ESTIMATING & OPERATIONS
FOUR APPROACHES TO SOFTWARE
Keeping up with software technology and making the right investment at the right
time can be challenging. Start by stepping back and taking a big-picture look at the
four basic approaches.
Spreadsheets are familiar and comfortable. The investment is minimal, and so is the
learning curve. However, limitations invariably emerge as volume, job complexity
and margin pressure increase and as competitors move to specialized software.
Independent, stand-alone software tools can
be very effective for estimating, field logs,
scheduling and many other specific functions.
The challenge is managing multiple solutions,
keeping them in sync and trying to make them
talk to each other. That typically requires IT expertise, redundant databases and
complex integration steps. Niche software providers can also struggle to help
their customers scale up as they grow or keep up as new technology emerges.
Shooting for all-in-one solutions, providers of enterprise accounting and resource
planning software have added on applications for construction estimating and
operations. Integration is part of the promise, but programs developed from an
accounting or planning perspective can be cumbersome and difficult to use in the
construction environment. The frequent complaint
from estimators, project managers, foremen and
crews is "they just don't work the way we work."
Stay Old School
Piece Things Together
Go with Accounting or ERP Derivatives
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2
3
"Challenges with integrating
and syncing multiple
applications can outweigh
the benefits they deliver."
"They just don't work
the way we work."
