Ryder Architecture

Company:

Ryder Architecture

Sector:

Architecture, Interior Design & Placemaking

Location:

Newcastle, London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Hong Kong, Vancouver, and Amsterdam

Rapport3 modules used:

Project Costing

Contacts (CRM)

Sage 200 Integration

The client

Previously, Ryder Architecture had been operating a loose connection of software products to manage different areas of the business. 


On the project side they were using packages like Excel and, as Projects Director David Stabler explained, some “Clever formulas in the background to calculate pipelines, costs and profit, which I don’t think is dissimilar to where many practices have come from when implementing a project management system.” 

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Requirements

There had been a want and recognition in the business that there were efficiency savings to be had, as well as a growing appetite for people to have more data at their fingertips enabling them to get a live feed for how projects are progressing, particularly in terms of their financial performance. Ryder began using a bespoke Union Square package for a while, but struggled to achieve the level of customisation they required. So they looked elsewhere. 


They identified two products which were similar and would provide them with the sort of functionality they required. One was Rapport3 and one was CMAP. After a period of presentations and contact from both companies, along with a couple of months of due diligence speaking to Rapport3’s and CMAP’s clients, Ryder chose Rapport3. They took on our main package (Project Costing) along with our CRM (Contacts) module and Sage 200 integration.


Ryder started the consultancy and implementation process a few months after making their choice. “I think the most important thing to appreciate is that when you are implementing anything of the nature of Rapport3, or any system like it which represents significant change to the way people work in the business, it’s really important to have a plan and to stick to it,” David explained. “Cubic were great - they effectively led that planning process through the initial consultancy to establish our requirements.” 

Requirements

There had been a want and recognition in the business that there were efficiency savings to be had, as well as a growing appetite for people to have more data at their fingertips enabling them to get a live feed for how projects are progressing, particularly in terms of their financial performance. Ryder began using a bespoke Union Square package for a while, but struggled to achieve the level of customisation they required. So they looked elsewhere.  

They identified two products which were similar and would provide them with the sort of functionality they required. One was Rapport3 and one was CMAP. After a period of presentations and contact from both companies, along with a couple of months of due diligence speaking to Rapport3’s and CMAP’s clients, Ryder chose Rapport3. They took on our main package (Project Costing) along with our CRM (Contacts) module and Sage 200 integration.

Ryder started the consultancy and implementation process a few months after making their choice. “I think the most important thing to appreciate is that when you are implementing anything of the nature of Rapport3, or any system like it which represents significant change to the way people work in the business, it’s really important to have a plan and to stick to it,” David explained. “Cubic were great - they effectively led that planning process through the initial consultancy to establish our requirements.” 

Requirements

There had been a want and recognition in the business that there were efficiency savings to be had, as well as a growing appetite for people to have more data at their fingertips enabling them to get a live feed for how projects are progressing, particularly in terms of their financial performance. Ryder began using a bespoke Union Square package for a while, but struggled to achieve the level of customisation they required. So they looked elsewhere.  

They identified two products which were similar and would provide them with the sort of functionality they required. One was Rapport3 and one was CMAP. After a period of presentations and contact from both companies, along with a couple of months of due diligence speaking to Rapport3’s and CMAP’s clients, Ryder chose Rapport3. They took on our main package (Project Costing) along with our CRM (Contacts) module and Sage 200 integration.

Ryder started the consultancy and implementation process a few months after making their choice. “I think the most important thing to appreciate is that when you are implementing anything of the nature of Rapport3, or any system like it which represents significant change to the way people work in the business, it’s really important to have a plan and to stick to it,” David explained. “Cubic were great - they effectively led that planning process through the initial consultancy to establish our requirements.” 

The solution

Rapport3’s CRM module was chosen to bring greater coherence to Ryder’s management of client information and to assist in developing and maintaining relationships through business development. Especially in times of remote working, having all this information in one easily-searchable database was extremely helpful for Ryder.


Ryder has been using the powerful reporting capacity of Rapport3 to support business finances and Microsoft PowerBI to visualise project data at team level.   


When remote working became commonplace, Rapport3 really helped the company to continue business-as-usual. David explained, “Having a dedicated and accessible cloud-based system assisted in our transition to more effective and flexible working during the COVID-19 pandemic. [...] It’s likely that we’d have seen greater challenges with the accessibility and quality of our information with the associated cost implications to the business.”   


The quality of customer service has also been important, both during migration and in general use. When asked about the quality of the Rapport3 support team, David said, “Great! In our experience the team are attentive to our needs and responsive in addressing issues.” 

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Cementing Rapport3 as single point of truth and growing value

Ryder have been using Rapport3 for about two years and it is now embedded in their business-as-usual. As a result, people are often suggesting how it can be improved, which is great for David, as he can feedback to Rapport development and shape module updates. 


Currently, Ryder is going through a process of getting even more value from Rapport3, by exploring what other data they can get from it. Right now, they see it as their single point of truth and have used some customisation to get it to that point, providing them with vital data which they can pull out to OpenAsset or PowerBI. 


They are also now looking at our HR module and viewed the upcoming developments in our October Virtual HR Focus Group. Even better, some of Ryder’s alliance partners have also implemented Rapport3, so with their joint projects they are using Rapport3 to manage projects more collaboratively. 


In summary, David said; “It’s got great functionality, the [Rapport3] system, and you’re missing a trick if you don’t use it to its full [potential].”

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