BuildIT started just over 10 years ago. Not only have we survived a brutal economic downturn in the construction industry, but we've grown through it. And we've been around long enough to see other software companies come and go.

Anybody can get started in software development, and have a shot at success. But many of those "flash in the pan" companies fold, for reasons we'll outline later, and their customers are left stranded, having to change vendors in mid stream, disrupting their business, and understandably souring their opinion of similar software products and companies.

If you're in "research mode", here are the top 10 red flags to watch out for:

1. Who really is behind the company? Is there adequate and verifiable information on their "contact us" page? Check their domain (www[dot]companyname[dot]com) - if they have an anonymous domain registration, they probably don't want you to know too much about them. They could be an overseas business - without proper support. Think: who are you going to deal with when their servers go offline?

2. Restricted access to an online demo. They probably want to have someone run you through the demo, and follow a script designed to close you, even if the product is not the best fit with your needs. Have you ever sat through a "time share" sales presentation? There's a reason they do it that way, and they do sell !

3. Hidden or no posted pricing on their corporate website. The company wants to get you hooked on the system before they ease you into their pricing scheme. And it could also mean different pricing for different customers.

4. Guarantees - do they offer refunds and a cooling off period?

5. Per job pricing - most consumers understand that this is a bad deal. This model essentally dips into your pocket should you be more successful and get more jobs... the company is charging you more for the same software! Look for pricing models that are more commensurate with usage.

6. Charging for client access or "sub contractor portals" - find systems that have this included in the subscription rate.

7. Does their website smack of platitudes like "#1 construction software", or "best in breed", or "over x thousand customers" - these claims are baseless and cannot be proven.

8. Does their website contain stock photos you see on other websites, pretty girls with headsets, or gentlemen wearing suits and the occasional hard hat, smiling away? That's a dead giveaway to overseas developers trying to make inroads into the North American Market. Are you subscribing to a proven system, or some beta type software being developed offshore on your dollar?

9. Agressive salesmen - they are paid to sell. Not that that's bad, but the old addage remains true - "nobody likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy". Are you speaking with one of the owners of the company who is ensuring there is a fit with your needs, and their solution? Do you feel pressure to buy even though their solution is not directly in the center of the bulls-eye.  If the system is not a perfect fit with what you're looking for, is the software representative willing to recommend alternative (and competitive) options?

10. Do a quick Google search - does the company show up near or at the top of the organic listings? This is a good indicator that the company is a serious player in the market. If you can't find them, how are they finding you... and will they be around long enough to service you?

For a software company to be successful, you need a few things to survive... and thrive. A real product that provides real value to real people. A system that has been refined, that is coherent, that has simple navigation so new people can get on board quickly and become productive in short order. You need to be found... online, period! And you need to have an organization structure that is supported by solely by sales of your product, not by rounds of investment.

Few software companies make it this far.

When you vote with your dollars, ask the tough questions before signing on the line.

If it's important for your business to "get it in writing," then using pre-formatted construction document templates will help you prior to starting the job, during construction, and after the work is done.

With BuildIT's easy-to-use document generator, you'll be able to create and edit a wide range of construction documents from any internet connected computer. These documents will be branded with your letterhead and company logo to build your reputation and professionalism. You'll be in good company as this system has been used on 1000's of project to create 1000's of documents similar to these samples.

click the images above to see editable samples

Here's how it works:

It helps if your jobs are entered into BuildIT, and that your contact database is uploaded. We can help you with this as you're getting started. Job and contact information is entered into BuildIT only once. From there, the system re-uses it again and again where it's needed.

Next, start the BuildIT document generator.

Select a current project, and a contact to whom you want this document addressed to.

The system then auto-completes the construction document; these "forms" are designed such that the right information that already exists in BuildIT goes into the right field.

Finally, save the document to BuildIT, then either print it, fax it, or email it.

There are many advantages to this document system:

• Saves a ton of data entry time.
• Documents can be auto-filled with virtually any information from your company or project.
• Send documents via email and fax with just a few clicks. Track versions of the same document.
• Proprietary construction document templates (and custom letterhead) for your exclusive use can be created by our specialists.
• Make multiple documents in one operation: avoid redundancy and mistakes.
• Ideal for field staff submitting daily job reports.

