects on time and on budget.
eats profit margins and negatively affects morale.
With an early-warning system and an informed
project team, you can see scope creep coming
and take action. When you have accurate, realtime data and can provide the client with greater
transparency into the project, you’ll be better
suited to re-negotiate.
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S POTLIGH T:
The Pitfalls of Scope Creep
4 S T E P S TOWA R D S P R O F I TA B I L I T Y
As a business whose value is judged on the quality of the projects you deliver, it is all too easy for AEC firms to
always want to go the extra mile for clients, both happy and unhappy. To address clients whose expectations
haven’t been fulfilled, many end up overcompensating to get back on track. This leads to a number of pitfalls:
clients may begin to expect an increasing amount of work to be done and this consumes too many of your
resources – for free. Project scope becomes difficult to manage and milestones can be missed; and staff may
feel overworked, stressed and demotivated. See below for four ways to move towards profitability.
1. Enter all jobs with a clear scope
& Service Level Agreement
Matching project scope with a realistic estimate
should be a priority for all AEC firms to avoid
scope creep.
3. Achieve balance
Remember that under-servicing clients is as
much an issue as over-servicing them.
4. Elevate staff as “visible experts”
Use the most appropriate and objective
2. Review your business model
Take a hard look at your business model to
metrics and measure the right key performance
indicators (KPIs).
discover any issues that are leading to scope
creep and the poor usage of human time and
financial resources.
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Checklist: How to Increase Profitability
Below is a checklist of key items your team should be considering to master Play 3: Increase AEC Profitability.
Check all of the items that you have already put in place, then work through the rest to complete this play and level up your firm.
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Include the right contractual terms for the
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overview for 4-6 months ahead to help you
make payments dependent either on clear
value of work in progress.
make the most strategic and cost-effective
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be treated.
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than yearly, basis. Monthly forecasting will
week by streamlining and optimizing the
provide more accurate insight into revenue
project lifecycle.
and resourcing.
immediately at the start of the month.
Send out invoices and collect payments
on time. The process starts with time and
expenses, and is followed by invoicing
Save time by integrating your project
finance, complete accounting, and project
management into one system.
Perform forecasting on a monthly, rather
the month-end process in as little as a
Get timesheets and all project costs in
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unforeseen costs.
process. Depending on your company’s
workflow, you can potentially complete
Make sure costs are controlled from
request to payment to help manage
Establish a smooth and fast month-end
hiring decisions.
Require project managers to evaluate
progress and ensure they are accountable.
price or T&M, and outline how expenses will
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Have a proper revenue forecast and capacity
which will give you more time to evaluate the
clearly state whether the project is fixed
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financials: clear definition of payment terms,
deliverables or a specified payment plan,
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Separate invoicing and revenue recognition,
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Check monthly reports – insight at
month-end is about your income
statement, utilization, working capital, and
future insights in terms of revenue stream
and pipeline.
regularly and collecting payments.
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P L AY 4
Implement a Plan
for Growth
P L A N F O R LO N G - T E R M S C A L A B I L I T Y A N D A S T E A DY P I P E L I N E
It’s tempting to set the goal of growing and scaling your AEC firm fast.
However, growth without proper planning will likely set your company
back instead of helping you to succeed more quickly.
Establishing the right positioning and pricing will provide your firm with the stability needed to grow in
the long term. Careful planning, a clear view of your pipeline, and establishing reliable partnerships will
carry you forward to sustained success.
The thoughtful planning involved in building a long-term vision for your firm is fundamental to
executing the other three plays of this playbook:
•
Projects: Bringing in the right business will set up your company to succeed and
improve profitability.
•
Talent: A clear view into your resources will ensure that you properly staff your projects with
the right number of people and skill sets.
•
Profitability: Careful resource planning and building effective client partnerships will lead to
better financial success.
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6 Pillars of Growth-Oriented AEC Firms
1. Positioning
4. Planning
6. Partnership
Correct positioning should set your AEC firm apart
Revenue forecasting will help you determine when
Client relationships can be stronger than ever –
from the competition while remaining focused
to make hires and understand where the company
as long as you create a culture of openness and
on the work you do best. But your positioning also
is heading financially. This forecast should reflect
collaboration. Being as transparent as possible
needs to be compelling to the market – don’t get
future revenue streams of both backlogged and
with clients will help build trust that their projects
so narrowly focused that you leave yourself with
incoming projects.
are in safe hands, as well as encouraging them to
too small of a pool of potential clients. At the end
of the day, you should be confident in the work
your firm provides and its value to your clients.
2. Pricing
No matter your pricing model, don’t forget to
account for anything that pops up outside your
scope of work and charge accordingly in order to
maintain profitability and reduce scope creep.
5. Pipeline
understand and respect your timelines.
You need to have a clear insight into your future
revenue streams and pipeline in order to manage
your future. The pipeline should reflect a total
value overview of potential incoming projects.
Qualify potential work and track opportunities
to provide valuable information you can use to
inform your business strategy.
3. Portfolio
Once you have the right mix of clients in your
CASE STUDY:
New Technology Saves
Firm $200k Annually
By moving to Deltek Vantagepoint, Haley &
Aldrich will realize $200,000 a year in
operational savings.
portfolio, they should be aligned with your firm’s
positioning. This will enable you to say ‘no’ to new
Read the Blog
clients that don’t fit, setting up your company to
be more nimble in the long-term.
