Maginox: Step Away from the Spreadsheets! Seamless Contract and Project Management for the AEC Industry

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Jackie d’Escoto, President

Spreadsheets are overused and overrated. And even though they are widely used in analyzing data and preparing charts, their scalability and accessibility limitations can slow down enterprises as they expand and evolve. Fraud susceptibility and incompatibility with other applications cause persistent issues. Also, using spreadsheets to track individual transactions can be challenging, to say the least.

Enter Maginox. The company’s cloud-based solution assists organizations in stepping away from an inefficient dependency on spreadsheets and helps them gain the bird’s-eye visibility and control they need. Maginox’s project and contract management software is purposefully-built for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

Following are insights shared by Jackie d’Escoto, president of Maginox, as to how the company has changed the way AEC businesses think about contract lifecycle management (CLM).

Please provide a brief overview of your company.

Having strong roots in the AEC industry for more than thirty years, we have made it our mission to change the way businesses think about CLM. Maginox delivers an intuitive, cloud-based software solution that provides complete project and contract management, while synchronizing with budgets, cost codes, and funding sources in one central repository

In your interactions with the CIOs of AEC companies, what core challenges do they face?

One of the major challenges is the inability to provide single point visibility to executive management and project leads into contracts, which are usually spread out across multiple disparate systems. Enterprises find it difficult to consolidate information in one system of record and update it continually. They struggle to document and monitor data related to status updates and change orders, as well as to predict the accurate scope and duration of projects.

Please walk us through your cloud-based software solution and its methodology, features, and benefits.

The Maginox platform functions as a central repository for all AEC contract-related information. It is secure, intuitive and easy to use. It tracks budgets, invoiced values, contract ownership (e.g. if it is a prime contract or sub-consultant agreement) and the status of projects by funding sources and cost codes.

Maginox software allows organizations to generate real-time reports, which include contract details, cost summaries, staff performance, and contract obligations for IDOT and ISTHA solicitation and award requirements

Lump sum and task order-based master service agreements are two examples of contracts that need to be managed differently, and our solution provides the flexibility to accommodate both. Through the software’s tracking modules, executives and project managers can get a broader picture of these types of contracts, which include architectural, program and construction management, and civil design projects. There are multiple ways to track the projects through variables such as start and end dates, initial contract values, expenditures, and change orders. Accordingly, companies can be sure they have sufficient budget to carry out contract operations and invoice in a timely manner.

Maginox also allows organizations to generate real-time reports which include contract details, project and cost summaries, and staff labor performance. Additionally, it generates commitment and contractual obligation reports for Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois Tollway (ISTHA) solicitation and contract award requirements. Affordability and flexibility in generating custom reports are further aspects that set Maginox apart from its competitors.

The Maginox software also offers real-time monitoring of cash flows, funding, and modifications to contracts. This feature enables companies to increase their staff ’s productivity and make better informed decisions. Companies can look back at previously completed contracts, gain insight about past performance, and accordingly set the financial status and targets for newer projects. From a security standpoint, the software incorporates user-level access restrictions based on project manager assignments. As a result, Maginox can help enterprises achieve capabilities well beyond those associated with typical spreadsheet applications.

Could you shed some light on your client onboarding process? How can clients get up and running with the platform?

Our contract management process allows clients to import their existing active and completed contracts. The time for initial setup is quick; it’s only a simple matter of importing the spreadsheets into our database. Typically, customers are up and running within days or weeks, not months.

Could you please share a specific case study on how you have enabled clients to overcome hurdles and attain desired outcomes?

One of our clients is tracking approximately 400 active and completed contracts, with over 100 contracts actively operating at any given time. Managing them through spreadsheets was tedious, given they had to ensure the contract expenditures remained within upper limits. Additionally, they had 40 active purchase orders with a single client, with each one representing a different funding source. Maginox seamlessly consolidated and mapped their contracts and purchase orders. With this platform, tracking, managing, and reporting on contracts was no longer challenging. The client was able to ensure they were not running out of money by exceeding the upper limit contract value. Furthermore, they were also able to make sure their purchase orders did not go awry.

What does the future hold for your organization?

Maginox is wholly committed to helping its customers administer their projects and contracts efficiently. We are investing in additional custom reporting options to ensure our clients have the tools to succeed, including a new suite of automated reports that expedite complex IDOT and ISTHA obligations. To schedule a demo and to learn about how to control your projects, please visit our website.