| |
|
User's Conference Highlight: Three-Way Communication |
Here's a quick summary of what happened March 8-11 in Tempe, AZ, at McCormick Systems' 24th annual User's Conference:
- Contractors and estimators talked about their hopes for estimating software in the future, and McCormick listened.
- McCormick people talked about what our software can do, and attendees listened.
- In between the various events, at our kick-off reception, at dinner, and in courtyard conversations, attendees talked to each other -- about software, but also about construction, electrical contracting . . . and everything in between. "You really listen to your users," said one contractor (in a written post-conference evaluation.
"The interactivity [between customers and staff] is what improves the program," was one contractor's feedback.
"The best parts of the conference were the software's new features, networking with other contractors, and the [on-site] lab with tech support available," said another.
"Every year is a terrific learning experience, and this one was no exception," wrote another attendee. "I appreciated the ability to network with other users."
Highlights
McCormick rolled out Version 8.2 of the software. Aspects of the system that can be overlooked by users were reviewed, with some (such as the usefulness of Edit Extension) gone over in detail. CAD Estimating was covered, as were other add-ons to the basic Win 3000, 6000, 8000, and 12000 software programs.
And, of course, the ABS product line was introduced (ABS = automated building systems). A lot of users were unaware this was available to be used as a stand alone or added to their current database. With this product, it opens up a lot more avenues/doors to get into different areas of work.
For the company -- and ultimately, for its customers -- a key piece of the event concerned the future. As in the past, President Todd McCormick kicked off this session with a startling (to first-timers) revelation: "It's really your money funding our research and development -- so tell us what you'd like to see."
In response, attendees had numerous ideas for the future of McCormick's system. "It was really good information," Todd McCormick says. "Of course, we take detailed notes. All of the comments were contributory. We obtained a ton of good input from the customers."
Details
Highlights of this year’s User’s Conference kit included the conference notebook and a McCormick Systems monogrammed micro-fiber polo shirt.
Pre-conference events included Standard and Advanced training classes and a golf tournament (which attracted 36 attendees).
On V8.2, McCormick staff noted the enthusiastic reception for the addition of roughly one dozen maintenance reports. "We've discovered that some of our customers -- even those who have used the system for four years -- have not necessarily maintained the database as well as they might have," said Todd McCormick. "These reports can be run regularly -- some once a month, others once and never again. By running them, our customers will speed up access to their database, making them more productive in the future."
More than 20 computers were set up in the on-site computer lab. In addition to lab time on both full conference days (Thursday and Friday), attendees were able to use the lab -- with McCormick staff at their sides, if requested -- for a full morning (Saturday) before departing.
The lab included two workstations with two monitors hooked up to one computer. This set-up maximizes productivity -- and makes use of the flexibility of McCormick's software. See "What We're Telling The Media," below, for more.
User's Conference Honors
Each year, McCormick Systems recognizes the "Desert Dogs" -- User's Conference attendees who are "regulars" at the event. To qualify, an attendee has to have been on hand for at least four Users Conferences.
Here's this year's list of “Desert Dogs”:
21 years: Erle Howard
20 years: Fred Bauer, Jr.
18 years: Jack Beatson
17 years: David DeFelice; Joe Dolan
15 years: Bill Andrews
14 years: Tom Lanum
11 years: Greg Bolte
9 years: Steve Arnold
8 years: Steve Becks
7 years: Henry Hurt; Mark Jackson; Eddie Lammers; Skip Stewart.
6 years: Christopher Jones; George Kreykes; Tim Meiners; David Spotanski.
5 years: Gene Barry; Kerwin Kortman; Joseph Pizik; Steven Reed; Benjamin Ward.
4 years: Matt Firestone; Rob Sbara; George Silbersdorff; Randy Ward; Brian Warnemunde; Craig Welburn.
Golf Event
Lowest Gross Score
-- tie, Bill Sickels & Gene Barry
Lowest Net Score
-- tie, Erle Howard & Dan Wilcox
Highest Gross Score
-- Adrian McWherter
Longest Drive
-- Jay Linden
Closest To The Pin
-- Tim Meiners |
What We're Telling The Media
Below find the text of a post-conference press release McCormick Systems sent to electrical and data-com
industry magazines, Web sites, and others.
User’s Conference Hit:
Two Monitors, 15 Open Windows
Estimating productivity is the key selling point stressed by McCormick Systems in presentations and literature. An additional new vista on speeding estimates opened for electrical contractors and estimators attending the company’s recent 2006 User’s Conference.
Thanks to the estimating software’s flexibility, users discovered they could boost productivity with the use of two monitors on an individual working estimate. Using a two-monitor set-up at the March 8-11 event in Tempe, Ariz., contractors and estimators experimented – and found they could have 15 discrete estimate windows open at the same time across two screens.
