Redefining EPC Project Management: Insights from a CEO’s Vision for the Future of PMIS
CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Varghese Daniel, Co-founder & CEO of Wrench Solutions
- What cutting-edge developments are redefining the Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) space, and what implications do these advancements hold for industry standards?
Ans. I’d say the incorporation of AI is the most significant development in recent years. It enables proactive working as well as automated standardisation, and that makes it the only real solution to climate change lockdowns and the other global issues which are having severe and unpredictable effects on project schedules. AI-enabled PMIS can mitigate the worst of the fallout; if you lost money because unexpected rain caused your workers to be idle for weeks on end, your PMIS would help you re-plan and re-deploy and also make sure such a situation never happens again. Or if your managers are being overwhelmed by the never-ending flood of data (thanks to the PMIS automatically capturing everything), incorporating AI can filter out the noise, extract the pertinent data, analyse it, and present you with helpful information only. So, as companies keep using AI-driven PMIS, they’ll start seeing higher profits per project and better quality per project, and over time, this will create pressure on competitors to meet the same standards until, eventually, PMIS itself becomes the standard. That is what I see happening down the line.
- Across diverse sectors, what factors are fueling the increasing demand for comprehensive PMIS solutions, and how is this influencing business operations?
Ans. The pandemic was a significant catalyst. Everyone was moving from manual to digital anyway. However, during the lockdown, the demand accelerated because we were seeing lockdowns, worker shortages, and supply chain disruptions on a global scale for the first time, and it was a situation only technology could resolve. Now we’re dealing with the aftereffects like WFH and ChatGpt, which were helpful at one point but are now starting to create their own operational problems because once people taste the benefits, they can’t go back; a CEO who once used ChatGPt to frame a letter won’t go back to his old way of writing letters, a worker who felt freed from his daily commute won’t go back to working in an office fulltime. So, as people change, their expectations and demands change, and each company must adapt or fail. There is also the matter of climate change, which calls for new and aggressive flexibility in planning and resource management, and that, again, is something only PMIS can provide. So for today’s EPC organisation trying to centralise data, reduce dependency on manpower, monitor and collaborate remotely – to mention just a few – PMIS is the only solution.
- When integrating PMIS, what pivotal hurdles do organizations typically encounter, and what strategic approaches can facilitate seamless implementation?
Ans. As a software solutions provider, I’d say the main hurdle is the lack of awareness of the need for integration between applications. If you plan the project’s cost breakdown in ERP and its work breakdown in a spreadsheet, and there is no meeting point between the two, how will you know if a glitch in one will affect the other? You won’t know until a disaster hits. An integrated PMIS system solves this instantaneously, so if there was a deviation in a work package that could potentially impact the cash flow a month later – or vice versa – you would know early enough to take preventive and/or corrective action. EPC companies should be educated on this aspect of PMIS because a well-integrated PMIS doesn’t just warn you about potential problems; it helps you solve and/or prevent them. This is why organisations need to invest in integrated PMIS systems; it’s a way to get ROI at the business or enterprise level as well as the operations level.
- In today’s fast-paced business environment, how do PMIS solutions enhance organizational adaptability and responsiveness to shifting market dynamics and stakeholder demands?
Ans. PMIS helps you deal with the challenges of today’s EPC landscape, like fast-track schedules, stringent regulations, and shrinking manpower, which are simply not manageable any other way. If you use a PMIS, you have enough confidence in your data and your process to make effective and insightful decisions, which in turn adds up to successful project delivery and fewer delays, which creates even more confidence in technology, and that’s how you end up with a virtuous circle instead of the vicious circle of repeated, snowballing delays and failures. I know an owner company who, after using a PMIS on one project, refused to work without it and stipulated in his next tender that all the EPC contractors had to work in a shared system (which, of course, meant PMIS). There’s also the technological side; for the first time, exchanging information between systems is easy because everything is on a database, and every organization has an API. So, from every angle, business, technological, or functional, from owner to contractor to consultant, PMIS is a win-win. There’s really no downside I can see.
- Given the sensitivity of project data, what robust safeguards and protocols ensure the integrity and security of information within PMIS frameworks?
Ans. Information security is a core focus in both the functional and technical design of Wrench SmartProject. As a software developer, SmartProject is certified to the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard, ensuring that every aspect of its software development process is secure by design. This certification governs our approach to building secure applications, and to further strengthen security, SmartProject undergoes rigorous Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VA/PT) each year. These assessments, conducted by qualified third-party audit firms, certify the product against the top 10 security threats identified by the industry-renowned OWASP® standards.
SmartProject applications are hosted on Microsoft Azure®, one of the most trusted and reliable cloud platforms. Azure provides a comprehensive set of security features that cater to a wide range of security requirements, giving our clients confidence in the resilience and robustness of their data and applications.
6 . How are revolutionary technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain reshaping the PMIS landscape, and what opportunities arise from these innovations?
Ans. Modern computing platforms have transformed the information technology landscape, offering unprecedented insights by harnessing vast amounts of data available to applications. Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example, has introduced remarkable predictive and generative capabilities, reshaping long-standing industry practices with swift innovation. In infrastructure, particularly in the power transmission sector, AI’s impact is profound. Traditionally, inspecting transmission lines required large teams and months of work to ensure quality control. With AI-driven automation, this process now takes only a few days. Drones, equipped with AI-powered image analysis, capture and inspect line images, detecting defects with remarkable accuracy. This reduces project timelines while maintaining quality.
Cloud computing has also revolutionized centralized analytics, enabling real-time data integration and analysis that would otherwise be impossible. Intelligent sensors continuously feed diverse data into central repositories, providing project managers with insights to make informed decisions. Effective project management now involves synthesizing data from sources such as weather patterns, political conditions, and financial trends. Furthermore, blockchain technology enhances data reliability by offering verifiable and auditable data logs, addressing critical security concerns. With these advancements, data processing is not only faster but also more trustworthy, meeting the needs of governments and corporations for secure and accurate information. I expect even more changes coming, and I believe we are prepared to meet those changes because we’ve only scratched the surface of the new technologies. So the future looks very interesting.