You can access your construction documents now by starting your free test drive of the BuildIT system. No credit card. No risk. And you get full access to all parts of the system.

By doing so, you'll get 60+ professional construction documents included free of charge. You can use them in BuildIT, or download them to your hard drive. They are yours free whether you subscribe or not.

So start creating professional construction documents today... the easy way.

For many, computers are a necessary evil to get the job done better, faster, on time, and with fewer mistakes.

The bulk of the contractors (Gen X'ers and older) use computers begrudgingly to accomplish tasks and stay competitive. And when they go shopping for software, they are met with way too many options.  Its like being thrown into the cockpit of a 747 and expecting to be flying in no time. And they all know someone who has spent $10K on software that promised the world but didn't deliver it.

Construction software companies are vying for your business... and they're all saying basically the same thing about their system in order to get you to believe that using a computer, with their software package... is easy.

Have you come across any these claims recently in your seach for the right construction software system:

• simple to use
• "user friendly"
• great technical support
• short learning curve
• easily adoptable
• scalable

and my personal favorite...

• Voted #1 Construction Software

Who voted? Their sales team?

In a recent article in a construction magazine, the author offers advice for purchasing software. He talks about some basic requirements that we all can agree on. The software has to:

1. solve a problem,
2. be accepted and used by all users, and
3. provide measurable return on investment.

And somehow, their solution is the perfect fit.

I checked into their solution - and one customer paid $20K for it... and he considers himself a small contractor!

Ouch! I wonder what larger contractors are paying? For the same dough, you could subscribe to BuildIT for a decade or more.

Here are some observations - go ahead and test these against our competitors:

1. If they don't publish their price... it's gonna be a big ticket item... expect to pay $3,000 to $10,000 per year.
2. If they force you into a web demonstration before divulging their price, see #1 above.
3. If they have a network of consultants who sell their software and assist with it's implementation, see #1 above.
4. If you see big glossy ads in construction magazines along with advertorial content, see #1 above.
5. If you can't launch a free test drive of the software, and solve at least one problem that motivated you to come to their website in the first place... in the first 30 minutes, see #1 above.

I think you get the point.

Let's talk. Start a free test drive of BuildIT (click that big green button in the top right of this page, the "FREE TRIAL" one), knowing that our base rate is $85 per month, with discounted terms available. Let's see if we can get $1,000 worth of savings/revenue in your first month by using the system... and help you avoid rolling the dice on bloated, expensive software solutions.

And yes, you'll have to use a computer, but we'll help you get over the hump just the same, and get your problem solved in record time.

And just maybe, over time, you'll use BuildT on your computer... with ease.

Scott Hutchinson, putting the "ease" back into computers for contractors
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1

“BuildIT Vets” know that our size and structure allows us to be agile, responsive, and economical for our customers.  And that feedback from our users is highly valued at BuildIT – often directly driving improvements and core development.  Our overall objectives – organizing, scheduling, and communicating – guides our team, and our priorities.

We are pleased to introduce that our latest version is available now and extends our toolset – making BuildIT more powerful, more rewarding, and more profitable for our users.

Scheduling – new Gantt “power bar”

Most BuildIT users create and update their schedule using the Gantt view (sometimes called a bar chart or construction timeline view).

With the new Gantt “power bar”, launched by clicking the button below the task name (and to the right of the # of working days), you can quickly make changes to that particular task:

• Increase or decrease the duration of the task
• Move the task forward or back by a day or a full week
• Toggle the highlight of the task
• Delete the task
• Add contacts to the task

You’ll see the changes immediately upon clicking the buttons - no need to wait for the entire screen to refresh, nor do you need to open the entire task up. This will shave minutes off your scheduling daily, which adds up to hours saved at the end of the month.

PDF “super docs”

PDF (or Adobe) documents have become an industry standard.  Contractors recognize that documentation is a big deal – it shows your professionalism and covers your butt, but proper documentation can be a pain in the butt to create.  It’s also one of the top reasons BuildIT customers subscribe to our service: we help our users create, store, share and send documents.

We are introducing a full range of cleanly formatted industry standard PDF document templates – or “super docs" – and more are on the way!

Super docs simply look better – much easier on the eyes – they work better too. They have your letterhead (automatically generated or fully customized). They can be saved in BuildIT or on your computer, and emailed to your contacts (either locked or editable).

