In today’s ever-connected world, it’s no surprise that advanced data analytics are quickly becoming the backbone of the construction industry. More so, it’s painfully clear that it’s no longer viable for companies to disregard their data insights. Still, here we are, talking about how companies are doing just that.
Worse yet, companies lose millions of dollars annually in wasted time and resources due to missed critical business data reporting. Further, many construction projects are a black hole, leaving little insight into whether your project truly runs on time and within budget. There are many reasons for this: many construction companies use old and outdated software applications––leading to disparate data, siloed systems, insufficient IT people, or IT team members lacking the experience required to run highly-specialized data integration reports.
Consider this: using multiple out-of-date applications will always result in data siloes unable to communicate effectively and integrate seamlessly. As a result, the energy and work required to pull data insights from each silo manually are time-consuming. Additionally, many organizations assign workers to only one department, meaning they lack access to and understanding crucial information from other company areas. As a result, many business-critical insights are lost because employees don’t have access to the information they need for optimal decision-making.
Moreover, manually pulling data leaves room for keystroke errors, frustrated workers, and time and energy better spent working on more pressing business matters. Accurate data reports on work-in-progress (WIP) reporting, progress billing, labor tracking, and other internal or external reporting are imperative for long-term success. If you thought these problems were unique to you, I assure you, they are not—the majority of these problems are universal across companies in the field of construction.
Because of the issues mentioned above, the unfortunate reality is that although data insights would be a tremendous benefit, the time and resources required to garner these insights are outside the scope of most construction companies. As a result, it is not uncommon for construction companies to struggle with creating a complete picture of the business through accurate data, meaning there is a huge blind spot in company analytics. This blind spot can ultimately negatively impact productivity, budgeting, the ability to deliver projects on time, and, in the final analysis, a company’s profitability.
Happily, your struggles with technology and lost data insight can end. Modernized software has evolved quickly in recent years, allowing companies to configure applications so that siloed data can be seamlessly integrated to effectively communicate with each other through a single and robust connected ecosystem. This ecosystem gives workers an instant and unified view of accurate data insights.
Upgrading to modern software is not a simple task—I don’t recommend deploying a new application without first engaging the help of an expert Technology Advisory Service. An expert will first help you clarify/articulate the problem you are trying to solve and help you identify your ideal outcome. In the next step, the advisory expert will help you and your team select the right new technologies to meet your needs while ensuring that the new technology easily connects to legacy systems to provide future-ready migrations when necessary.
Ultimately, creating an environment that runs on advanced data analytics does not need to be intimidating. By utilizing the expertise of a Technology Advisory Service, acquiring the correct software for your company needs, training workers, and a bullet-proof deployment plan, your company can soar to new heights and achieve long-term success. Or, you can keep wasting money by ignoring why you’re wasting money—but we all know that you want to avoid that at all costs.