Construction Viz

Project Management Perfect

project management information system

Customize Construction Viz to YOUR Unique Needs

Construction Viz |

The one thing that absolutely never changed in my 25 years in the construction industry is change. New technologies and processes are released regularly to help reduce costs, manage scope, and improve scheduling, but unfortunately, the construction industry is the least receptive industry to technology changes. This is why it's critical to deliver IT solutions that are easy to use and customizable for your unique needs. It is also why the implementation needs to consider technology gaps and/or resistance within construction organizations. Check out this article on how Construction Viz can meet you where you work and how you work.

When we started Lydon Solutions, we specifically focused on building custom solutions in Microsoft SharePoint to address the needs of each construction client. We knew that every organization, project, and project manager manages projects differently, so our solutions needed to be as flexible to changes as possible.

So, when we built Construction Viz as an enterprise construction management platform for Microsoft 365, one of our goals was to provide an out-of-the-box solution that could also be further customized to the client's unique needs now and well into the future.

Construction Viz is All About Customizable Solutions

We approach customization in Construction Viz from several areas:

The Construction Viz Hub

The Construction Viz Hub is your control center. You can turn apps on and off and further configure them as needed in the Hub.

We also implemented Hub Profiles that can create unique experiences (apps, theming, and features) that you can target to specific users like contractors or owners.

Modular Components in Construction Viz

We built our apps using a component-based structure where each component performs a specific function.

For example, if you need a document attachment component to upload your files into an RFI form, we can turn on the document uploader to add files to an RFI form. Or, if you need the ability to upload images in a thumbnail view to a Daily Report, we could turn on the image uploader component.

Over the years, we have built an extensive catalog of unique components to deliver unique client-specific apps by combining multiple components into custom solutions.

Construction Viz Configuration Settings

We provide administrative settings that clients can configure for their specific projects and add unique permissions.

Also, administrators can manage one project per site or many projects per site, with Construction Viz accommodating either option from the settings.

Metadata Files

We built Construction Viz with the ability to branch our product code base with unique metadata code files by a client or even by a project. These metadata files allow us to add new fields, apps, or whatever a client needs in Construction Viz.

While the metadata files can be unique to each client, they still receive regular product updates as part of the release process. This flexibility built into Construction Viz’s handling of metadata is a forward-thinking and dynamic approach to building unique solutions.

Microsoft 365 Extensibility

Since Construction Viz deploys to a client's Microsoft 365, they can further enhance the features, such as building their own Power BI reports and embedding them into Construction Viz or building a Power Automate workflow and adding it to one of our form apps. We'll get into some of these details in a future post on this topic.

Construciton Viz File Manager

For organizations that want to tiptoe into some of the apps but still want to keep using SharePoint document libraries with folders, we built the Construction Viz File Manager app. The File Manager app lets you perform most of the critical functions you would do in SharePoint right inside Construction Viz without having to navigate to the underlying SharePoint site.

Why Construction Viz?

Read more about what sets Construction Viz apart from the competition in our new blog series:

Construction Viz Adapts to Your Unique Requirements

If your organization needs ultimate flexibility in your construction management solution, it's tough to beat Construction Viz.

We believe in rapid development and add features for our clients almost weekly, unlike other products where you hope to make it into their next six-month development release.

Keep an eye on this series of articles, where we will elaborate on the benefits of Construction Viz over other construction management platforms on the market.

To find out more about what Construction Viz can provide, or if you are new to Microsoft 365 and need help setting it up or delivering solutions in the Microsoft ecosystem, you can request a free one-hour consultation or demo below.

Get a Free Consultation

Deploy Construction Viz Securely to YOUR Microsoft 365

Construction Viz |

In the age of cloud computing, the question is, where is your data, and how safe is it? Do you trust construction software vendors to secure your data to the level that your organization requires? Is it truly your data when you have to request a copy of it at the end of the project to archive?

Lydon Solutions has been building construction IT solutions on the Microsoft stack for over fifteen years. We started the company by building and hosting custom SharePoint instances, and we haven’t stopped since.

With our Construction Viz enterprise construction management solution for Microsoft 365, we created a unique product that can be deployed for a client without using the Microsoft app store or even custom scripts. Using Microsoft’s Identity platform, Construction Viz securely stores project data in SharePoint sites, using lists and document libraries as its database. No data is stored outside of your Microsoft 365 tenant. Check out this post to find out more. A deployment can even occur on the same day. At any time, you can revoke consent for the app, and it will no longer connect to your Microsoft 365 tenant, but all of your data will remain in YOUR SharePoint Lists and Libraries.

