The construction software market is predicted to grow to over $2.7 billion in value.
As technology makes more advancements, modern project management software are offering more features than ever before. Moreover, many new businesses are emerging in the market, in hopes of securing a chunk of that $2.7 billion pie.
As a result, there is a confusing amount of construction project management software to choose from. Deciding on the right blend of features, testing user-friendliness, and predicting if the project management software is right for the rest of the team can be difficult for construction professionals that haven’t dabbled with digital products before.
Thanks to which, the cost associated with the construction project management software is usually the only deciding factor during the time of the purchase.
However, it is important to understand that choosing the right construction project management software is critical to the success of your projects.
So what does the right construction management software look like? How does one go about choosing the right software?
Let’s find out:
Conduct A Needs Analysis
A needs analysis will help you determine the exact problems that you are trying to solve by purchasing a project management software for your construction projects.
Conducting a needs analysis will also enable you to determine the project management features that you will need to address your organisation’s needs. For instance, if let’s say, during the needs analysis you reveal that some employees are committing time fraud. To solve this issue, you will need a project management software with time tracking capabilities.
Once you have understood the needs of your organisation and determined the features you will need to address these needs, it is time to make sure you can actually use these features to make your life easier.
Evaluate Ease Of Deployment And Usage
A project management software may be loaded with the most cutting edge features, but it will be no good if you can’t properly deploy or use it.
Usually more features mean a complex user interface. While most software providers are continuously working to offer complex features with a simple user-interface, doing so is not always practical.
That’s why, it is up to you to find the right mix of features and user-friendliness. After all, if you and your team have to spend time learning the ropes of the software before being able to use it, then it beats the whole purpose of making your operations more efficient.
At the same time, it is also important to ensure that the project management software you select is compatible with the tools and software that you currently use.
Filter For Your Budget
Once you have created a list of software that offer the kind of features and user interface that you like, it is time to filter out the software that don’t fit your budget.
Go Through Reviews And Case Studies
Next, check out the online reviews of the software that are left in your list. Make sure you read a lot of reviews on multiple websites. This way, you can be sure you are not reading fake reviews that were paid for by the product brand.
Some project management tool websites may also feature case studies of how their product has helped other construction companies in the past. Going through these case studies will help you gauge the practical applications of the product you are about to purchase.
Sign Up For Free Trials
After checking out the reviews and filtering out the products that have only a few reviews (and those with negative reviews), it is time to sign up for free trials. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that most products worth their salt offer at least a week’s worth of trial period.
A free trial will not just help you determine if you can actually use the software with efficiency, in case you run into any problems, you will also have the chance to test out the support offered by the team behind the software you are about to purchase.
We recommend taking free trials of different products until you find one that you are absolutely satisfied with.