Construction businesses have to meet urgent needs for new housing, commercial and government facilities, and public infrastructures. Coming out of the pandemic, construction firms face high expectations from clients, increased costs and shortages of critical supplies, and a lack of skilled talent. The right business management technology can make it easier for construction companies to run and grow a profitable, efficient, competitive business. In a series of five blog posts, we take a closer look at construction industry conditions and how a cloud software solution deployed by Sikich can help companies thrive.
In recent posts, we highlighted important construction industry trends, described the key capabilities of a construction software system, introduced the Sikich construction solution, and touched on how Sikich HEADSTART for Construction can help you run a profitable business. But how does Sikich collaborate with clients when it’s time to deploy the construction software, and what changes for their employees and customers?
One working week to get your software project off the ground
When the Sikich construction team works with you to prepare a software project, we typically follow a five-day BUILD workshop format to assess business conditions and foreshadow a successful deployment of HEADSTART for Construction. It includes the following activities, focusing on one per day.
Baseline.
The Sikich team dives into your business performance metrics and KPIs to understand how you have managed performance so far and which improvements you are looking for. Working with you, we define the benchmarks and KPIs that the new ERP solution will support. Your growth strategy, expected organizational changes, competitive challenges, and industry developments can all contribute to how you achieve and assess your business performance.
Understand.
Without over-analyzing the status quo of your business, we review and analyze processes at a high level. We want to make certain that understand the many moving parts of your operation and are aware of how we can help simplify business activities. We document the opportunities for automating process steps and updating processes based on industry-best practices during your software project.
Infrastructure.
We assess the cloud-readiness of your current technologies. We document how well they are serving the business today and where modernization could be of advantage. Sikich consultants review the speed and availability of your applications and systems, how well users can access digital resources, the resilience and comprehensiveness of data protection and cybersecurity measures, mobile enablement, and device fleet. We recommend needed changes and help you put them into practice to eliminate risks and keep your ERP project moving ahead.
Licensing.
Even usage-based subscription software licensing can become complicated, and it’s easy to overlook opportunities for cost savings. Once we understand your goals, processes, and technical environment, Sikich licensing experts can define which licenses your business should purchase for its technology users. Our goal is to provide you with the right licensing to enable people to use their new software tools productively while keeping your costs manageable. Business Central, ProjectPro have their own licensing schemes that we reconcile, and we will also align the licensing for any additional software solutions.
Diagram.
We provide you with a design of your HEADSTART for Construction deployment, including Business Central, ProjectPro, and other software solutions. We also specify any data migrations and integrations with CAD, payroll, project management, or other software tools that your implementation team needs to perform to implement the construction software successfully.
What changes for your key contributors?
For the project managers, site leads, executives, and business managers who use any of the functionality in HEADSTART for Construction, doing their jobs will likely become easier. At construction sites and elsewhere, they can accomplish more with their smartphones. They can access data and documents more easily to move projects along or provide updates to clients and company leadership. They have better control of subcontractors and enjoy greatly improved visibility of the milestones, performance, risks, and constraints that matter in construction projects.
As executives, they can make reliable, wise decisions and plan the business based on comprehensive, real-time information, using practical tools that make sense. If they work with prospects and clients, they can make promises and commitments with greater confidence and can give timely warnings, for instance, when shortages delay materials deliveries and could extend completion deadlines.
A better experience for customers
Construction customers may never know or care which software systems run in the business of a company they rely on. Still, they may notice differences once a firm deploys HEADSTART for Construction. When they talk to project managers, they may receive more reliable information, faster than they were used to. They may find that the company is more proactive in giving them updates. Scheduling and planned invoicing may be more reliable and subject to fewer adjustments than in the past. Also, people may simply seem to be happier and more engaged, which can make it easier and more enjoyable to work with them.
The software evolves
As Business Central and the other components of HEADSTART for Construction mature, users may notice that some functions become even more efficient and streamlined than they already were. Or, they may find that they can set up a dashboard or a report in a more intuitive manner. Microsoft makes large investments to increase the reach and value of Business Central and its other technologies. Sikich is part of the technology community that channels enhancement requests and ideas from businesses to the developers, which means feedback from our construction clients will eventually reflect in the solution.
Taking the next step
When you decide it’s time to find out how modern technology and deep industry expertise can help you run a successful, profitable construction business, here are some next steps:
- Contact Sikich for an exploratory conversation.
- See how Sikich solutions and services support construction businesses.
- Read the previous posts in this series:
- Starting over: A new beginning for the construction industry
- Designing a solution: What construction companies need from technology
- Racing toward results: A business management software foundation for construction firms
- Enabling profitability: Business insight and construction-specific capabilities in your business software