Also, Construction Viz is a Progressive Web App (PWA), so there is no app to install on the device. It behaves just like a desktop application, is responsive, and will work on any device with a modern browser, so you don’t have different experiences and security issues with multiple apps floating around your IT footprint.

Why store your construction data in Microsoft 365?

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So, with so many benefits to keeping your data in your Microsoft 365, isn’t it time to rethink where your construction management system resides?

Why Construction Viz?

Read more about what sets Construction Viz apart from the competition in our new blog series:

Keep an eye on this series of articles, where we will elaborate on the benefits of Construction Viz over other construction management platforms on the market. You can request a free demo here to find out more about what Construction Viz can provide.

If you are new to Microsoft 365 and need help setting it up or helping you deliver solutions, you can request a free one-hour consultation below.

Get a Free Consultation

New Construction Viz Document Control Features to Organize Your Files

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Managing construction documents and correspondence is a significant undertaking, especially for multi-billion-dollar projects and programs.

Having the right tools to collect, organize, and retrieve your files securely is of the utmost importance to ensuring project success, avoiding claims, and passing audits.  Construction Viz provides many tools to help project teams better manage their files right within their own Microsoft 365.  Find out how the new Construction Viz Flyout feature works with you, so you spend less time documenting and more time getting stuff done.

Let’s face it: document controls can be a godsend or a curse on construction projects. You either spend the time organizing files upfront or more time trying to find them later. Everyone knows a system is only as good as the data input: “garbage in equals garbage out.”

Construction Viz Flyout Menu System

Project teams organize files using folders, assigning metadata, or a combination of both. While folders are the preferred method of organizing files, incorporating metadata can help improve file organization, maintenance, archiving, and search. In the latest release of Construction Viz, we added a new Flyout feature to help you capture file metadata easily when uploading files.  Simply click the open details from the file menu, and an interactive Flyout tray to capture metadata will appear on the right side of the screen.

Several features make the Flyout unique:

Preview files – A web version preview of the file is displayed in the Flyout to help when filling in the metadata or finding the file at a later date. You can also open the file from the viewer in its native application.

Simple Form to make updates – Easily update one or more file metadata fields in a simple form so users can quickly make updates without having to scroll. Once an update is made, click Apply to save changes and continue editing other files, or click Save to save your updates and close the Flyout.

Available Everywhere – This new Flyout feature is available in all form apps and document views! We’ve made it easy to update metadata for your files wherever you are in Construction Viz. Now, there’s really no excuse for getting your files organized right out of the gate and using metadata on your next project 😊.

Construction Viz Flyout Feature

Get a Demo of Construction Viz

The Flyout feature is one of many features we have added to Construction Viz to make managing construction project documents and correspondence easier. Take your Microsoft 365 to the next level for your projects with Construction Viz. You can request a demo of Construction Viz here.

Get a Free Consultation

Shouldn’t You Have the Power Over Your Construction Data 24×7?

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Construction Viz for Microsoft 365 gives you control over your construction data.

In today’s world of cybersecurity threats, do you feel safe having your construction data on someone else’s external project management information system (PMIS)? Can you be confident that they manage your data with the same level of control your organization does? How are you getting your data out of that system when you need to archive your projects? It’s your data; shouldn’t you have access to it 24/7 without worry? Find out how Construction Viz for Microsoft 365 is changing the game by giving you power over your data.

When we built Construction Viz, we wanted to follow the following tenants:

  • Quick and easy deployment to a client’s Microsoft 365.
  • Leverage the best of Microsoft 365 services in the client’s tenant.
  • Only pay for the apps you want.
  • Ability to customize and configure the product to the client’s unique processes.
  • Provide second-to-none security on the application and data.
  • Ensure clients’ data stays in their Microsoft 365 tenant 24/7.

Construction Viz is Powered by Microsoft 365 and Azure

Construction Viz follows Microsoft Azure’s application deployment model just like any other applications you might use daily in your Microsoft 365. The deployment model is simple: once consent is granted to the app and access is given to a SharePoint site, Construction Viz does the rest by hydrating the necessary lists and libraries.

Every record created in Construction Viz is stored in your Microsoft SharePoint lists and libraries and available 24/7. No data is stored outside of your Microsoft 365 tenant. Isn’t it time to get the most out of Microsoft 365 and rethink where your data resides?

