Cybersecurity, System Flexibility Rank High in Customer Needs
Over the last few weeks, the Kahua team participated in two very different industry group events, FEFPA and AGC IT. I say they are different because the two audiences are unlike each other, but both need the flexibility of the Kahua platform.
FEFPA, the Florida Educational Facilities Planners’ Association, brings together educational facility planners, the Department of Education, architects, engineers, contractors and manufacturers in a forum to encourage the exchange of ideas and stimulate professional growth, resulting in the design and construction of quality educational facilities. The group gathers each summer and winter for several days of presentations and networking. K-12, colleges and universities are an important industry segment that Kahua serves extremely well. Our team was able to meet with design, planning and construction executives from all over the state and gather input on how we can better serve this segment in Florida.
“Kahua has had great success across the country, and it’s exciting for me to be able to help address the needs of schools in the state that I call home. For years, these professionals have struggled with systems that do not conform to the way they do business. We are changing that rapidly for our K-12 and higher ed clients.” Todd Procaccini, Kahua business leader for Florida
AGC IT is a special, annual gathering just for IT professionals at AGC (the Associated General Contractors of America) member companies. CIOs, CTOs and IT directors come together to exchange ideas and best practices, examine new technologies and address the issues common to all. While AGC’s yearly member convention is the industry’s largest with thousands in attendance, this is a more intimate gathering with just a few hundred IT thought leaders. This year we heard two recurring themes: the value of data and the concerns around cyber security.
There were several presentations about using pre-construction data past pre-construction. Presentations on best practices for VDC and BIM addressed the potential of the information (data) in the building information model.
“The specialty contractor community is the primary creator of the rich data that general contractors collect and pass on to building owners. They also need to be able to benefit from the data they create. It is critical that we author software solutions that allow our specialty contractors to share their data without losing ownership of it.” Jeff Burmeister, Kahua for Subcontractors general manager
As one might expect, cybersecurity was the most discussed topic. We heard stories of businesses being shut down because they were unable to protect their data from ransomware. I had the chance to speak with several presenters and panelists who affirmed that FedRAMP is absolutely the gold standard. FedRAMP is a federal government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. Kahua achieved this certification earlier this year.
“When it comes to cloud computing, FedRAMP certification allows IT managers to trust that their companies’ data is protected at the highest possible level. There is no higher standard.” Dennis DiPalma, MIS Project Leader at PJ Dick | Trumbull | Lindy
Kahua is the industry’s first and only application platform as a service that has achieved FedRAMP certification. We will never stop working to improve our capability to protect client data.
* Next month we’ll report from CURT, Infraday and Autodesk University.