“Having all those windows open greatly increased their estimating productivity,” said President Todd McCormick. “While this is not unique to McCormick, the response from our customers was so enthusiastic that we think two monitors will probably be the standard from now on.”
According to the company, any computer user can set up two monitors for the same computer by retrofitting the unit with a video card that has two monitor outputs; the process is simple. Cost: The price of a second monitor and roughly $100 or thereabouts for the card and software that comes with it.
“For perhaps $300 to $350 and a half-hour’s worth of work, any electrical estimator working with McCormick’s software can boost his/her productivity,” said McCormick.
McCormick’s 24th annual User’s Conference featured two full days of sessions, an on-site computer “lab” with more than 20 work stations, extended lab time, pre-event training, and accompanying social events. Popular session topics included Version 8.2 of the company’s software, CAD Estimating, and customer suggestions on future enhancements to the estimating system.
|
From The EleBlog: On Datacenters
Note: McCormick Systems' employs Joe Salimando for marketing and press relations work. Salimando also writes the electrical industry's
"web log" (or "blog") -- at www.electricalcontractor.com. Here's a recent excerpt, a report from the National Facility Management & Technology
conference (held March 7-9 in Baltimore):
About Data Centers
For years, the prediction has been that the density of electricity (and the resulting heat production) in a typical built-new Data Center was just going to become more and more intense. Electricity in DCs is measured in watts-per-square-foot.
And it's happening!
A presentation 3/9 at the NFM&T show from Mark S. Evanko of Bruns-Pak was all about DC problems. Title: The Impact of U/Blade/Super Servers on the Data Center Facility Infrastructure.
Evanko is an engineer. He spoke enthusiastically – the words coming from him at a torrent. I found his presentation style interesting: He threw in jokes, technical points, warnings, inanities, and really important observations . . . without braking stride! [I find this almost impossible to do. My problem as a presenter is laughing at my own jokes.]
My notes on this were scribbled in haste (no other way with this guy). Here is some of what I think I heard:
Per-square-foot costs for DCs – range from $67/sq. ft. to $3,100/sq. ft. (not a typo).
A client talked to Evanko about putting a $30 million DC on the 6th floor of a building. Problem here: Thanks in part to blades and 3,000-pound units, the equipment is becoming heavier and heavier (on a per-square-foot basis). The client’s building was not built to accommodate the $30M in equipment. “I told him if he installed the equipment, in 30 days it would be on the 3rd floor, and a short time later it would be on the 1st floor.” Solution: Spend more money – build the DC in a new, small building 1-story high.
IBM has just rolled out a unit that consumes 41 kW of electricity. The unit occupies 11 sq. ft. Picture, Evanko said, a data center full of these. Where’s the heat going to go?
Clearance is important in designing new DCs (or in retrofitting others). With 3-
foot-high raised floors (for cabling, etc.) – and high ceilings needed to absorb the heat released by the servers – Bruns-Pak is talking about 15-foot high floors in newly built DCs. But: The problem in retrofitting an older DC to accommodate today’s equipment is many of them were NOT built with 15-foot clearance. Evanko's radical recommendation: Through out the old DC. If you can't afford to build a new one, an old abandoned warehouse, put the new DC in there.
[Note: There has been increased absorption of empty warehouse space in the U.S. Much of this is happening in the West, and it's generally attributed -- by the real estate expert crowd -- to imports from China. But maybe there's something else contributing?]
Just as in the telecom-boom days, DCs are being designed and built on the fly these days. But just as in those days, it doesn't work. Evanko recommends a healthy input of TIME and consideration of five-years-out requirements. Why? As one the owner adds state-of-the-art servers to buildings designed a short time earlier, heat release rates increase . . . and costs increase. He referenced a DC built recently in Boston – budgeted at $15 million, but with costs all told coming in a $28 million. “The CIO is now job hunting,” Evanko said.
DCs are being disposed immediately after being completed. Evanko told the tale of a 20,000-sq.-ft. DC, four years old, built at a cost of $65 million (by a Fortune 500 company, he said). Equipment was never deployed in the facility, because it was designed without proper consideration for “thermodynamics.” Evanko harped on thermodynamics a lot; the main DC problem, of course, is – and has been – how to get rid of the heat generated by servers.
At one DC he’s seen, Evanko said, they actually put a fence, locked, around the PDU (power distribution unit). Why? To keep the electrician from touching the PDU, and inadvertently bringing the system down.
About McCormick Systems
Privately owned McCormick Systems, of Chandler, AZ, is the nation’s leader in software used
for electrical estimating and project management. The company’s products enable contractors
to produce consistent, profitable estimates for electrical and voice-data-video work.
For more information: www.mccormicksys.com or 800-444-4890. |
|
