Brookfield
SUMMARY
Brookfield have multiple PMWeb instances managing more than 30,000 projects and associated contracts for clients including Bell, Rogers, BBVA, CIBC, HydroOne, CBC and Bank of Montreal. PMWeb locations for Brookfield include New York, Cleveland, Montreal and Toronto.
OVERVIEW
Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) is a publicly listed company on both the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges, with more than $745 billion (AUD equivalent) in assets under management and a 120-year heritage as owners and operators. BAM invests in long-life, high-quality assets and businesses in more than 30 countries around the world.
The initial sale and implementation of PMWeb for BAM was for Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions (BGIS). This was followed by the current Framework contract, which rolled on from the initial agreement; and provides consistent SLAs and pricing for BAM globally. The current contract was executed in March 2020, with initial PMWeb implementations for Brookfield operations in New York, Cleveland and Toronto (Canada) – in addition to the BGIS roll-out. The following pages provide details of these implementations.
![](https://pmweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Brookfield-building-1.png)
BGIS
This was a large and complex implementation that is ongoing. There are currently more than 880 users with 258 licences, spread across multiple databases to meet the needs of the clients described below.
BGIS implemented PMWeb as a Portfolio, Program and Project Management tool to manage client portfolios – which included over 15 major clients and 30,000 projects annually. The growth of the BGIS portfolio meant that it was outgrowing its in-house project management system, which was more of a financial database. BGIS resolved that it required a new EPPM system that would:
- Have full Program and Project Management Life Cycle functionality,
- Flexibility of configuration to accommodate each Client’s unique operational and financial requirements
- APIs to accommodate complex interfacing of financial transactions to Oracle A/P and Oracle Project Accounting.
- Sophisticated workflow flow engine with flexibility to accommodate varying branches and authorities both internally and externally
- Enforce standardised processes.BGIS selected PMWeb as the solution. Implementation commenced in 2017 and the initial Go-Live was with the Bell Canada portfolio in Q1 2018 , including migrating approximately 1,500 “in-flight” projects with some 5,000 projects annually. The next client, Rogers, Go Live was in November 2018; followed by implementations for CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce), BMO (Bank of Montreal), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Ontario Hydro and Rogers Communications through 2019 and 2020. The core system use for these clients was for:
- Planning (Work Requests, Estimates)
- Cost Management (including contracts, forecast sand cash flow)
- Engineering Forms
- Visual Workflow
- Document Manager
- Custom forms and reports to help BGIS manage their many projects and keep key stakeholders informed.Each implementation included integrations, the counter-party systems including: Oracle, SAP, HRMS and E- Space – utilizing the PMWeb API and Dell Boomi AtomSphere Multi-Tenant Platform as middleware.During the course of the roll-outs, in 2019, Brookfield GIS was sold to CCMP Capital Advisors, LP for approximately $1.4 billion. The PMWeb implementations continued and, in parallel, the negotiations proceeded between BAM and PMWeb that resulted in the global agreement of March 2020, referenced above – under which all other implementations have been conducted.BGIS’s own assessment of the implementations was that they had achieved:
- Consistent processes using out of the box functionality:
o Work Requests project intake process
o Estimates, budgets, schedules, commitments, invoices, online change requests feeding into the
Forecast Record, producing automated Estimate at Completion and monthly Work Complete.
o Fully automated project close-out process using custom forms, workflows and dashboards.
- Complete Transparency all stakeholders (i.e. internal audit, finance, client stakeholder groups, etc.)
- Consistent Reporting for delivery teams with customized reporting for stakeholders where required.Database configuration for the BGIS PMWeb instance is shown on the following page.
![](https://pmweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Brookfield-building-2.png)
Brookfield Cleveland
The implementation of PMWeb for the Brookfield Properties (BRP) operation in Cleveland began in December 2019, in advance of but having regard to the planned overarching agreement between BAM and PMWeb that was executed in March 2020. BAM Cleveland has acquired PMWeb software and licences to date, with the original intent of 125 full named licences and 75 named guest licences. Brookfield decided to purchase in stages – 50 full named and 20 guest concurrent initially, likely to end up with 125 full named and about 30-50 guest concurrent). Service delivery is via PMWeb SaaS using Amazon Web Services. The expected Go Live date is February 2021.
The system and implementation Scope were determined based on the project lifecycle used by Brookfield Properties in Cleveland, which is broken down into seven phases/elements – Acquisition, Entitlements, Pre- Development, Construction, Stabilisation, Disposition and Accounting). The Scope of Work comprised:
- Existing & best practice review
- Install a dedicated SaaS environment for PROD
- Install a dedicated DEV environment
- Install two replicated SaaS databases on BRP servers for reporting, one each for DEV and PROD
- Design of a common framework including:
- PMWeb configuration analysis
- Data use & flow analysis
- Process automation analysis via PMWeb workflows
- Develop approvals & authorization levels within processes
- Cross-organizational review and consensus on common processes & framework
- Provide input to documentation of designed process (workflows, policies, job descriptions and training requirements)
- Reporting platform for all reporting types (Project, Portfolio, Enterprise, Finance, Accounting, Asset Owner, Investor, Compliance); Reporting deliverables include:
- Requirements & target report list
- PMWeb reporting gap analysis
- Determine system of record for all data
- Contribute to data dictionary
- Sustainability measurements, data capture and reporting
- KPI’s and PMWeb dashboard configuration analysis
- Risk evaluation framework, strategies, priorities & reporting
- Analysis of reporting on projects with multiple owners and ownership splits
- Mapping of Asset Owner GL/Chart of Accounts to PMWeb
- Design of cost codes and cost templates in PMWeb and aligning codes in Newstar
- Loan draw procedures (process & reporting)
- Document management plan, design and standards (including standard folder structure & taxonomy)
- Scheduling templates reflecting common elements and exceptions
- Provide input on Consultant/Contractor/Supplier use of PMWeb
- Potentially provide timekeeping functionality
- Consider and input on data migration options, which resulted in migration of approximately 75 projects, documents, original project, budget, budget requests/transfers, commitments, change orders, etc.
