With Fifth Edition now officially released, we wanted to provide you with some information to help you prepare for the upgrade. Attached is a document with some critical Fifth Edition Upgrade & Training Considerations.
We are offering services to help with the upgrade of our software as well as What’s New in Fifth Edition training. On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, you will receive all of the information necessary for the upgrade via a Newforma transmittal.
We are focused on providing you with a total solution that makes the upgrade and use of Newforma Project Center as easy as possible. If you have suggestions or comments please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us as our goal is your satisfaction.
Thank you,
Dan, Renee, and Steve
Fifth Edition Upgrade Considerations.pdf
Absolutely. You must be a Newforma Global Administrator to do this. Go into Project Center Administration, select the Projects Tab. Highlight the project that you want to set the Submittal Auto-Numbering setting. Select “Edit Settings” from the Task Panel. Navigate to the Submittals Tab. Select the “Auto-Number” radio button on the Top left corner of the dialogue. See screen capture below.
To set this value you must be a Newforma Project Administrator. To do this you would go into the Newforma Administration Console, Navigate to the Projects Tab. To edit this setting select one of your project and then select Edit Settings from the Task Panel. Go to the Admin* tab and on the lower right side of the screen, using the drop dn list select the option you prefer.
When you create a new project in Newforma you can add a default project subfolder structure that will be created as your Newforma Project gets added.
To do this, just add the table shown below to your Project Settings default import template. Insert your folder structure between lines .
Below is a Smaple Folder Structure:
Admin\Contracts
Admin\Reports
Admin\Schedules
CAD\Arch
CAD\Civil
CAD\Elec
CAD\FP
CAD\Mech
CAD\Plbg
CAD\Struc
CAD\Other
Communication\Email
Communication\Faxes
Communication\Meeting Minutes
Transfers\Incoming
Transfers\Outgoing
Transfers\Record Copies
Construction\Product Data
Construction\01 General
Construction\02 Site
Construction\03 Concrete
Construction\04 Masonry
Construction\05 Metals
Construction\06 Wood and Plastics
Construction\07 Thermal and Moisture
Construction\08 Doors and Windows
Construction\09 Finishes
Construction\10 Specialties
Construction\11 Equipment
Construction\12 Furnishings
Construction\13 Special Construction
Construction\14 Conveying Systems
Construction\15 Mechanical
Construction\16 Electrical
Construction\RFIs
Construction\Sketches
Management\
Photos\
Reports\
Specifications\00 - Cover and Index
Specifications\01 - General Requirements
Specifications\02 - Site Construction
Specifications\03 – Concrete
Specifications\04 – Masonry
Specifications\05 – Metals
Specifications\06 - Wood and Plastics
Specifications\07 - Thermal and Moisture Protection
Specifications\08 - Doors and Windows
Specifications\09 – Finishes
Specifications\10 – Specialties
Specifications\11 – Equipment
Specifications\12 – Furnishings
Specifications\13 - Special Construction
Specifications\14 - Conveying Systems
Specifications\15 – Mechanical
Specifications\16 - Electrical
Like lots of architecture firms, Chicago- and San Francisco-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz pitches a lot of new business. When they relied on FTP to share files with partners and prospective clients, they had to set up a new FTP site for every project, because using just one site would have compromised confidentiality.
Associate Principal and Director of Information Technology Steven Edwards, AIA, saw how Newforma Info Exchange would not only be easier to use than FTP, but would remove his department from having to set up FTP sites for every RFP and project development initiative.
The IT team set up a Newforma Info Exchange project just for SCB project development teams. Emails sent from Info Exchange contain hyperlinks from which recipients download documents. When SCB needs to be on the receiving end of a file transfer, SCB team members email a generic username and password to external team members. The login permits recipients to transmit files to anyone in SCB’s offices.
The Info Exchange server does not bloat with files because it’s set to automatically delete files after they’ve been on the server for two weeks. Security is much better than FTP solutions, too.
