Adopting cloud-based financial and project management software gives contractors a cost-effective way to boost data-processing power without the need to set up or expand an on-premises data center, ForConstructionPros.com and Equipment Today magazine Profit Matters column, by Don Talend, brand storytelling, content management, and content strategy expert. Construction industry

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Cloud-based systems give contractors and their stakeholders robust
computing power and project data accessible from most connected computers
without major cap-ex investment
Web-connected tablets and other mobile devices on construction project sites can access cloud software and data,
facilitating real-time data gathering and collaboration among all project stakeholders. Accelerating decisions and
preventing errors improves project speed and accuracy.
Contractors can enjoy major project collaboration benefits at very low cost using cloud-based
project management information systems. Cloud software and users’ data reside on the
software provider’s servers. Customers access it via the internet with almost any type of
connected computer.
Here’s how three construction contractors are making quantum leaps in operational efficiency
and IT infrastructure savings using cloud software. Real-time project data that all stakeholders
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2. can access from anywhere are accelerating decisions and construction while boosting data
security and profit.
EYA, a luxury townhome builder in the Washington, D.C., area, began using Procore’s cloud-
based project-management system in 2013. Digitizing paper documents and centralizing them
in online project files makes managing projects much easier, notes Director of Technology Pete
Zafros.
Not only is EYA producing less paper since adopting the system, but its digital tools are also
more effective than paper. The entire team’s ability to view a drawing and click an associated
request for information (RFI) can prevent building a structure based on a design that has been
changed.
EYA’s subcontractors also have real-time access to project information through Procore,
boosting the entire project team’s efficiency. “The field was having significant problems just
downloading the plans before we got Procore, so having everyone see all the latest project
management information like drawings, RFIs and punchlist items is an extreme improvement,”
says Zafros.
EYA has maintained a small on-premises data center to store data collected in the accounting
system. The company has used the accounting system since its founding in 1989 and recently
integrated with Procore to give both project managers and the back office real-time visibility
into project costs. Leaving project-management system data in the cloud saved EYA the cost of
expanding its data center.
Zafros estimates that the annual cost of a Procore subscription is about 20% of what a server
upgrade would cost, given the need to purchase software and have staff maintain the new
server. For the necessary server investment to be more cost effective than cloud computing,
Zafros says the new server would have to be in service for ten years. But he says an upgrade
would likely be necessary in five years.
EYA’s leadership has no reservations about the security of sensitive company data on Procore’s
servers. “It’s like asking a CFO at a construction company, ‘Would you like to keep your money
locked in a room or would you rather take it to the bank?’ Zafros says. “You’ve got to trust
these companies more than you trust yourself.”
Stilwell Construction, Riverside, Calif., is a six-person construction operation that designs and
builds custom post-frame structures. The company has looked and acted like a much larger
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3. firm since adopting Procore in 2014. “Before, we had a lot of spreadsheets and people made
handwritten lists,” says Terri Ross, office manager and controller.
Now Stilwell stores all of its relevant documents in Procore project files. Improved
organization also helps Stilwell stay in compliance by ensuring that subcontractors’ insurance
is up to date, Ross says.
Although Stilwell still uses Excel for estimating, Procore now gives the company better visibility
into its costs and it can bid more accurately with an eye on profit margins. Bid margins have
increased slightly since Stilwell began using Procore, Ross reports.
Ross particularly likes the fact that project photos are not stored on the server that stores
Stilwell’s Accubuild accounting information. The company upgraded its on-premises server in
2015 and Ross estimates that upgrading it to accommodate the project management data
would have cost several thousand dollars more.
Hayles and Howe, a Baltimore-based contractor specializing in ornamental plasterwork and
scagliola, was one of the first adopters of cloud-based Sage Construction Anywhere project
management software in 2014. They integrated it with Sage 100 Contractor financial software,
which they began using in 2006. Sage Construction Anywhere has given the company accurate,
comprehensive job cost data from the field, according to Joselin Martin, chief financial officer.
Supervisors can use a document management function in Sage Construction Anywhere to
store project information such as site photos and safety reports and make it available to
anyone else at the company. Users can add notes or documents. Integrating field data with
Sage 100 Contractor allows Hayles and Howe to monitor data on a weekly basis and track
overtime throughout a given project, for example.
Martin contends that a thorough vetting of cloud software providers is essential.
“I want to see the Service Organization Controls reports” that were created by the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants to satisfy the marketplace demand for assurance
regarding the confidentiality and privacy of information processed by a third-party service
organization such as a cloud computing provider, she says. “For me to feel comfortable to go to
the cloud, I need documentation of what security there is, documentation of what happens if
there is a breach, documentation of where my data will be located and documentation of my
ownership of that data and access to it in a form I can use.” She adds that her professional
associations such as the American Institute of CPAs and the Maryland Association of CPAs are
providing good opportunities to learn the right questions to ask.
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