Need a custom super doc? No problem: we help our customers create custom documents for their exclusive use – just email us your favorites (if you don’t already see what you need in the list of available templates) and we’ll get back to you.

In BuildIT simply click [Create New] > [Document].  Then look for the templates that have «PDF» to the right of their name, or simply uncheck the “text templates” and you’ll see just the super docs (more are being added all the time).

Some other new features since our last update:

1. Creating a new contact from an email – notice the new icon next to an email address in an inbound email? Click on it, and launch a new contact edit window, with that email address already filled in. Just enter additional contact details and save.

2. To do’s – they can now be moved to, or copied to, a different job. Use the yellow “do this” drop down menu for this feature.

3.  Favorites – you can now add a favorite in your “files” tab – just click on the button and type in or copy your link in the appropriate field. Create a link to a website and share that to your users, contacts, and by email.

4.  Calendar view on "schedule" tab - you can now view your tasks in a more familiar format.

5.  Email "read/unread" toggle - are your unread emails piling up, but you still wish to keep them on the system? Or have you viewed an email but wish to keep that hot potato hot by having it display as "unread"? Then use the new "do this" control to set checked emails to read/unread.

6.  We've added some more user account types - employee access accounts that are "email only", customer access accounts that can only view detail on ONE job. These user accounts are offered at discounted rates and may address some situations in your company where you want to restrict access to information but still keep key people "in the loop".

7. Have you checked your preferences?  We’ve added a bunch of new options in the last few months.  Have a look around to see if BuildIT is optimally configured to the way you work.

8. Infrastructure – you’ve come to expect that when you log into BuildIT, it works… every time.  To make that possible, we are constantly upgrading hardware and software components at our hosting facility. We’ve been known to do some heroic things at wee hours of the morning, so that when you log in the following morning, you are greeted by the login screen… and you get in. That’s a major benefit to a hosted service – we take care of the hardware requirements, you just use the system, knowing that you’re always working off the most up-to-date version.

BuildIT... imagine what's next !!
1 866 585 5050
http://www.builditsystems.com

When was the last time you "wasted" money on something?

You took some hard earning money, bought a widget that ultimately gave you nothing in return, other than the initial feeling that you may get something out of it at some point.

• the exercise machine that is collecting dust (and clothes)
• that food mixer appliance that looked so easy on the infomercial but when you use it - not so easy, so you go back to the knife and cutting board
• that stock you bought, thanks to a tip from your buddy - you're still waiting that puppy to climb back up to the purchase price
• that box of software you bought a few years ago that promised the world, and now it's a bookend on your shelf

OK, now that I've re-opened a wound, let's cut to the chase.

Everyone comes to BuildIT looking for one thing - a solution to a problem. Finding the right solution will put money back into your jeans, or time back into your life, or will reduce the stresses of running your business... or if you're lucky, ALL 3 at the same time.

You part with your hard earned dollar to subscribe to BuildIT; mentally you are doing the math - the "what's in it for me" equation. You need to see a major return on investment, and you need to experience that return (make it yours) right out of the gate.

It's the story of many of our customers... and it can be your story too !!

Let's look at ways you can win with BuildIT.

1. Saving money - miscommunication

Every job you do requires a number of tasks, and responsibilities from other parties. The more tasks required, and the more people involved, the more mistakes will occur. Those mistakes generally are caused by miscommunication of some sort. Communication issues are the main cause of grief, and profit loss. This is an undeniable fact. Ask yourself, where do problems occur that cost you $$ or time, and chances are, you'll attribute that to a breakdown in communication.

BuildIT is the perfect solution for keeping you and others "on track". Any and all issues are documented in one place, tied to the job. There is no mistaking who is responsible for what, who said what, what was to be built and when - all that information IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO ENTER IT, is in one place, and there to serve your interests down the road.

Scott Sedam of True North Consulting, an advisor to high volume homebuilders, claims from his organization's research that for every residential construction job, there are about 30 - 35 subcontractors and vendors. There is typically one mistake that takes place for every 5 outside people involved in the project, so you can expect 6 - 7 mistakes per job. These mistakes, thanks in large part to miscommunication (not getting the information in time, red lined drawings that are unclear, building off outdated specs or schedules, etc.) WILL COST YOU time, money and aggravation. And the dollar cost will be well in excess of what our typical customer would pay for subscribing to BuildIT for a year.

