Product category:
Materials Testing
News Release from: Oasys
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 December 2003
New Director Predicts End of Project
Extranet
Alec Milton, an associate director of consulting engineer Arup, has been made a director of Oasys Limited, the software house of Arup.
Alec Milton, an associate director of consulting engineer Arup, has been made a director of Oasys Limited, the software house of Arup Milton gave his views at Project Extranets IV at the IEE Savoy Place on December 3, 2003
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 17 Jul 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Manuals help users to get the most from Columbus
To coincide with the release of the updated, version 2.3 of Columbus, the free document management system, Oasys has also published two step-by-step training manuals.
Updated document system ups productivity
Updated document management system works directly with file system, extracts information from any accessible folders and gathers it under one heading, even if files are spread around a system.
In it he predicted that project extranets and document management, as the construction industry understands them, would be dead within a few years.
Milton, 39, will continue to hold his position as associate director of Arup while fulfilling his role on the board of Oasys.
He joins John Miles, chairman - corporate services division, and Mike Somers, deputy chairman, on the board.
"My role at Oasys will continue to be very much hands-on, totally involved in the day-to-day business of the company," explained Milton.
In his presentation Milton argued that, in order to remain useful, extranets have to be secure, reliable, acceptably priced, future proof and easy to use.
"Peer-to-peer systems provide a complementary solution and meet all of the core requirements that could be asked of an extranet," he said.
"Furthermore, Longhorn, Microsoft's forthcoming database driven operating system is likely to provide meta-data management, version control and audit trails.
This could even reduce the need for document management systems.
The systems that will survive are those that work direct with the operating system to organise project material - like Columbus, Oasys' own system," Milton suggested.
"Finally.Net blurs the boundaries between applications, file systems and the Internet, thus further reducing the usefulness of project extranets based on central repositories.
Despite all of this, there is no question that project extranets will continue to be used for the moment - because they are useful," concluded Milton.
• Oasys: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
