Flexibility vs Complexity

It's important to look at the system's flexibility and complexity. Before we get into that, let's look at:

What is Construction Management Software?

Construction Management Software (sometimes called a construction management platform) helps construction companies organise, improve and control project delivery from early design to final handover. 

Construction Management Software: Flexibility vs Complexity

Lots of construction tech companies offer different tools and software. However, when it comes to flexibility and complexity, we can distinguish the main benefits and flaws of technologies that contain each of these features.

Flexibility 

Flexible construction management software is tailored to your needs: you know more about your job than any tech provider. It's your experience that gives you the competitive edge.

It's built around your workflows to maximise your knowledge.

The software is flexible - customisable - but there's another benefit. It protects you from the dangers of legacy software, like security, errors and data silo issues.

During the implementation process, you'll dig deep into your processes. This involves speaking with employees and customers to understand what works. Cutting the fat and focusing on the good stuff. 

The beauty is you finish with optimised processes. Not only are they digitised, you only have the very best of what you do.

With the right software partner, an implementation and customer success team will guide you each step of the way.

Complexity Feature

At another extreme, we have systems that offer the complexity of solutions. They are often bigger and more developed than the flexible ones. Their most significant advantage is the wide variety of tools you can use right after the software's purchase.

However, the biggest benefit of complex, ready-to-use solutions is, at the same time, their biggest downfall. Often, a fixed set of offered solutions does not fulfil your company's needs 100%, resulting in buying another and another system that would finally “ have it all". And even if you do not need all of the tools, you still need to dedicate your time and energy to implement them and train your employees.

It is worth highlighting that off-shelf systems are more exposed to aspects of bad legacy, as since they have a fixed range of tools, they are not as often updated as their flexible competitors. Along with it comes a possible lack of integrations between systems that you already use and new technology. Finally, they often invest more in the maintenance team (to keep a complex structure going) than in researching and developing new solutions.

What About The Cost?

Of course, we could not go on without mentioning one of the most substantial factors in purchasing new technologies: the price. Let’s try to consider different scenarios:

• 01

   

  Complex, ready-to-use software is more expensive

  This scenario is definitely possible. After all, you get many different tools to use in your construction work in one software. But do you really need all of them? Or would you barely use half of them? Regardless of your answer, you still need to pay the full price! And let’s face it, such “wasted” money could be much more of use in any other aspect of construction work.

   

• 02

   

  A flexible construction management platform is more expensive

  In the second scenario, you invested in solutions that can be built around your processes and workflows. Again, the higher price is highly possible as the software is explicitly tailored to your needs. Here, you should ask yourself: can you dedicate your company’s time, effort and money to this technology? Such solutions are often costly, but at the same time, if implemented correctly, they can benefit your business in the long run.

   

• 03

   

  Complex, ready-to-use software is cheaper.

  It is the same case like in scenario number two, but we want to highlight here one more thing. Imagine you decided to choose off-shelf software, as it is cheaper, ready-to-use and was described as software that has many great solutions. You implemented it, but does this software really fulfil your company’s needs from A to Z? Or do you need other systems for business management, team management, and documentation storing? If yes, maybe it is time to calculate all these costs and verify if it is still cheaper than one integrated platform.

   

What Does Your Construction Company Really Need?

We do not know the situation in your company, the struggles and problems you face in your daily work. That is why we cannot answer which type of software you should choose here. Instead of handing you a fishing rod and not fish, we can share with you tips on how to review your company’s situation to find out by yourself whether you should focus on flexibility or complexity.

• A

   

  Review your company’s situation

  Have you ever created a lesson learned? Lesson Learned is the knowledge gained from the process of performing a project. To understand what is going on in your company, you should create and review the lessons learned from the project you delivered. You do not have to write ten pages for each project, but it is worth defining what went right/wrong and what should be done to improve the result in future.

   

• B

   

  Define your main pain points

  Every construction company faces many challenges: dealing with clients, rising costs of materials, timely delivery, fast information exchange, to mention just a few. However, before choosing a construction management solution that should solve it all, it is worth distinguishing your most essential needs. One central point of information? Timely delivery? Streamlined asset management? It is up to you to decide!

   

• C

   

  Talk to your employees

  The people responsible for introducing new technologies often make one crucial mistake: they do not consult with the team. It is terrible because digital transformation is all about people! After all, the main goal is to make their work easier thanks to the new system. That is why, before making any purchase, ask your employees about their current challenges, problems and needs!

   

• D

   

  Think about other software that you use

  The truth is that no software will serve your needs 100%. That is why it is essential to review technology you already use and while looking for another one, keep in mind that it must connect with others. After all, new technology must simplify the process, not make it harder!
  
  Find out more-> 7 steps How to Choose the Best PM Solutions

   

Find your perfect solution.

As we said before, we do not know your company. However, we are here to help! We are aware that sometimes business terminology and the complexity of features and tools you must choose from can be overwhelming. That is why we would love to know your company better and present you with the best set of construction management solutions that can make your construction processes easier, faster and more effective!