Back in September, Meridian Systems, a project management solutions provider, and Horizontal LLC, known for building information modeling (BIM) services, announced a joint partnership to integrate both platforms.

By combining BIM with construction project management tools, all groups within a project, from the architect to the subcontractors, have access to information like never before, both companies said.

"In the past, there used to be islands of information here and there with no central location for everyone to access," Jordan Brandt, a partner at Horizontal LLC, said in an interview with ConstructionSoftwareReview.com. "But now, we've developed a way to leverage all the information contained within a BIM model so that everyone has instant access to the same information."

It took about a year for Meridian and Horizontal to integrate the spatial and design data from BIM with the operational business data from the project management software. The integrated software harnesses the Horizontal Glue Server, which is a Web-based portal that acts as a central hub and allows information to pass seamlessly between the BIM models and Meridian's Prolog and Proliance tools. When used properly, the results can lead to a reduction of costs and schedules in the planning, building and operating of capital projects and facilities.

For example, when something is added to a BIM model, such as a request for information or material quantities, it can be pushed to Proliance and Prolog in order to populate data fields. So, basically, when the BIM model is changed, all of the associated costs and related information can be tracked using Proliance or Prologue.

"There are a lot of synergies between BIM and infrastructure lifestyle management," Sue Watkins, director of marketing at Meridian System, said. "We see this as a disruptive change to the way that things have been traditionally done."

So far, both Watkins and Brandt have said that they've heard nothing but positive responses from users. "Those who have used both software offerings have said that there has been a gap," Brandt said. "From those who I've talked to, they are happy that we've bridged that gap."

For more information on the benefits of both tools, check out Meridian's white paper entitled, BIM and Project Management: Advancing Integrated Project Delivery on Capital Building Programs.