76% of firms envision a digitally mature/advanced business in
five years, but only 25% see their business there today.
D E LT E K C L A R I T Y A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D E N G I N E E R I N G S T U DY
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GROWT H
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TEC HNO LO GY
Checklist: How to Grow Your AEC Firm
Below is a checklist of key items your team should be considering to master Play 4: Implementing a Plan for Growth.
Check all of the items that you have already put in place, then work through the rest to complete this play and level up your firm.
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Revisit your company’s positioning –
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Review your revenue forecast monthly,
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Meet clients on a monthly or quarterly basis
evaluate the work you are best at and want to
updating the revenue stream per client –
and have a template for agreeing on actions
focus on. Update all your outgoing messaging
including both backlogged projects
and deliverables to help create purpose in
to match.
and opportunities.
the relationship. This will also help you to
Track all client sales activities and work with
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project managers to update and create
process – including monthly capacity
quotes and estimates for potential work.
planning, automated backlog forecast,
Introduce a weekly process for employees
understand what kind of projects to expect
Establish a fully integrated planning
and pipeline forecast.
to update your CRM solution to better track
in the future.
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Develop a focused 3- and 5-year strategy
plan for your firm – outline your long-term
goals and map out how to reach them.
prospect and client data.
Finding time to nurture client relationships, increased competition, and identifying new prospects are the
top business development challenges facing architecture and engineering firms today.
D E LT E K C L A R I T Y A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D E N G I N E E R I N G S T U DY
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G R OW TH
T EC H N OLOGY
T E C H N O LO GY
Providing Faster, Stronger Play Execution
While any one of the suggestions in this playbook will give you tips and
checklists you can use to level up your AEC firm, without the right tools
in place aligned to your processes, things can quickly fall apart. So, where
does technology fit in?
An annual report on IT budgets and tech trends shows 44% of
respondents say they have already or plan to accelerate digital
transformation.
T H E 2 02 1 S TAT E O F I T
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To start, the right technology will help you execute
email and spreadsheets. This approach can work for
on these plays so you can level up your AEC firm
a while, but it’s not scalable as your company grows,
faster and more effectively. Better still, it provides
nor will it give you the visibility you need.
you with unprecedented project visibility, one
source of truth, and best practice consistency. It will
You’ll find that a solution that integrates your
enable you to run a more efficient, profitable and
company’s pipeline, project, resource and financial
client-centric business.
management processes will give you accurate,
real-time data and insights about your firm’s overall
In many AEC firms you will still find a patchwork of
performance, so you can keep projects on time and
solutions used to manage work and communications
on budget.
across teams and clients. This often includes a mix
G R OW TH
T EC H N OLOGY
Take Your Firm’s
Business Intelligence
to the Next Level
To stay competitive, it’s imperative that
your organization has accurate and timely
reporting to drive success.
Discover How
of free-to-use or low cost web-based applications,
92% of organizations believe that something needs to change and that they must modernize their
information management strategy.
T H E A S S O C I AT I O N F O R I N T E L L I G E N T I N F O R M AT I O N M A N A G E M E N T
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G R OW TH
T EC H N OLOGY
Checklist: How to Choose the Best AEC Solution
for Your Business Needs
Use this checklist to help you think holistically about what the optimal solution will look like for your team. Start with a deep understanding
of your firm’s current processes by completing Plays 1-4. This will enable you to factor in profitability and growth all the way through to
project delivery. Look for these essential elements in your AEC system:
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Integrates operations from end-to-end,
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incoming work and its impact on firm
step of the way
resource planning
revenue and capacity
Ability to track project metrics across
Easy-to-use, mobile timesheets that will win
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Balance workloads to provide the right
best practices
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in the future. Is it flexible enough to support
an evolving firm?
scoping accurately, increasing efficiency,
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Address overall profitability across an entire
network of offices
Make sure the system has capacity to meet
immediate needs and expand as needs grow
Increase profitability and control costs by
and reducing delays
Robust business intelligence tools provide
additional insight into overall business health
revenue reconciliation
capacity visibility weeks/months into
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Increase cash flow with efficient billing and
A tool that is built for project-based
businesses and follows industry-specific
vs. actuals
Employee utilization metrics and resource
the future
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Proactively manage budgets and monitor
costs with real-time visibility into estimates
Built-in collaboration features that store
conversations and documents
Give project managers the visibility they
need to proactively address scope creep
Flexible project and task management that
fits your firm’s workflow
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Build a healthy pipeline with insight into
utilization through better project and
over even the most skeptical employees
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providing accurate, real-time visibility every
the life cycle
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Boost productivity and optimize
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Check to make sure your technology
provider has a track record of innovation
and improvements.
resources for the right job, every time
T H E A E C O P E R AT I O N S P L AY B O O K
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Is it time to level up
your AEC firm?
D e l t ek p rov id es te chnol og y sol uti o ns to tho usand s
of AE C f ir m s a l l ove r the worl d, he l ping them
re vo lu t io n ize the way the y do busi ness .
F I N D O U T M O R E AT D E LT E K . C O M / A E C