Ken Nisewanger, Sr. Business Process Manager of Meisner Electric, participated in a customer panel discussion sponsored by construction software giant, Viewpoint, on March 12th at the Westin Hotel and Conference Center in Fort Lauderdale. Viewpoint is presently sponsoring a series of such events in various cities around the country calling it their “Digital Contractor Road Show.”
With Meisner Electric since 2007, Ken has worked in the Electrical Industry for most of his career. His background includes Contracting, Supply, Sales, and Consulting for Factory Automation and Technologies. As Sr. Business Process Manger, Ken was directly responsible for the Viewpoint implementation at Meisner.
In addition to the customer panel of industry experts, Consultant Bryce Austin, former CIO of Wells Fargo Business Payroll Services and a former Senior Group Manager for Target, was featured as Keynote Speaker for the conference discussing cyber security and its challenges.
Viewpoint associates, Peter Lukas and Andy Tocko, moderated the discussion and directed questions toward the panel. Below are a few of the excerpts from the panel discussion Q&A:
Q: By many measures, construction ranks low in the adoption of digital technologies (i.e., information technology). Why do you think that has been the case and do you see it changing?
A: There were a few ideas for this. Many are used to doing it the old way. Also, the people who might use the technology are often busy just getting their job done. These are poor excuses but very common.
Q: Ten years ago, the cloud was practically a bad word. Today, I think most folks realize that it’s the most efficient and effective way to deliver and use software. Do you agree, and can you share how you and your company have been approaching cloud computing?
A: Cloud adoption really isn’t the end of all problems. As the guest speaker pointed out, often a customer who has an in-house solution can see the return on investment in about 21 months. When companies don’t already have servers or IT Staff, then cloud adoption may make sense for them. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for companies regarding cloud adoption; sometimes it makes sense and sometimes not. One thing that should be considered is if a company has remote jobs or offices. Companies are essentially providing their own cloud services for these sites. In this case, things like connectivity, which normally isn’t a concern, can now become an issue and priority. Job sites need to connect to have access to the data.