Use BuildIT properly (even minimally), and you will reduce errors, and have a back up that protects your interests should errors occur, and passes the onus of responsibility on to the other party.

2. Saving money - labor

Think about what it costs you for a part time or full time "warm body" to help with the "administrivia" of running your business. Now imagine a full time office assistant that never calls in sick, is available 24/7, does not give you "attitude", does not spend hours you pay this person each month checking Facebook, Twitter, playing Solitaire, checking CNN's latest headlines, etc., does not contribute to shrinkage, does not increase your risk of embezzlement - and you get this for a whole month, at a fraction of the cost of that "warm body" (perhaps, 1 to 2 hours' wages of that person's time and loading) !! Our customers make this claim that BuildIT saves them $1000's per month in wages. I calculated with one customer in Texas that his return on investment with BuildIT was 47 to 1 - think about it - for every $1 he spends on BuildIT, he saves $47. Do the math.

Having said this, we recognize that you do need adequate levels of staffing to run your business effectively, and office administrators do play a vital role in the operations of many small to mid sized contracting businesses. BuildIT can augment your business, assist your team with becoming more organized for success, and even give your office administrators a tool to help them accomplish their tasks quicker and with less error. Each person knows where to go for the information, where to post the information, and this will free up your staff to do more valuable functions that drive your business forward in terms of professionalism and profitability.

3. Making money - new revenue

We have customers who use BuildIT to their advantage - to get new business.

How?

Simple. You're competing with other companies offering a similar product. Your price may be in line with theirs. What distinguishes you from the other guy? If you use the worn out platitudes like "we're honest", "integrity in everything we do", "unsurpassed customer service", your customers will blow right by. You need something that truly sets you apart.

Professionalism - customers want to do business with someone that looks good, and gives them the "feeling" that they're dealing with the pros. You use the many construction document templates in BuildIT, which can be printed off, or emailed, showing your letterhead and all the details. AND, you let them know about a system that will keep them informed 24/7 about their project, where you are at any point in the schedule, and a place where they can view any files pertaining to the job.

You offer them the following:

"Mr. Future Customer, if you choose us, we have a web based service that will allow you to view your project schedule at any time of the day. Through this system, you can see how your job is progressing, and you can even communicate with us on any particular task on the schedule. I will also post files for you to review - contracts, specifications, progress reporting, pictures - anything that you need to see along the way will be available through this service. There is no website to remember, no username and password to maintain - just check your email and I'll send you a link."

All things being equal, by you offering this service, you are now set apart from 95% + of your competitors who haven't yet graduated to web based construction tools like BuildIT.

4. Saving Time

Have you ever calculated what your time is worth, per hour?

Have you ever calculated how much time you would save on each project if you carved off, say, 5% of the time?

Time is money - do the math. And start saving time today by using BuildIT. Take the time saved and invest it in new business. New business = new revenue = increased profits for the year.

Do this, and then call us with your answer so we can brag even more about how BuildIT contributes to our customers' bottom line.

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In short, you're not here to buy technology because it's cool (although, we admit, it is a cool tool). It HAS to either save you time, make you $$, help you avoid embarrassment or costly call backs, or help you get the next job and have a leg up on your competition.

Put it to the test today - we'll partner with you, and help you get some success under your belt.

Scott Hutchinson, ROI guy
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1

(This article reprinted with permission. Thanks to Josh Groves, President of jobtrio.com, the largest directory of construction contractors on the web. The goal of jobtrio.com is to efficiently connect contractors with consumers who truly value their services.)

Within any company, it is never easy to convince the workforce that a new, technological advancement has made an old way of doing things obsolete. For instance, no matter how my staff tried to explain to me the advantages of the new Windows 7 operating system over XP, I dragged my feet and resisted the change. From my observations, this aversion to technology adoption is far more present in the construction industry than any other major field.

For the most part, construction companies live and die by their continued presence and productivity on the jobsite. Typically, there is little thought given by management to company-wide initiatives or employee training because these acts would necessarily pull the workforce out of the field. Therefore, even if one day of training on a new technology might result in large future gains in employee efficiency, managers usually are not willing to take the risk.

