BW Sessions: Gameplan

If we think of the construction industry as a giant sandbox, then inviting Vishal Porwal over to play might be a good idea on multiple levels. The youthful CEO and founder of Gameplan, Wilmington DE, describes his cloud-based startup as “putting all the project information together in one place and allowing accessibility to everyone on the team.” With all players collaborating on the same page, it's much easier for them to 'play nice'.

But helping the team to get along does more than just reduce conflict and lower blood pressure. It also increases productivity and profit. And that is something that Gameplan emphasizes, positioning itself as a project management tool designed to follow "lean construction" principles and support truly integrated project delivery.

Two and a half years ago, Porwal found himself with a degree in construction management, experience as a civil engineer and a passion for collaborative technology that was bigger than both. Armed with no more than a couple of classes in computer programming and a few like-minded peers, Porwal created a company to interconnect industry technology products into one, seamless system. “There was a problem that needed a solution,” explains Porwal. “In short, there are too many software programs and too much paperwork -- to the point where you take information from one software program and enter into another. That needs to change.” In other words, a new game plan was needed. So, with the help of his researchers and programmers, Porwal developed one.

How does it work?

Gameplan doesn’t just sell products and services. It offers a centralized database that promotes integration, via programs and modules, that access your current industry software applications, subsequently collecting vital data and storing it in a singular, cloud-based dashboard. “It’s about finding stored information and making use of it,” he says.

For example, Gameplan’s scheduling module (“Gameplan Time”) finds and captures important data from your project scheduling and planning software programs, transferring items such as deadlines, critical path milestones and durations into the centralized database. The project team could then access this information from their mobile devices or computers in real-time and in any network location. The benefit? Teams on the move will always be connected to their updated scheduling information, providing them with a way to optimize their resources and retain more control over their job sites.

Also, these modules can pool together additional information from other software programs, such as RFIs, change orders, project designs, directories and others. All offer key details that too often may require time-consuming searches to find.

These modules don’t replace your current technology resources, explains Porwal. They supplement existing systems. As a result, companies would not need to overhaul their entire IT framework to make use of the organizational enhancements that Gameplan offers. On the contrary, the systems can run alongside each other.

“Automation is our focus,” says Porwal. “Our modules provide analytics and data that will help drive informed decisions.”

You would be a good candidate for Gameplan if you…