I have been speaking with the CIO of a $500M, diversified construction holding company that has been using a legacy construction accounting software system for many years.
The Company
Their corporate structure is complex and involves five companies that serve a variety of project types, including site preparation; road construction and improvement; bridge construction; and design and installation of large Industrial HVAC engineering applications. They also have a plumbing division that focuses on boiler installation and service work.
The firm can serve as a project’s general contractor or construction manager. They use subcontractors and also self perform a lot of their own construction. The self perform work puts a premium on the ability to capture field labor and get the data to the job cost software and payroll system in real-time. Currently, this data collection is a manual, paper-based process. It’s worth noting that systems integration is a real challenge with so many diverse operations and requirements.
The Construction Software Problem
The company’s legacy program is fine for accounting, but poor at integrating all their operations, e.g. contracts management, safety, equipment, HR, training, certify crane operators, track licensing, driving infractions and other required data. Much of their required data is now being tracked on spreadsheets, which results in too many manual processes.
This construction firm has an obvious need for a new construction ERP software solution. But their first hurdle is not finding a new system vendor. (There are number of mid-market products that can be considered for an operation like this including: Dexter + Chaney, Viewpoint Construction Software, CMIC, Penta and others.) The real problem is getting top management to accept they need help identifying and implementing the optimum solution.
The CTS Solution
That’s where I come in.
I am participating in conference calls explaining to the decision-making parties why they should not try to go it alone and risk failure, something a $500M contractor can ill afford.
To this company’s credit, they have already undertaken a business process study to see how they are processing information now. But much, much more needs to be done to assure a successful outcome.
By engaging the help of an experienced construction software consultant like Sheldon Needle (that’s me!) and taking advantage of the resources included in our free Construction Software Selection Kit, this contracting firm has a better chance of choosing a solution that will serve their needs now and in the future.