Oasys, the software development arm of global A/E firm ARUP, today announced that global architectural firm Gensler will buy Oasys’ email management software Mail Manager. The deal provides access to Mail Manager to all of Gensler’s 3100+ staff in 30 offices around the world.
I find this interesting because it is one giant AEC firm developing and selling software to another giant AEC firm. The question has to be asked: Why did an A/E firm's software arm have to come up with this product in the first place? Are existing AEC firms trying to be too cutting-edge with their solutions, taking on too much? Or has the Microsoft Office paradigm become such a pervasive standard in AEC firms that they prefer solutions that extend existing applications rather than replace them? I think it is a bit of both.
The press statement quotes Gensler CIO Ken Sanders: “After assessing many products and engaging in an extensive trial involving 200 staff, Mail Manager stood out to us as the best tool on the market for our design teams to manage and archive their email. Email has become an essential form of business-to-business communication, and leaving emails that often contain critical project information in separate Outlook inboxes is equivalent to leaving letters piled up on desks."
Gensler has configured Mail Manager to file messages to project-specific folders, alongside other project documents and drawings. Sanders says, “This not only simplifies searching, but also helps with project archiving, because everything relating to a project is now in the same place.”
Oasys describes Mail Manager as “very popular with people who need a practical and simple solution to widely encountered problems associated with email use. It is an Outlook plug-in which helps towards the goal of a paperless office by making it simple to file emails and documents in one place. ... Users take to Mail Manager because of its simplicity and ease of use. IT managers like it because it cuts down on maintenance and storage overheads, QA managers find that Mail Manager use improves compliance, with project related emails being archived on the fly, and Project Managers are impressed by the benefits gained in communication and decision making.”
There's a 30-day free trial available at
www.oasys-software.com/mailmanager.
--RSN