I experienced this first hand as a construction industry Operations Manager for a medium-sized company. Every day I would watch at least thirty minutes get wasted by each employee as they struggled to determine which tasks were to be priorities for the work-day.  The fix seemed simple to me: adopt a basic, web-based system which could allow workers to login and view updated project management information. My estimate was that this system, taking into account training and maintenance, would pay for itself in a matter of a month.

Needless to say, I encountered tremendous resistance from my boss and from all of the workers in the field, and the initiative never got beyond my written proposal. 

This is just one example of what I experienced time and time again -- PDAs, driver GPS, field laptops -- I could never get my company to consider any of these technologies, and, from speaking with others whose businesses rely on their contractor's license, this sort of stone-walling is quite typical.  But, what is to be done? 

My first inclination is to say that until a younger, more tech-savvy generation of contractors who understand the value of technology investments steps into management positions, we aren't likely to see a change anytime soon.  However, if you are dedicated to your company's long-term success, it is wise to fight the good fight, and eventually your supervisors might adopt some of the new, money and time saving technologies which could be key to your company's survival.

It struck me the other day...

BuildIT has been around for almost a decade - and I've been with BuildIT since the beginning.  Over the years, the questions I get asked by prospective customers (and new ones) are basically the same.

Here are the top 10 questions, in no particular order, with our carefully prepared responses.

1. Is my data safe and secure? And what happens to my information should you go out of business?

A: Absolutely, your data is safe – much safer with us than on your own laptop. Our servers are located in a large professional hosting facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Our customers' data is stored on servers with RAID (multiple redundant) hard drives, immediately backed up to other servers with RAID hard drives, and regularly copied offsite to increase redundancy of backup protection. For more information on the security of your data, click here.

We understand that anything is possible. We want to assure our customers that they own their data. So at any time, their data can be downloaded off our server, and copied over to their computer. We can also do a "data dump" of all customer data, burn that to a DVD, and send it to a customer.

2. What does "area" and "code" mean when you create a new scheduled task?

A: Area and Code fields are for customers that wish to further differentiate/sort their tasks.

Imagine you have 100 tasks, and you want to filter out just the 8 tasks that are related to "inspection". Type in "inspection" into the "Area" field. Now, this value "inspection" will be available in the picklist for future tasks.

When viewing your schedule, you can adjust the filters in the left margin. One of those filters is "Area" - you'll see the value "inspection" there. Select, and refresh your list, and the view of those tasks related to "inspection" will display.

Those fields are really user defined. "Area" could mean 1) area of the project, 2) geographic area (SW, NE, County), 3) area of responsibility (financial, preconstruction, warranty).

"Code" could mean 1) CSI master format division code, 2) accounting code, 3) PO number, etc.

3. What is the difference between a "to do", a "note" and a "task"?

A: "To do's" are like virtual Post-IT notes. They are related to a BuildIT user, and can be connected to a job. They allow you to deal with the slippery items that if not "written down", cost you time, money and aggravation in the end. One BuildIT user can create "to do's" for him/herself and for other users.

"Notes" are related to a BuildIT user, can be connected to a job, AND can be connected to ONE contact in your database. Use "Notes" to log conversations, verbal commitments, and any potential litigious situations. Remember that a short "digital" pencil is better than a long memory!

"Tasks" are the individual elements of a "schedule". Like "notes", "tasks" are related to a BuildIT user, can be connected to a job, AND can be connected to ONE OR MORE contacts in your database. Tasks can be displayed in LIST view, GANTT chart view, and CALENDAR view.

4. How many customers do you have?

A: For competitive reasons, we can't disclose any numbers. But we can tell you that we've been in business for many years, and have enjoyed building a customer base, and a valuable application that solves real problems for real construction professionals. Each of our customers has a contact database of their customers and business associates, and each of those has access to a free website from BuildIT that allows for collaboration between our customer, and our customer's contacts. And many of our customers have multiple users in their company that access the system. So when you add all those up, the number gets quite impressive!

Really, the question reflects the concern of the prospective customer - he doesn't want to be the first guy taking the plane up into the sky on it's maiden voyage. No worries there, we welcomed our first retail customer back in 2002 - I was there when they delivered the cheque... it was a great day at BuildIT!

When we hear this question, we realize the underlying question is "If I choose BuildIT, will I be in good company with other customers like me that are finding success with the program?".  The answer is a resounding YES.

