2021 brings with it an auspicious moment in the history of AVAware - the company's 25th anniversary!

AVAware was founded in 1996 by the current President, Paul Kirsch, and a gentleman by the name of Steve Rendulic. Rendulic was a veteran of both the business computing and architectural openings industries, having operated companies in both spaces. Motivated by a desire to develop technologically advanced software for the industry, he enlisted the aid of his co-founder, a software engineer with extensive experience in developing line-of-business applications for several key industry segments. Together they began AVAware with a vision towards establishing new standards of quality for both software development and customer support. AVAware made their debut in the architectural openings industry with the introduction of a revolutionary new product... AVAcad. AVAcad is the first and only CAD application specifically designed for architectural openings. In addition to providing detailers the means to create CAD-quality elevations in seconds, AVAcad launched a new era of technology in the industry with its ability to automatically "disassemble" elevations and generate fully priced material lists.

The first public unveiling of the new software occurred at the annual DHI convention held in Dallas, Texas in April of 1999

Half way there! AVAware's 12th birthday, December 2008

Immediately following the release of AVAcad, AVAware released AVAproject - an innovative piece of software that would forever change the way take-offs and estimates would be done. AVAproject was the first estimating package to be based upon horizontal Openings Schedules; a model that would become a standard and be imitated to this day. Following the passing of Steve Rendulic in 2005, AVAware has maintained that vision that began in those early days. AVAware developers continued to innovate and create unique and powerful software solutions for the architectural openings industry.

The AVAproject platform grew with the release of AVAproject Fusion - the first and only package to offer the ability to integrate virtually any ERP/accounting application with the estimating and detailing "front-end" software. AVAproject Desktop brought the resources of AVAproject to the users' desktop, and the AVAware Plug-In for Autodesk Revit allowed them to connect to architects like never before.

Most recently, the AVAware media production team has produced a library of helpful "tip" and training videos under the banner of AVAware Academy. These highly produced videos are valuable resources for both new and experienced users providing both introductions to, and in-depth explorations of software features. For twenty five years, AVAware has worked tirelessly to create and maintain the most innovative products ever offered to the architectural openings industry - and support them with an unmatched level of customer service. While we certainly should take this opportunity to look back at the accomplishments of years past, we must also look forward towards the future and the many innovations yet to come.

Everyone at AVAware extends their most sincere gratitude to the past members of the team that contributed to our growth over the years, and the many users of our software products that have so graciously supported us.

AVAware's first offices 1996 - 2009

AVAware's current facility 2010 - present

In the age of COVID, companies are faced with the challenge of accommodating users that are working remotely.


In a time of lockdowns and "stay-at-home" orders, a growing number of employees are working from home and companies are faced with the challenge of accommodating their computing needs while away from the office. The popular trend is to employ technologies such as "remote desktops" or "remote desktop servers" to facilitate access to software applications installed on users' desktop PCs or company servers. While both of these solutions can be very effective, and are often necessary particularly when dealing with larger numbers of users or old software systems, they do come at a cost.

Remote access configurations can take several forms in practice. At the most basic level, the office maintains physical PCs (often the users' actual office desktops) and allows users to connect to them remotely through the use of a VPN ("virtual private network"). This is a secure connection made over the internet to an office network. The remote user would require their own PC and a high-speed internet connection with sufficient bandwidth for them to connect to the office infrastructure and maintain that connection while they are working. In the alternative, companies could employ "virtual" desktops - a solution that requires one or more servers to act as the users' office desktops and accept remote connections to them.

In either case, the infrastructure and labor costs can be substantial. In addition to maintaining additional host PCs or servers, the office must maintain an internet connection capable of supporting concurrent and sustained connectivity with each and every one of their remote users. This usually involves VPN appliances, servers and all their infrastructure, and of course the people to keep it all running. The net effect of all this is typically a greatly diminished user experience, as software performance is entirely dependent on the quality of the individual internet connections as well as the traffic burden placed on the corporate infrastructure.

Clearly there are times when such implementations are necessary. Large user bases and software design to run only on on-premises servers are two of the most common. There are however, other alternatives that can be implemented quickly and without the need for the extensive - and expensive infrastructure.

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AVAware is pleased to welcome Canadian manufacturer Krome Hardware to our growing collection of manufacturer-supported catalogs.

Krome Hardware is available exclusively through BG Distribution, with offices in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto.

With the valuable assistance of personnel from Krome, AVAware has been able create a brand new AVAproject-compatible version of their catalog. All the products found in its printed counterpart are fully priced and are accompanied by their catalog cuts and hardware preparation information.

The Krome Hardware catalog is now available to AVAproject users that are currently subscribed to Division-8 Hardware.

For additional information on Krome Hardware, please visit their website at: http://www.kromehardware.com For additional information on BG Distribution, please visit their website at: http://www.bgdistribution.ca

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