Construction management software (CMS) is currently an essential component in the building industry. It helps in the planning, organizing and developmental process, creates strategies and makes reports, categorizing data and ensures that everything is going smoothly in the project. This article will talk more about CMS and what to look for that’s right for your business.
Who Uses Construction Management Software?
Construction management software is a great tool used by construction professionals. It is committed to integrating the major areas of construction. It delivers quality service by creating reports and providing solutions to all your construction needs. It is a great way to increase your company’s profitability.
Three types of contractors are general contractors, highway/heavy contractor, and specialty subcontractors. They are usually involved in accounting, pre-construction, human resources, construction operations, project management, and the analysis and productivity of construction. If you are associated with one of these industries, why not check on the top construction management software here.
The software is used by general contracts to determine any issues a project has and to give the solutions that can give the most profit. Other helpful features include improving the overall performance of the project, helps in the bidding process, employment and resource allocation, collaboration with other businesses, payroll reports, implementing safety concerns and accounting. It is most beneficial to general contractors that are involved with residential construction or are self-employed general contractors.
For specialty contractors, it helps in tracking and assigning the roles and responsibilities of each employee and find out the ways to increase profitability and productivity. Electrical contractors, HVAC Mechanical contractors and those contractors with other specialty trades are under this category. Keeping track of maintenance work, workforce, certifications and skills are very important features in CMS. They need HR compliance to make sure that the employees are the right fit in the company. Cash flow and billings report and follow the progress of work orders are also good ways in managing your business profits.
Highway or bridge contractors and heavy or civil contractors need CMS to make sure they have the best equipment management possible. They also need tools for their fieldwork and integration of services.
Basically, those who would wish to have construction management software have their own construction needs and would need unique solutions that would help their construction jobs easier to manage. They can be in the public sector or private sector, but specifically those in the energy sector and construction business. Having CMS software is suitable for both large and small scale projects.CMS ensure that the progress of the project is carried out until the project ends.
So depending on what kind of contractor you are, choose the CMS that would improve your business. Read our reviews of construction management software to help you decide on what to use.
Uses of CMS
We are now going to be tacking on the best construction management software features that we recommend. These are:
- Payroll. It helps in automatic filing of taxes, new employees on-boarding and provides you an overall view of your cashflow.
- Progress Reporting. It gives you regular reports of your project’s progress. This will help you assess your budget, project range and schedule management.
- Change Order Management. It will help you stay on track on the project until the completion date, even if there are any changes. It will provide solution for any changes in the project.
- Document Management. It tracks and manages online documents and categorizes for easier documentation.
- Project Management. It provides the specifications of your project including the objectives, processes, skills, methods, outcomes and benefits that are used in the project.
- Subcontract Management. It finds any person not part of the company and hires them to the project.
- Resource Management. It deploys and distributes the company’s resources to where it is needed. These resources include inventory, workforce, production resources, financial resources and IT.
- Project Collaboration. It offers everyone involved in the project to collaborate to plan, communicate and work on the project as quick as possible.
- Job cost. It will determine what materials to use and assign it to a specific purpose in the project.
- Pre-construction. It is the planning process that will be utilized before actual construction starts.
- Industry Standard Job Billings. It helps in the customization of posting job search requirements for your business.
- Real Time reporting. It helps in gathering the most updated data using your operational data and business transactions.
- Purchasing. It helps find the best products and services for the needs of the business.
- Workflow. This is the process that ensures all the steps needed to complete a project have been completed.
- Business Intelligence. It uses a number of project management software for construction to analyze and interpret the company’s data. This will eventually give feedback and reports associated with data mining, querying and analytical processing.
- Cloud Deployment. This can only be used in a cloud environment and will depend on the company’s deployment model.
The next thing that we would talk about is the most common kinds of CMS that are popular today. Each kind is compatible to a specific construction category so a short summary of each is provided. Read more below, so you can start.
Desktop CMS
The desktop version is for companies that want to purchase a desktop package for each employee in the company. Getting a desktop package is an inexpensive way of making sure everyone is able to use the company’s resources. Desktop based construction management software has a very responsive interface and realistic interface style. You can access the desktop CMS on your device using remote access. One of the disadvantages is that you have to be connected to the network at all times
They are usually single-user applications that are handled by the upper management such as a project manager or a subject matter expert. Desktop CMS has a immerse storage data system where multiple users use it as their database. They connect to the software and access the information needed for the project. However, the data can only be edited or changed with specific users and would be in “read-only” mode or locked with others. Another disadvantage is that every time a change is made, data needs to be synchronized and may take time in updating it. In summary, this means that everyone in the company can use the tool, but only the ones in position are permitted to make any changes.
Client Server CMS
Just like the desktop CMS, it can have multiple users connect and communicate with each other. The only difference is that they can work on several different tasks and at the same time be able to edit or change any data that is applicable. Users are able to share their expertise in the matter or participate. They can access, download or add files that help in the project such as Word documents, video files or sound files in the server.
A disadvantage in a client server based construction management software is that when the server is not on or is not working, the others connected to it would not have access to it or would be unavailable. A good back up plan if this happens is to an additional server that has the basics just in case the main server goes down.
The security of a client server may or may not be an advantage. To be able to connect to the network, credentials must be entered. It is usually the username and password. If you have multiple users and have different credentials and forget it, it may take longer than expected for him or her to be able to access the network again.
Web-based CMS
This kind of CMS version is used as a web-based application. This is recommended for companies that have a stable internet connection.
One of the advantages of a web-based construction management software is that it is not expensive even though it has monthly charges because you do not have to maintain the software. This would cut costs in the IT budget. They are managed by the service provide which maintains and automatically updates your data. Another advantage of a web-based CMS is that it can be accessed with any device as long as it has web-browsing capabilities and does not require any installation.
The disadvantages of web-based CMS are that it has a slower response rate and is not recommended for real-time data. When a user is not online, they would not be able to get the information that they need, so you have to be connected to it all the time.
Integrated CMS
Integrated CMS can be a combination of all of the CMS mentioned earlier. Not only that, its main feature is project management coupled with various parts of your company’s tasks. Tracking features, data analysis, customer management, time-keeping, scheduling and communication are added in the integrated CMS. Most companies get the integrated CMS to make sure they can integrate solutions for their company’s needs.
The top construction management software has all of these features and more. However, it’s still up to you on what CMS you would like to get. Each company is unique and has its own CMS counterpart that would prove effective when used. You can find more information on the types of Project Management Software by reading Computer Weekly’s article here.
Construction project management software is a great instrument in your business. It helps in account, reducing risks, determines any potential issues and gives you an overall view of your entire project’s productivity. So, why not take a look at reviews of construction management software here?
John Tovar
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