Product category:
Business Software
News Release from: Union Square Software | Subject: 'Workspace'
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 November 2007
UK construction firm improves email
management
'Workspace' from Union Square enables Ridge to implement best practice measures for document and email control.
60 year old multidisciplinary construction consultancy, Ridge And Partners, a provider of construction consultancy services to numerous clients including the Formula One motor racing industry, has announced the successful implementation of 'Workspace', Union Square Software's portal-based knowledge management software in an order worth in the region of GBP130,000 Ridge is now able to easily store all corporate information including email correspondence and scanned paper documents in one central repository
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 4 Aug 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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'Workspace' enables Ridge's employees across the company's seven UK offices to access information relating to specific projects, regardless of their location, with the confidence that they are working with the most up-to-date material at all times.
Established in 1946 by Harold John Ridge, a local Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Oxford-based Ridge currently employs around 250 people and enjoys major commissions and projects all around the world, including several research, manufacturing, training and corporate facilities for the Formula One motor racing industry, working with organisations such as British American Racing, Jaguar and the British Racing Drivers Club at Silverstone.
As a consequence of its evolution, the company acknowledged a need to standardise and improve its workflow practices and the management of its daily business operations.
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Workspace was selected to enhance and replace incumbent internal systems for document storage and communication.
Roger Sandell, Associate, comments, "Although we had an adequately robust system, we were reliant on the traditional Microsoft Windows folder method for data storage".
"Additionally, in recent years there has been a change of emphasis on the use of email in the construction industry, instead of more formal correspondence".
"Like many other companies, we had thousands of emails that were not being adequately filed in the relevant project folders for later retrieval if necessary".
"An email is now considered to be a legal document and our insurers and Partners require that we can produce them in any given circumstance".
"We needed an appropriate solution so that IT works better for the user without incurring a greater workload".
Union Square's Workspace software is designed to provide a range of benefits associated with capturing, storing and retrieving information through a single system and interface.
Ridge will be utlilising the Workspace system to manage both its corporate and client documentation, e-mailing and searching facilities.
Sandell continues, "We have seven UK offices located in Oxford, Reading, Bristol, London, Leicester, Worcester and Birmingham and a significant number of staff will often be working from home or from other remote locations".
"With staff now able to use Workspace via a Virtual Private Network we have seen dramatic changes to the way we work and communicate between offices".
"Company management systems have also improved; aided by a powerful search engine we now have a more unified method of working".
Commenting on the decision to work with Union Square, Sandell concludes, "Although Ridge was previously aware of Union Square; when we identified our need for a new solution we undertook a detailed search of the industry, which provided a list of preferred software suppliers".
"Out of the list, Union Square stood out as being the only provider with a viable, value added product".
"The project team has been particularly helpful, clearly demonstrating to us that they understand the Building consulting market and the specific needs of our business".
"We have been exceedingly impressed at how flexible the software can be.".
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