David Miller Architects

Solution

"We very much see ourselves as a technology-led practice, and we're constantly looking to apply new technology to solve problems for our clients on our projects. That's how we've approached everything in terms of how we develop our architecture, and so CMap fits very neatly into that mentality."

Having previously implemented WorkflowMax, Fiona felt there was a need for something a little bit more sophisticated as the practice continued to grow.

The answer to their problems came courtesy of colleagues at their accountants Whitemoor Davis. DMA had heard of CMap, but were under the impression that we were better suited to much bigger practices.

"I'd heard the name because we're part of a forum which is a London-based group involving around 50 of the most established and well-respected architectural practices. Most of them are considerably bigger than us, but we got involved in that because we would be collaborating with a group of people we aspired to be like.

However, I assumed that as it was the larger firms using CMap, that it would be super expensive and something that the likes of us couldn't even think of."

Solid business practice isn't just the purview of larger firms though, and after speaking to some more people, they realised CMap was best placed to help them pursue further growth.

Results

CMap has resulted in DMA gaining powerful oversight of their projects, enabling quick and well-informed business decisions.

"It's joined up and it connects everything together around our finances and where people are spending their time. As a result, we know where we stand and that can only be a good thing. The real-time analytics, the fact that the architects can see on their dashboard exactly where they stand against the resource they'd planned as a team informs how they look at the next phase of the job or taking it to completion. That's really important, we love that."

Fiona also feels it has meant those resourcing issues have been cleared up.

"We're more able to readily see the overview of where resource is being used and where we need to be trying to find new projects so that we've got continuity of work."

Fiona believes that CMap is a great solution for firms who are looking to take the next step up in their practice and manage the pains that come with that all-important growth.

"When I saw that big practices were using CMap, I made the assumption that it was going to be out of our reach in terms of cost and complexity. But by adopting CMap it has actually saved us money because we've been able to proactively deal with issues and make better, more sustainable decisions."

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All content in this case study has been approved by the client. The views and opinions expressed are the client's alone.