Avison Young is a global commercial real estate consulting firm, known for sharing their expertise with both owners and users of spaces in more than 15 countries. One of their flagship services is construction project management, which covers the areas of interior redevelopment, expansion, and commercial development projects across several industries. In Quebec, well-known Avison Young clients include Desjardins Group, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and the Business Development Bank of Canada.

The challenge

Until they started working with Aidi, Avison Young Montreal was using complex and cumbersome Excel files to manage their client projects. They were also creating and sending monthly reports to clients in PDF format. The use of these static tools made collaboration between stakeholders difficult, to say the least. Monthly reporting was a long and tedious exercise plagued by errors, as there were often double or triple entries that were difficult to locate and remove from reports. And approvals were handled via email, causing confusion and wasted time.

Eventually, Avison Young reached a point where upgrading organizational and project management processes had become an absolute necessity. Enter Aidi, ready to upgrade their workflow in ways they never expected.

The solution

Benoit Dubuc and his Avison Young team in Montreal first heard about the Aidi platform thanks to an article in a 2017 issue of Les Affaires magazine. From the very first demo, it was clear to them that Aidi was exactly what they had been searching for. Unlike the other solutions they had evaluated (which were complex, expensive, or simply unsuitable), Aidi offered everything they needed, delivered via a simple, streamlined interface. Avison Young quickly signed up with us, excited to see how Aidi could help them improve their service offering to their customers.

It's an app that fits like a glove for us, and it continues to evolve based on community needs and best practices.
- Benoit Dubuc, Director of Project Management Services, Avison Young Montreal

The result

Huge improvements in Avison Young's efficiency and productivity were seen within the first few months after their 2018 integration with Aidi. The main benefit for Avison Young's clients is the centralization of project information within a single platform. By offering read-only access, clients are now able to access all the information related to their projects in real time - which means no more waiting for a report at the end of the month. Meanwhile, thanks to the integrated management of approvals within Aidi, nothing is forgotten, and deadlines are easily met.

The arrival of Aidi also had a major impact on Avison Young's internal processes. Before the integration, double entries of information and errors in Excel files were issues that caused major frustration. The way Aidi is designed greatly reduces the risk of errors, as incorrect amounts are automatically flagged. Also, all relevant project information is synchronized across several parts of the platform, eliminating double entries and manual errors. No more wasting time combing through Excel files trying to find the data that's throwing off a calculation!  

Aidi has also made it possible for Avison Young to standardize their processes and document formats. No matter who is managing a project, clients will always enjoy the same level of precision in the reports and documents given to them.

Unexpected benefits

Another thing that Avison Young has been pleasantly surprised by since signing on with Aidi is the way the entire Aidi community is involved in the ongoing development of the platform. Over time, Aidi has evolved to meet the needs and expectations of each client, and all our clients receive the updates that are requested!

Plus, the fact that Aidi is a web application available from anywhere has made it incredibly easy for project managers to adapt to our new work-from-home reality. Everything is centralized within Aidi! The platform is so simple and intuitive that it requires little training for new users. If necessary, micro-training and the online wiki provide answers to the vast majority of questions.

For Avison Young, it's a logical choice to use Aidi, as the platform effortlessly enhances their service offering to property owners. The reason it works so well for Avison Young, as well as our other clients, is that it really has been tailor-made to meet the needs of organizations managing construction projects.