Prism Construction Management Software Review: Suncor Energy (2 of 2)
User Review
Salvador Carlos Hernandez Ramirez
Review Summary
In order to oversee and manage costs for multiple projects that often involve multiple teams, companies and geographies, Suncor Energy relies extensively on ARES Corp.'s PRISM Project Manager 5.1. This Earned Value Management System (EVMS) is designed to help businesses plan, budget and control a project through all project phases, including proposal, planning, engineering, procurement, construction, startup and operations.
"I see in PRISM a comprehensive tool to perform cost control in very large, complex projects. These are challenging because of the number of interfaces and the fact that several companies have to work on the same deliverable," said Salvador Carlos Hernandez Ramirez of Suncor, who has been using this construction management software for about two years. "It was very important for Suncor to find a solution to deliver these capabilities."
Today, about 500 Suncor personnel use PRISM to contain construction costs, manage change, transfer budgets and allocate spending, he said. After acquiring PRISM, Suncor's internal IT department developed tools to integrate it with the company's SAP construction ERP system, said Hernandez Ramirez. In addition, the company created customized training.
PRISM could be improved in at least one way, however. "I would add a historian to register users doing changes in the database," said Hernandez Ramirez. Based on Suncor's experience with the software vendor, ARES may, indeed, heed this request, he added: "People at ARES understand clearly how important this tool has become to Suncor."
Overall, Hernandez Ramirez rated ARES Corp.'s PRISM construction management software a 9 out of 10.
Full Review
I have been using PRISM Project Manager for two years.
Suncor is a major North American energy producer and marketer involved in oil and gas exploration and production. The company generated about $18 billion in revenue last year, and has approximately 6,500 employees.
It was acquired through ARES.
I don't know.
I'm using it for change management, time phase data and construction cost control.
It was chosen by Suncor Major Project management. I was not involved in the decision-making process for the selection of cost-control tools.
Modifications had to be done in PRISM to tailor it to Suncor's particular needs, in order to make SAP and PRISM work together.
I see in PRISM a comprehensive tool to perform construction cost control in very large, complex projects. These are challenging because of the number of interfaces and the fact that several companies have to work on the same deliverable. It was very important for Suncor to find a solution to deliver these capabilities.
We were using internally developed databases as well as Project Baseline and SICPRO.
I reckon that about 500 people use it here on a daily basis. The people doing the input and day-to-day tasks are cost analysts, specialists and supervisors. The reports they generate with PRISM are geared towards managers, directors and VPs.
This tool allows teams that are remotely located to work on the same project, allowing concurrent users to feed information into the database as it happens. Such a feature is seldom seen in current cost-control software packages.
We execute all construction cost control processes using PRISM, such as change management, budget transfers and the allocation of dollars over time, which is also neatly done in PRISM through its Time Phase Data feature.
I believe companies will save years of trial and error by using this construction management software, since it provides standard reporting and strong cost-control capabilities, including change management and cash flow.
PRISM's ability to combine cost-control and time-phase data capabilities is very powerful, because it allocates the approved budgets over a period of time using dates and curve profiles as points of reference. This is all performed at the cost-account level.
I cannot comment, because I am unfamiliar with the price we paid.
I would add a historian to register users doing changes in the database.
There are a number of standard reports we don't use.
It's a great tool for companies looking to control construction costs -- and who isn't?
In order to do basic data-entry, users need a couple of months of training and practice, but to properly operate PRISM I feel that users must have a couple of years of hands-on experience doing cost-control at a bare minimum.
Training goes by modules and is very flexible. Training usually takes a day or two.
Yes, and they give very quick responses. People at ARES understand clearly how important this tool has become to Suncor.
I have never used it, so no comments here.
Most likely.
9
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