5. Are you the only one who answers the phone?

A: Most of the calls get sent through to my line — I like to talk!  And it frees up the rest of the team to focus on development of the application, and other corporate stuff. But with a simple, easy to use application, online help system and online video tutorials, most folks get up and running with BuildIT wil very little input from our tech support line. Still, we encourage you to call !

6. How do you print out a schedule to send to a client/builder/subtrade?

A: You can print from your browser, or from the yellow "do this" control in the top right. If you want a PDF of the schedule, you'll need a PDF driver on your computer. If you don't know what that is, call, and we'll help you create a PDF at our end.

Alternatively, you can share the schedule in real time with anyone in your contact database. The big win here is that you're online schedule is "real time", whereas a printed schedule gets out of date quickly which can be a pain in the pocketbook when someone builds the wrong thing from the old printed schedule.

7. Do you have linked tasks / Critical Path?

A: Kind of. While our scheduling system is simple, and we haven't complicated the task editor with "linkages", we do have a simple way to create a Critical Path... so when you make a change to one task, that has a cascading effect on the rest of the schedule from that point forward, then yes, we have a way to do that. More on that at this link.

8. What happens when the Internet goes down (or I don't have access to the Internet)?

A: It's like asking what happens when you're car runs out of gas? We find another way to get to our desitination, or we don't go anywhere. The same could be said of BuildIT's "web-based" application. Being "web-based" means just that. Without access to the Internet, you can't access the application. However, the benefits of having 24-hour access – even while on vacation – easily make up for the other possible problems like being unable to get back to your office, fire, theft, broken computers, etc.

For most BuildIT customers, Internet access is ubiquitous - it's everywhere, available 99%+ of the time. So it's really a moot point for them - but they have asked the question too!

For you iPhone and Blackberry users, you can access your BuildIT email right from our server. And version 5.0, being worked on as I write this, will give you mobile access to optimized screens of the BuildIT application - expect this in early 2010. 

9. What is your pricing?

A. Low. Way less than most comparable construction software products – and reasonable.  With BuildIT you easily achieve a rapid return on investment, literally within weeks of getting up an running with the system. For current pricing, check out our pricing page. We'll help you determine the optimum number of user accounts to get started with, and the subscription plan that best suits your budget. 

10. How do I organize my contacts?

A: There are a number ways to organize contacts in BuildIT: by job, by contact group (client, contractor, subtrade, design professional, etc.), by user defined fields in the contact record, and alphabetically (by First Name, Last Name or Company Name). BuildIT's "contact picker" allows you to select contacts for assigning to jobs, tasks, notes - and for sending out email, web faxes and text messages. Each customer has unique contact organization needs - we'll help you with that as we configure your account to suit your unique business requirements.

Didn't get your question answered? Well, it may be in the Top 20 or Top 30 list. Or it may be an original. Give us a call. See if you can surpise us with a "never before asked" question, and put our customer service to the test!

Scott Hutchinson, Answer Guy
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1

10 years ago, you'd be hard pressed to find many residential construction professionals giving serious consideration to desktop construction software. Web-based construction software was in its infancy and contractors were generally reluctant to delve into these unproven digital power tools.

About the time the "dot-com bubble" peaked in early 2000, the founders of BuildIT saw a need for a "mobile office" approach to managing construction businesses. A laptop computer or tablet PC, connected wirelessly to the Internet via an "air card" would give contractors access to their critical business information, job schedules and communications from literally anywhere at any time.

Since then, there has been a convergence of trends that has made web based construction software a hot ticket item.

Convergence of Trends

1. Wireless internet access has expanded to the point of being ubiquitous, and expected.
2. Laptop computers have come way down in price, and up in speed and screen size, and have built in Wi-Fi.
3. Handheld wireless devices such as Blackberries and iPhones are becoming standard issue for mobile construction professionals.
4. Web based construction software tools like BuildIT have been in development for years, building on user feedback from a growing group of "first mover" construction professionals.
5. As we end this decade, those that were still in school during the "dot-com bubble" of 1998 through 2001 are now in project management and supervisory positions; many of them now own their own construction business. And these folks were raised on technology, so web based construction software is a natural fit for them: short learning curves and high adoption.