Steven and his team set up special Info Exchange sites for projects where information is more delicate and the needs are more robust. Security is simple. You can determine who sees what. SCB controls distribution by setting users to only see the names and email addresses of selected team members.
This use of Newforma Info Exchange promoted more widespread adoption of the Newforma Project Center solution as a whole. People reasoned, “If file transfers are this easy, what other processes could I streamline?”
For this very simple and elegant application of Newforma Project Center, SCB wins the Creative Adoption of Newforma – or CAN Do – Award. Congratulations to Steven Edwards and his team!
When Steffian Bradley Architects Associate Bevan Badenhorst shared his Newforma Project Center experiences with peers in the Newforma UK User Group, this is what he told them:
Read the SBA case study at newforma.co.uk
Summary: Newforma project information management software reduces administrative burden and streamlines operations to enable professionals to focus on higher-value tasks and better design.
In 2010, HOK Director of Emerging Technologies Terry Nichols spoke to the Newforma UK User Group, an organization that Terry has been instrumental in nurturing. In his presentation, Terry presented his firm’s history with Newforma Project Center. Read the case study here:
Read the HOK London case study at newforma.co.uk
Summary: Newforma® Project Center software for project information management (PIM) makes it easy to manage email. But the solution’s integrated capabilities make it just as easy to perform a host of other tasks necessary to execute successful architecture, engineering and construction projects.
AECCafé Managing Editor Susan Smith digs deeply into Newforma Project Center Seventh Edition in her AEC Weekly Review. “The reduction of staffing in all AEC firms has changed the balance of work and created a greater need for a distributed environment in organizations. Newforma addresses that need with their new release of Newforma Project Center - Seventh Edition.”
Read Susan’s complete AECCafé story in a separate browser window.
Visit the article in your present browser window:
http://www10.aeccafe.com/nbc/articles/view_weekly.php?section=Magazine&articleid=814463
In the May 6, 2010, edition of Cadalyst, Nancy Spurling Johnson reviews the ways the Newforma solution for AEC project information management works with any CAD or BIM option to facilitate integrated project delivery. Enhancements include greater remote user functionality and new compatibility with any IMAP-based email system, including Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise and Google Gmail. Read the story here:
Open the Cadalyst product review in a separate window
Or open the link in the present browser window:
Is it our bias, or does this article on document management get hijacked by a discussion of project information management?
Newforma Project Center is not document management software per se, but reading this ConnectPress article, you can understand why they’d include PIM.
For five years, Jeff Yoders covered IT, CAD, and BIM for Building Design+Construction magazine. Now he’s blogging full time about the latest news and products for the AEC industries. Here, Jeff reports on Newforma Project Center Seventh Edition’s support for non-Outlook e-mail applications such as Novell GroupWise, Lotus Notes and web-based e-mail applications such as Google’s Gmail.
Read the blog post here: http://bimboysblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/newforma-7th-edition-re-engineered-to.html
Thursday, May 6, 2010
http://newforma-blog.blogspot.com/2010/05/reflecting-on-newformas-beginnings-6.html
Newforma Chief Executive Officer Ian Howell has posted a brief history of the Newforma’s initial impetus and path to Series A funding:
“Cinco de Mayo 2010 was Newforma’s 6th birthday. It was on May 5, 2004, that we closed our Series A funding.
“The idea of starting a new business actually started a full year earlier, in May 2003, in the offices of Borealis Ventures in Concord, New Hampshire.
“I wasn’t there, but as the story goes, several participants left that meeting saying “No thanks, and don’t call me again.” Others, including Bob “Batch” Batcheler (now Newforma’s VP Industry Marketing and Product Management) and Larry Nuttall (now a partner with the Ascentage Group) , were inspired enough to commit...”
Read the full blog post here: http://newforma-blog.blogspot.com/2010/05/reflecting-on-newformas-beginnings-6.html
The following chat with Newforma CEO Ian Howell ran from 11:30 a.m. to noon on April 22, 2010, at the Stagnito Media 2010 IPD e-conference.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Good Morning. Welcome to the Stagnito IPD Conference. I am happy to answer any and all questions regard either PIM or IPD and how the two are related.
