Construction Management Platform:

Is there a way to have constant control over management processes and manage projects reducing delays and extra costs?

Yes, through construction management software, sometimes called a platform - depending on the vendor. 

What is a construction management platform?

The construction management platform is software that helps you organise and manage all your company assets and actions in one place.

If it's good, it will connect all your external systems and tools in one place. This is while adding functions like estimating and invoice management. Once connected, you can build dashboards and reports whenever you want.

The main goal is always to make the construction process more transparent, efficient and cost-effective. The platform should gather information from all people, machinery, materials and budget. Then present it to you in a digestible way.

What features should top construction management software have?

Nowadays, you can stumble on various software with many different features. That is why to make it easier for you, we prepared a list of aspects that your software must have to really support your company.

1. "All-in-one"

There should be only one construction management platform. If you rely on specialised software for accounting, or anything else, that platform brings all that information into one place. This is done through integrations. 

Integrations are done through APIs. They create an exchange of data between two software, in a way you don't see, making it easy for you to see all the data you need.

For example, if you use Sage for accounting and spreadsheets to manage project and business finance, you likely spend days collecting and reconciling the data. 

But, integrated platforms surface this data for you in real-time. Meaning you only have to do tasks once. Instead of estimating working on a spreadsheet, then the project team, then finance - it's in once place. Do the job once, only.

2. Connectivity

We have already mentioned in the previous point that your software should connect all employees working in your company. To accomplish that, a construction management platform needs to be cloud-based.

It means that all information should be stored in one place and be visible anytime from everywhere for anyone who has respective access rights.

3. Security

If you want to manage something online, you should be confident about its safety. That is why before choosing software, check how it protects its users and their data first. The best online technologies have separate servers for databases to safeguard the information from cyberattacks or any kind of data loss for instance.

4. Modularity

It is hard to find the same two projects among companies. Of course, the core stages and general requirements are the same but each project has different specifications and details.

That is why a good construction management platform should offer modularity, also called lego flexibility. Such technology is built from configurable blocks that adjust to your business, supporting your processes from A to Z.

5. Financial management

Taking care of finances is the most difficult yet the most crucial part of each project as well as companies. That is why a good construction management platform should offer various tools, such as:

• cost monitoring

• procurement

• charts with the up-to-date financial situation

• automated calculation with each new cost

All these aspects are crucial as calculating our finances is not only time-consuming but also susceptible to a high risk of error.

6. Scheduling management

Scheduling tools in your management platform can help you better divide, schedule and monitor the progress of your project and your business flow.

Modern technologies offer some additional features, like dependency, Gantt Charts, which allow you to check up-to-date task completion.

10 Benefits of a construction management platform

1. Easy access to information - anywhere and anytime

2. All data is stored in one place - a single source of truth

3. Efficient Business - assets holistic view and management

4. Budget and all costs under control - with the financial situation calculated in real-time

5. Organised documentation - all documents stored in one place accessible anytime and from any device

6. Streamlined information flow - all team members with access to crucial data about the project

7. Fast reaction to any changes or risks in the project - thanks to up-to-date information

8. All information secured - protected by access rights and cloud-based feature

9. Costs management under control - with all costs visible in separate categories

10. Better team management - set responsibilities for each task and track everything, down to the finest detail.

11. Project finished on budget and on time - thanks to project management under control at each stage of the project delivery

Potential flaws of construction management software

It is the cost, implementation and fast ageing of technologies that usually stop people from investing in modern project management solutions. Let’s focus a little bit on these concerns:

1. The cost

Modern management solutions can be perceived as pretty expensive, especially compared to free tools, such as spreadsheets.

There is construction management software on the market, but be careful. Often cheaper versions are rigid with lack of customer support, which is necessary.

2. Implementation process

The implantation process is nothing to be scared of. It's a way to examine how you work, trim the fat, and keep the good stuff while automating your best processes.

Yes, with the wrong software partner, it could go wrong. The right one gives you support throughout the implementation process and after that with customer success.

3. Bad legacy of technology

The term bad legacy means a previous or outdated computer system. It is a threat for any technology as even the best solutions, for now, can soon become outdated, without fulfilling our needs 100%.

However, there is a solution for that too! It is essential to always check the technology you buy. Do you have to pay additionally for updates? Is this software constantly changing, or instead, is it a fixed solution?