In the infra, maritime and offshore sectors, data management has long been a crucial part of project success. Peter Vrijhoef, founder of Flix Consultancy, helps companies improve projects, deploying advanced tooling for data management. As a result, he has extensive experience with tools such as Relatics and Levvr. Recently, however, he came across a new player in the market: Datastorms. Peter: “With Relatics, Levvr and Datastorms you can easily link information and accelerate, simplify and improve processes. And at the same time reduce costs. Relatics 5 has been the standard for years, but with the arrival of Relatics 6, I expect that this version will eventually be phased out. So users now have the choice to do a baseline and take stock of what other options are available in the market. That's when things get exciting. The knowledge gained I am happy to share.”
The challenges of Relatics users
Relatics has been an established name in the infrastructure sector since 2006 and is also widely used in the maritime and offshore industries. However, something important is about to happen in the data management world. Peter: “Relatics will eventually phase out version 5, I expect. All users will then have to move to Relatics version 6. This transition means a new implementation for many users, which poses a significant challenge. However, this also provides opportunities to consider alternatives.
The 3 options: Relatics, Levvr or Datastorms
Peter clarifies, “If you're a maritime, offshore, infrastructure or construction company, then as far as I'm concerned there are three options as far as data management is concerned: move on to Relatics 6 or Levvr or consider Datastorms.” Especially with Relatics moving to a new environment, he says the market is really ready to make a choice. “What stands out about Datastorms is its approachability and customer focus. Where Levvr and Relatics are quite aloof, Datastorms breathes approachability.” Peter explains how with other platforms he sometimes has to wait a long time for responses: “There I still have a 1.5-year ticket open.”
Datastorms and parent company Van Loenen Consultancy simply have a favor factor because of their friendly service and active listening attitude. This ensures that even smaller companies, which are often given less priority by the larger players, are still helped quickly and effectively at Datastorms. Moreover, this customer focus translates into better project results because the solutions Datastorms offers are closely aligned with what the customer really needs.”
Data management as the market works
“At Datastorms, we actively listen to the needs of customers and markets. This has led, for example, to innovative solutions such as automating change management on shipbuilding projects.”
Peter points here to the sheer volume of changes and comments typical of such, maritime projects. These are often inefficiently maintained in lists. This is far from ideal and is not actually a data-driven process. “At my suggestion, to link changes and comments directly to documents, the team at Datastorms went straight to work. The result is great: this small innovation ensures that all relevant information is conveniently in one place, which not only saves time but also improves project quality.”
Innovative functionalities
Although Datastorms entered the market fairly recently, it has already proven itself to be a mature product. In terms of functionality and flexibility, it even surpasses established names.
“Like the other two, the technology behind Datastorms is future-proof. The platform is built with modern technologies that are good at automating workflows and offers opportunities for artificial intelligence integrations.”
He continued: “And that's not all. Datastorms also offers low-code capabilities. This gives companies the flexibility to configure the software as they see fit, without requiring extensive programming knowledge. This makes the platform not only powerful, but also accessible to a wide range of users within an organization.”
Case study
In a recent project, Peter decided to use Datastorms for one of his challenging projects, but not based on a standard template. “We created a custom solution for Systems Engineering,” Peter explains. “I could pick up much of the development myself, but a Datastorms developer was always on hand for more advanced work. This low-threshold availability allowed us to move quickly and create a solution that fully met the specific needs of the project.”
Price-conscious
When it comes to price, Peter can quickly pinpoint a winner: “Datastorms is really much cheaper than the other players with even more features.”
Building the future
Many municipalities and companies are now faced with the choice of switching to Relatics 6 or looking at alternatives such as Levvr or Datastorms. According to Peter, it is essential to choose a future-proof tool: “Datastorms is definitely a serious newcomer to the market, a good alternative to Relatics and Levvr.”
Top 5 benefits of Datastorms according to Peter Vrijhoef:
1. Customer focus: Active listening attitude to the needs of customers and sectors.
2. Innovative functionalities: Flexibility in adapting to specific project needs.
3. Efficiency: Automation of workflows saves time and improves projects.
4. Modern technology: Built with the latest technologies, including low-code capabilities.
5. Future-proof and price-conscious: Suitable for future integrations such as artificial intelligence. And competitive offerings.