Question 1:
Ian, for a small civil engineering firm (under 20 employees), how can your products benefit our firm?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
We have firms from 4 employees up to 2400 employees using Newforma to manage their project information.
Question 2:
Whether IPD or BIM, who “owns” the Newforma data, and who is responsible to keep it current. I know all participate, but by contract who owns and has risk?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Every player owns their own data on their own central file server in their own folder structure - Newforma manages and shares all of that across the entire team.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
It is the combination of BIM + IPD (managing the information not in the model) that makes for successful IPD projects. For example, if you have seen the AIA IPD Case Studies, Newforma was used by participating companies on 5 out of those 6 projects 
Question 3:
What do you suggest if some, but not all, team participants have Newforma Project Center? Does everyone have to subscribe/purchase to play?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
No! That is the beauty of Newforma design. Newforma customers get the full benefits. Non-customers on the project team (whom we call “external team members” because they’re external to the firm that has implemented Newforma Project Center) can share info with Newforma customers thru web browsers for free.
Question 4:
When will Newforma run with 2010. I have been beta testing and it does not work with it.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Newforma 7th Edition (announced on 4/16/10) supports ACAD and REVIT 2010 and 2011.
Question 4.1:
Sorry Ian, I meant to say when will Newforma run with Outlook 2010?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
It will, but MSFT have only shipped Exchange 2010. MSFT has not yet shipped Outlook 2010 and we will test it as soon as we can all get the final version (versus beta).
Question 5:
We have data into SharePoint and in file servers (classic organization). Can Newforma manage both data?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Yes. Newforma’s search capability includes SharePoint libraries, wikis and project websites.
Question 6:
Ian, I have had experience using Constructware on projects for Document Management, but have not had the opportunity to utilize Newforma. Can you talk about what sets Newforma apart from other Document Management programs?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Newforma keeps ALL of your data where it is today. No moving files into a vault or out to an extranet workspace. Also, the security model is your EXISTING windows-based permissions. No separate security model to set up and administer which is an exrat overhead with doc mgt and on extranets.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Another important difference is that we index and search content. There is no additional burden to tag everything with meta-data for retrieval as with most Doc Mgt solutions.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Newforma is about providing transparency and accountability between project team members. We believe that IPD is all about “trust but verify.”
Ian Howell-Newforma:
IPD requires more team members interacting sooner in the life of a project. That means lots more emails. Just what you all want - right
Ian Howell-Newforma:
So having a project information management (PIM) strategy to file and search emails is going to be even more imperative for IPD projects. This risk of relying on email back-ups and having decision trials on an email server separate from your project records, which are in your folder structure on your file server, being backed up regularly, will be increasingly imperative.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Making sure that logs can be viewed by the entire team to track RFIs and Submittas versus being kept in manually updated spreadsheets will be key to success. In our view IPD is all about shared accountability so VISIBILITY for the team (not just the individual) is paramount.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
The problem we are all trying to manage is dynamically changing ad-hoc project information. Newforma Project Center is a proven PIM solution to address these IPD requirements. Newforma Project Center is helping 450 A, E and C firms with 40,000 licensed seats manage over 300,000 projects today!
Question 7:
If we have a multi-company project can we use Newforma Project Center?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Yes. You can choose to set up a project domain (if the project is large enough) using Newforma Project Center. Or your firm can deploy Newforma and the other companies can see selected project information that you publish thru a browser.
Jennifer.Goupil MODERATOR:
Ian - later today (1:00 Eastern) Johathan Cohen will be discussing the AIA IPD Case Studies, when you say Newforma was used in 5 of the 6...in what capacity was the software used? Do you know?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Jennifer. HGA and Kling Stubbins use Newforma on ALL of their projects (including the IPD projects).
Question 8:
Ian, when will the new version of Newforma be available for end-users?
