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AIA construction forecast predicts 5% growth

The non-residential construction sector in the US is expected to see an increase in activity throughout 2013.

The American Institute of Architects’ semi-annual consensus construction forecast found that high demand for hotels and retail projects have boosted the sector to grow by 5%, up from a projected increase of 4.4% in mid-2012.

Kermit Baker, AIA chief economist, said: “After seeing construction activity seesaw for much of last year, there is a much stronger sense that we have entered a recovery phase and the industry is positioned to see continued economic improvement as we move through year and into 2014.

“The resurgent housing market has led to a ripple effect where there is a need for more retail establishments and office buildings across the country.”

The survey also forecasts a 7.2% in construction spending in 2014.

But Baker warns that the design industry can’t expect a certain future until the US’ federal budget and debt issues are resolved.

“This has caused enough anxiety in the real estate marketplace that has resulted in numerous delays and even cancelations of active construction projects,” he added. “More than one quarter of architecture firms are reporting that this tenuous situation is a tremendous concern to clients and may lead to more delays or project terminations.”

The purpose of the consensus construction forecast panel is to project business conditions in the construction industry over the coming 12 to 18 months.

Source: BDonline

Source: Clean-Clouds

‘Stagnation the new norm,’ says construction boss.

Construction output fell by 3.9% between the first and second quarters of 2012, new figures show today.

The fall is 9.5% when compared with the same period a year ago.

The volume of all new work fell by 4.6% compared with the first quarter of 2012 - and by 12.8% compared with 2011.

A spokesman for the Office of National Statistics, which released the figures, said the poor weather and the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee were likely to have been contributing factors, as well as moving the late May bank holiday to June.

Steve McGuckin, managing director of Turner & Townsend, said: “All the sunshine and Olympic feelgood factor in the world can’t hide the fact that these are black days for the construction sector.

“Stagnation has moved from the stuff of nightmares to the new norm.

“Despite Sir Mervyn King’s assertion this week that the economy is ‘slowly healing’, construction is still walking wounded. Output in the last quarter tumbled to levels not seen since the depths of the 2009 recession. The big drop in infrastructure output is of particular concern for the economy as a whole.”

Optimists who hoped 2013 would see an upturn in work were being forced into a drastic rethink, he added, and small and medium-sized firms were the worst hit.

Source: BDonline

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Did you watch the London 2012 opening ceremony? I did, and it was glorious - but I bet there was a moment, just before it all kicked off, when Danny Boyle was absolutely bricking it.

After years of work, and no doubt lots of sleepless nights, there was nothing left for Boyle to do: all he could do was cross his fingers and hope things wouldn't go tits-up. All that effort, all that money, all that hard work could all too easily have ended in disaster.

I bet Steve Ballmer knows that feeling.

Olympic medals aren't the only important gold things kicking around this week: Windows 8 has gone gold too, which means it's been released to manufacturing (RTM). The feature set is locked down, the DVDs are being duplicated, the OEMs are making their installation images and there's nothing more to work on: all Microsoft can do now is cross its fingers and hope Windows 8 isn't another Windows Vista.

Boyle only had to wait a short while to see whether his project ended in triumph or trauma.

Ballmer has to wait until the end of October.

Olympic lifts

If I'm going to drag the Olympics analogy out a bit more - and, of course, I am - then Windows 8 is the third, faintly baffling bit of the opening ceremony, the sitcom bit that didn't work as well as the enormously exciting Industrial Revolution section (that, I reckon, would be Windows 95, or maybe XP). On tablets, Windows 8's groovy new UI makes sense; on PCs, though, the jury's still out.

Windows 8 cover

Like "Frankie and June say... Thanks, Tim", though, you still have to put up with it: as the redesigns of Hotmail and Office, demonstrate, Microsoft is putting Metro in everything.

It's a brave move, and a very risky one: people have invested a great deal of time and effort in the familiar Windows UI, and they might not welcome Metro in the way many tech fans have. While Microsoft says there are 7 million PCs running the Release Preview and a further 9 million with the Consumer Preview, it doesn't have figures on how many of those people went "good god! This is awful!" and threw up in a bucket.

Will Windows 8 be a triumph? I've no idea; I'm still trying to make up my own mind about whether I love it or loathe it. What I do love, though, is that Microsoft is bringing its A-game: Windows 8 is big and bright and brave and bold, and the fact that it could go horribly wrong just makes it all the more exciting.

Whatever you think of Microsoft, you have to admire Steve Ballmer's balls.

Source: Tech Radar

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Five mega-deals were signed during the quarter compared with just one each in the second quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. All five were awarded outside of the mature U.S. and Western European markets-three of them in India and Brazil.

Mega-deal activity is always fairly uneven quarter to quarter, said John Keppel, partner and president of research and managed services for outsourcing consultancy ISG, which produces the index. But the location of the awards is worth noting.

"In the future we expect most new scope growth to come from emerging markets," said Keppel, "while the U.S. and Western Europe will generate the bulk of restructuring activity."

The mega-deals awarded by companies in the telecom, banking and consumer goods industries with a combined value of $6.3 billion, accounted for nearly 30% of global contract value signed during the second quarter. Four of them were entirely new deals, while one was a restructuring.

Additionally, 11 mega-relationships-those with an annual contract value of $100 million or more--were initiated in the quarter, the most since 2009 and an increase of four signed the year prior and seven in the previous quarter.

Keppel doesn't expect the mega-deal activity to return to decade-ago levels of robustness. "Some mega deals in the past year, especially those that are restructuring-related, are being broken up and returning to the market in the form of multiple smaller contracts with shorter durations," said Keppel. And the bellwether for large outsourcing deal affairs is likely to be the mega-relationship category of deals as contract durations continue to get shorter. The average deal length so far this year is 4.85 years, compared to 6.48 back in 2000.

"We expect mega-deals and mega-relationships will continue to make up an important part of the market," said Keppel. "We also expect more mega-deals to be awarded in less mature regions but mega-relationships to continue in mature and less mature regions."

Taking into account all outsourcing contracts worth $25 million or more, $13.1 billion in IT outsourcing business took place in the second quarter, up six percent year over year but down five percent over last quarter due to light contracting activity.

TPI is predicting a softer outsourcing market in the third quarter. "Historically, third quarters have been softer than other quarters, and current industry pipelines suggest this will hold true in 2012," Keppel said. "The fourth quarter will likely pick up, with some help from larger deals in the pipeline ready to go to award."

Meanwhile global outsourcing vendors continue to battle it out for business. American multi-national service providers have held 53% of total market share since 2010, down 10% from the 2007 to 2009 period.

European, Middle Eastern and Asian (non-Indian) vendors held 25% of the market since 2010, up three percent from the 2007-2009 period. While the Indian-heritage firms gained seven percent in market share, from 15% in the 2007 to 2009 period to 22% today.

Source: IT World

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