As for construction scheduling software, it's important to have a rich feature set. However, there is always the risk of ratcheting up the complexity factor too much, to the point of losing those who just want a simple tool to get their job done. When it comes to residential scheduling, there are a host of options available.  Time and time again the feedback we get is that most construction scheduling software is too complex and way beyond what is needed.

Many potential users suffer from "feature shock" after checking out corporate websites, demo versions, and free online trials of construction software – an enormous number of features that literally bog down the user.

BuildIT Advantage

Our approach at BuildIT is simple - we focus on 3 main areas: organization, scheduling and communications.

Organization – Time and time again, searchers that connect with BuildIT say they are looking to get better organized. They understand that a organized and well run business is a profitable one. BuildIT has a logical place for every piece of information on the job.

Scheduling – Our system allows construction professionals to run multiple projects concurrently, and see the schedules for these projects in one view. This gives them the big picture.  And since the system is web based, they can share the schedules with other stakeholders (vendors, subcontractors, clients, design professionals) and realize the benefits of a real-time collaborative tool. Gone are the days when you'd rely solely on a printed schedule.  In residential construction, a printed schedule is generally out of date about an hour after it has been printed!

Communications – It is one thing to create a schedule, it's quite another to make sure the right people get the right scheduling information at the right time. Web based construction scheduling software allows the construction professional to disseminate time sensitive information to their key contacts, in their preferred method of communication – email, fax, text message, or a website "notice board" where assigned tasks, and related files are readily available 24/7.

Current Trends

Some trends we're seeing:

1. Pricing - While "enterprise level" construction software packages (software + setup + training + maintenance + consultants + customization $$$) are priced well above the budgets of most small to midsized (SME) residential construction firms, the web based software companies are jockeying for position for the SME marketplace. Competition from agile players like BuildIT is likely having an impact on boardroom discussions – you're hard pressed these days as a construction software company to get away with charging $1,000's per year (some well over $10K), or hundreds of dollars per project per month when that same customer can get a similar feature set and all the main online scheduling benefits from BuildIT for $85 per month.
2. Schedule creation – Many construction professionals that come to BuildIT are looking for a solution to their problem... today. Rather than mastering a particular software program, what they really want is their problem solved. It's the old adage about the guy who buys a drill bit, but what he really wants is a hole. And their problem is simply this: they need a schedule to satisfy someone – the owner, property manager, design professional, lender, investor, etc. Sometimes, they need this to submit with their bid, and in those instances, time is of the essence. So we offer a service to help them create a schedule, often right there on the spot when they call. They get their problem solved, and they get usage of the web based system, and our support, to help them along the path from "problem solved" to "loyal BuildIT customer".
3. Handheld devices – Construction professionals are mobile. The days of being anchored to a desktop computer are over. With the advent of Blackberries, iPhones and other handheld wireless devices that can access the Internet, the construction professional literally can have his entire business at his fingertips. BuildIT has strategically invested in building a strong, robust application over the years. With the release of version 4.7 in October 2009, we have the underlying architecture and code ready for a new "mobile development" phase, currently underway and to be released first to our lead users in the next couple of months. Users with small handheld devices will be able to more easily access key information in their BuildIT account.
4. Disruptive innovations – There is an emergence of free applications, like Google apps, that offer generic solutions.  Construction professionals who have the time to configure and master these solutions may find some of the benefits they need.  Presently, we’re not seeing anything on the market that fits the specific needs that our customers are demanding: like job-centric organization, related construction timelines, construction-specific terminology, etc. However, the challenge for all construction software companies will be to continually improve their apps, and deliver value which ultimately helps their customers become more efficient and generate greater profits.

BuildIT Systems is a great company (we’re biased) that builds even greater construction scheduling software (so say our customers). We started a lean company while the air was quickly escaping the dot-com bubble to provide SME construction companies with an online scheduling, information management and communications tool. Today, many of our first customers are still with us (thanks, we’re honored, really!), and are joined by construction professionals around the world who want better control of their information, and job scheduling. We get up each day eager to meet our next customer, while servicing the dickens out of our loyal user group.

BuildIT Systems sells BuildIT – a web based application, on a subscription basis. We also do custom software development for clients who use BuildIT… and others. Have an idea you think our team can help you with? Call us.

Scott Hutchinson, CTM (Chief Trend Monitor)
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1