You can learn more about how Construction Viz will help you securely manage your construction projects here. If you would like to see Construction Viz in action, you can request a demo here. We can also provide a trial site if you want to roll up your sleeves and try the system.

Get a Free Consultation

Notification Overload? Construction Viz for Microsoft 365 Can Help

Project Management Tools |

In today’s connected world, people are bombarded with electronic notifications at home, at work, and across multiple devices. The onslaught of these automated messages that require your attention can become overwhelming and eventually lead to ignorance, especially in the construction industry. With Construction Viz, we put you in charge of your notifications. We aim to make notifications meaningful and unique to your specific project needs. Read on to find out more.

Control Your Project Notifications with Construction Viz

Over the years of deploying enterprise construction management systems, we found that users can face burnout when inundated with notifications all day, especially when they are not actionable.

With Construction Viz, we built a notification framework that can be unique to your projects by implementing the following features:

  • Custom response statuses: Admins can create their own unique statuses for every app. So, if you have statuses like New, Open, Revise & Resubmit, Accepted, and Closed in a Submittal form, you can create those yourself and set a default status when creating a record.
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  • Actionable notifications. In addition to creating your own statuses, you can set which statuses, at each phase, will be posted to the notification center for users to take action.
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  • Dashboards. Every app in Construction Viz includes an out-of-the-box dashboard, but you can supplement it with Power BI reports if needed. Check out the link here on Power BI and Construction Viz. These dashboards display the status of all the records and notifications specific to you. Also, the dashboards can drill down into a filtered view of the records.
  • My Action Required views. Every app grid in Construction Viz includes a My Action Required toggle where you can quickly see all the records you need to action on.
  • Microsoft 365 applications. In addition to Construction Viz-specific notifications, Microsoft 365 applications can be utilized to bring notifications directly to your daily workflow.
    • Email. All of our applications can automatically send emails to users, or you can send ad hoc emails to users or groups to take action.
    • Microsoft Teams Approvals. Using Microsoft Power Automate, workflows can be used to send notifications to Teams, so if you find yourself working in Teams, you will receive a new Activity and Approval.
    • Adaptive Cards. Suppose you prefer to work in Outlook or Teams. In that case, Adaptive Cards offer a unique opportunity to surface only key fields in mini-applications that can be embedded into Outlook email and Teams chats, providing the ability to view and respond without having to open Construction Viz. Check out this article to find out more.

Instead of getting frustrated with notifications that aren’t relevant or actionable, Construction Viz can help. Construction Viz is a unique platform to manage your construction projects the way that works best for you. To find out more about how Construction Viz can help you manage your projects in Microsoft 365, you can request a demo here.

Get a Free Consultation

Project Time Tracking in the Construction Viz Task Manager

Project Management Tools |

Outside of when the task was completed, how many hours it took to perform it is the second most asked question. Project Managers need to know the level of effort to compare it against estimated hours, add hours to billing, check efficiencies, or manage labor utilization. Accurate construction project time tracking is thus essential to every project.

With the Construction Viz Task Manager, we continue to extend the functionality so that everything you need to manage a task is included in the application, including time tracking.

Construction Project Time Tracking

Everything in project management, and life in general, comes down to managing a series of tasks. Effectively managing the who, what, when, where, and why of tasks can lead to a successful project.

We see task management as a cornerstone of project management, which is why, with Construction Viz, we are beefing up resource management features so that you can manage tasks how you want to manage them. One of those critical features is detailed construction project time tracking.

Key Features of the Construction Viz Task Manager App

The Construction Viz Task Manager might seem familiar to those who use Microsoft Planner and MS Project for the Web. But we designed the app for construction projects with the ability to customize it to your unique processes.

The Construction Viz Task Manager’s new Time-Tracking component can be activated in a task and works with the Schedule component. Resources and hours can be assigned daily based on a task’s scheduled start and finish dates.

The interface is simple but powerful under the hood. Add resources, the description of work, hours, and the specific day in a weekly or monthly view. Records are saved to SharePoint lists, so the data is always available for you to create your own Power BI reports.

And, because Construction Viz utilizes your Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online lists and libraries, you can rest assured that the data securely resides in your Microsoft 365 tenant.

The Construction Viz Task Manager is one of many applications that round out a suite of apps to help you manage your projects. If you want to learn more, use the form below to request a demo.

If you are not ready for an enterprise construction management solution but need help with Microsoft 365, you can request a free one-hour consultation here.

Get a Free Consultation