Ian Howell-Newforma:
We are currently scheduling 7th Edition upgrades for existing customers now and any new customer would deploy 7th edition from the get-go.
Ian Howell-Newforma:
Thanks everyone for joining me. I will be in our booth and can talk to you there for any follow-on questions.
Seventh Edition offers more efficient, robust indexing of a customers’ entire company network, and expands email management capabilities beyond Microsoft Office Outlook to include Novell Groupwise, Google Gmail, Lotus Notes and Domino Server, and other email platforms employing IMAP-compatible servers. In addition, Seventh Edition incorporates numerous customer-requested enhancements that make the software easier to use and administer.
For a summary of new features and capabilities, click the following link to download a PDF.
Whats_New_in_Seventh_Edition_-_User_and_Admin_Features_-_2010_04_12b.pdf
To read the news release at newforma.com, click here: http://bit.ly/b9BnTY
To download a PDF of the news release, click here:
Newforma_Project_Center_Seventh_Edition_general_news_release.pdf
Newforma
doesn’t have a native Mac OS/X
version of our product. But if you
are a Mac user don’t despair – there are options that will allow you to
run Newforma alongside your existing Mac applications.
Since
Newforma’s product can’t run in the native Mac operating system, Mac users must
have access to a Windows operating system. There are two good possibilities: First, you can create a virtual PC environment to run NPC on
your Mac. Second, you can use a remote desktop connection to access
another computer running Windows.
I use both techniques frequently.
The first
method requires a desktop virtualization program. I use VMware Fusion. Running a copy of Windows in this environment requires a
separate license for the Windows OS. Once that is setup, you have a new
computer running Windows inside of your Mac OS. You can install
and run any Windows application in this computer. Newforma Project Center in a virtual Windows computer works
just like the native Windows version, albeit sometimes more slowly. Although
I have no direct experience, I know several of our customers are also using
Parallels as the virtual environment. In both of these virtual environments
it is possible to copy and paste between the two operating systems. It’s also possible to get the Newforma
window to display directly in the Mac OS.
These tricks blur the distinction between the two different operating
systems. Users can work quite
seamlessly between applications running in Windows and applications running on
the Mac OS.
Here’s a screenshot
of Newforma Project Center running in VMWare Fusion and displaying its application
window in the Mac OS:
The virtual environment can require a lot of memory – I wasn’t happy with
my virtual computer performance until I added 8 gb of RAM to my Macbook Pro. (I run a lot of applications and place
a high demand on the system. Other
users may be able to get by with less RAM.)
The
second method uses Microsoft
Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac to connect to an existing Windows
computer. The big advantage is
that all computation is done on a different computer and there’s no additional
load on the Mac. Copy and paste
between the computers still works.
Because performance is better, this is my favorite setup. At Newforma we have a Windows Terminal
Server that I connect to as my primary ‘Windows PC’. This server can
support many users simultaneously. I use it to run Newforma Project Center plus a few other apps
that aren’t available on a Mac.
This server has an external IP address, so I often connect to it when
I’m out of the office too.
That connection can be way faster than our standard VPN
connection since it only has to push pixels across the network.
Filing Email
Newforma
can support filing project email using almost any email client. I have been using the native Mac Mail
client recently, but we’ve also tested with Entourage and other IMAP-capable
email clients. You can file an
email just by dragging it to one of the folders in the “Items to File” folder
structure within your email application. These folders are created and
managed automatically by Newforma.
The folder names map one-to-one to a users “My Projects” list, which is maintained
by each user in Newforma Project Center.
The screenshot below shows the ‘Items to File’ folders in Mac Mail. In this case, there is one email
that has been dragged into the “engineering” folder that corresponds to my
Newforma “engineering” project. The
Newforma Project Center server will automatically file this email during its
next filing pass.
It’s also possible to file email by adding a project email address to any email
that you send. This is a new
capability in Seventh Edition. Newforma
automatically creates and manages project Email Addresses, and all emails sent
to them are routed to a single email account on your company’s main email
server. The Newforma server
automatically files email that arrives at this account.