- Lead sprints, configuration, & support testing of PMWeb
- Requirements, design and development of PMWeb-Newstar (accounting system) integration, which included use of the PMWeb API
- Replicated environment setup (including DEV & PROD environments)
- Integrated training development for all stakeholders & positions (process, reporting & systems)
- Support Roll Out/Release strategy and model
- Support communications, project marketing and change management
- Participate in and support phased rollout, data migration and training, as required
- Post Go-Live monitoring, support, measurement and adjustment, as required
- Support legacy system retirement plan and decommissioning, as required
- Features of this implementation included:
- Significant Process Reengineering
- Combining and aligning 3 organizations into one set of processes and one systemThe project included a simultaneous Go Live for the Accounting System.
Brookfield Toronto
Software and licences for Brookfield Toronto were supplied under the BAM-PMWeb agreement of March 2020 described earlier and services were also provided under that contract. Like Brookfield New York, Brookfield Toronto decided to acquire PMWeb long-term, asking PMWeb to provide managed hosting for software and licences purchased by Brookfield – hence PMWeb is providing both the software and infrastructure, as it would in a standard SaaS arrangement.
Implementation commenced in May 2020 and the first Release was achieved in October 2020. Release 2 is on track for the end of January 2021.
PMWeb Modules and Toolkit items in use are:
- Planning (including Estimating, Initiatives and Online Bidding)
- Project management including cost, contracts, budgets, funding, forecasting change management and forms
- Scheduling
- Visual Workflow
- Form Builder
- BI platform
- Document Manager
- DocuSign integration
- PMWeb APIDelivery is via Amazon Web Services. A dedicated server was also procured, together with a Dev Pack (duplicate PMWeb software) for a non-Production instance of PMWeb.This implementation also includes integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX enterprise financial system using the PMWeb API. The DocuSign integration is a standard PMWeb Toolbox item.Noteworthy features of the Brookfield Toronto implementation have included
- Customization created to accommodate the Entitlement Phase of Development Projects (redistributes Budgets, Commitments, Actuals from a secondary project to a parent project based on Entity Ownership percentages) – we learned that the Entitlement Phase of Development projects for Brookfield often has a different Ownership Entity structure than the project will have at its conclusion
- Customization to accommodate the Brookfield-specific Forecasting method
- A special-format Capital Tracker Report
- Configured to accommodate both Development and CapEx projects.
Brookfield New York
This implementation for Brookfield New York was a fast-track implementation that commenced in July 2020, with Go Live in December 2020. Software and licences were supplied under the BAM-PMWeb agreement of March 2020 described earlier and services were also provided under that contract, but on a staged basis. Brookfield New York decided to acquire PMWeb long-term, asking PMWeb to provide managed hosting for software and licences purchased by Brookfield – hence PMWeb is providing both the software and infrastructure, as it would in a standard SaaS arrangement.The service delivery was fast-tracked through the use of three separate POs for progressive Discovery for scoping purposes (60 hours, 80 hours, then the final).PMWeb Modules and Toolkit items in use are:
- Planning (including Estimating, Initiatives and Online Bidding)
- Project management including cost, contracts, budgets, funding, forecasting change management and forms
- Visual Workflow
- Form Builder
- BI platform
- Document Manager
- SAML integration
- PMWeb APIDelivery is via Amazon Web Services. A dedicated server was also procured, together with a Dev Pack (duplicate PMWeb software) for a non-Production instance of PMWeb.Active Directory integration was completed using the PMWeb SAML toolkit item. This implementation also includes integration with Brookfield’s Yardi property management software, using their MuleSoft middleware – the main data exchanges relating to payments and synchronisation of vendors/suppliers. A data migration was also required for existing contracts, vendor/supplier information and progress invoices.A number of PMWeb standard records were re-purposed to meet specific Brookfield requirements, such as:
- Contracts (not Commitments) was renamed Loan Agreements and used to manage these using standard tools
- Retention was used to manage Equity vs Loan Drawdowns
- The Cost Worksheet was adjusted to provide calculations for more location-specific information.The implementation achieved initial Go Live in December 2020, with a primary focus on cost management.
![](https://pmweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Brookfield-building-3.jpeg)
BAM owns some of most prized real estate in the world, such as Manhattan’s prestigious World Financial Centre, shown above. In Berlin, it owns Potsdamer Platz and, in London, Canary Wharf. In Ireland, it has supplied Facebook with electricity since 2016, including extensive use of renewable energy generated by wind farms. A good part of Chicago is powered by Brookfield. It owns 36 ports in the UK, North America, Australia and Europe, and in India and South America it manages 3,600 kilometres of toll roads.
PMWEB MODULES
- Core Module with Business Intelligence, Reporting, Security
- Planning, Prioritization, Estimating, Online Bidding
- Cost/Contracts, Project Management, Forms, Budgets, Funding
- Visual Workflow
- Scheduling
PMWEB TOOLS
- Document Manager
- Custom Form Builder
- LDAP or SAML for AD
- IM and/or API