In 2022, 43% of construction organizations reported having a siloed digital strategy. In these organizations, various departments create or acquire their own software solutions. As a result, different teams often adopt competing solutions to accomplish similar tasks; Scheduling may prefer Solution A for document management while Estimating likes Solution B, and so on. These environments are often vestigial policies from a pre-digitized era. Organizations lack a clear digital strategy, so each team is free to define their own. Siloed strategies can work well for their dedicated team but can create a mountain of unnecessary chaos across the organization. By siloing their software solutions, organizations create pockets of competing policies and processes that struggle to communicate across departments. Teams generate piles of data but hoard those riches internally. Competing tools rarely integrate, slowing any organization’s ability to apply learnings and create more profound insights into potential trends and opportunities. It’s almost impossible to develop an analytics program without those deeper data pools, which impacts estimating, visibility, schedule, and cost. Not to mention, siloed solutions often set up organizations to pay for similar functionalities across multiple providers. Siloed software can also create unnecessary resentment across departments. Teams nationalize their operating processes and expect other groups to bend to their rhythms rather than each division working from the same handbook.

An integrated software strategy is critical for the digital growth of any organization. You wouldn’t ask line builders, excavators, and ironworkers to independently draft their designs and deliver their services based on those separate illustrations. Nor should you expect an aligned digital strategy to arise from siloed departments. An integrated software strategy consolidates every department and every solution under a single banner. Whether it’s estimates, contract management, or accounting, an integrated software strategy connects each solution so that every tool and team works from a greater network of data and analytics. Tools work better by informing each other rather than sitting stagnant in their own perimeters. Integrated software strategies demand foresight and planning but can completely revolutionize how organizations approach work in the future.

Software gets decommissioned every day. Whether the company closes its doors, shifts resources to another product, slows its development roadmap, or gets acquired by a competitor, eventually, software stops being supported. Many unsupported or under-resourced solutions are still perfectly functional but expose their users to unnecessary risk the further we go past its end-support date. These outdated solutions frequently have known vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit to steal company data, install ransomware, and compromise your network. The longer tools go unsupported, the wider those access vulnerabilities become. Security aside, unsupported software also lacks the features and capabilities of its modern comparisons. You wouldn’t drive a car with crank windows and a tape deck in 2024. By sticking with outdated solutions, organizations choose to limit their comfort and capabilities based on the performance of a single tool. Industries evolve, and the tools used to compete in those spaces evolve with them. That industry change brings with it a legal expectation as well. As governing bodies continue to dictate how businesses manage privacy and sustainability, the regulations for how organizations are legally required to handle data have drastically shifted. Unsupported software rarely accounts for modern policy—particularly in regions like EMEA.

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While executive stakeholders set the course for navigating an organization’s future, the front-line workers are the ones responsible for maintaining its present. Few people better understand the strengths and challenges of an organization, the intricacies and limitations of a site, and the realistic capabilities of a project better than front-line contributors. And yet, due to the construction industry’s long hours, irregular work environments, and often inconsistent working rhythms, construction professionals are at high risk for employee burnout. It certainly doesn’t help when the software that should make things easier adds unnecessary complexity to an already stressful work environment. Grinding through slow software and repetitive tasks makes the workday harder than it ought to be. If different contributors consistently comment on similar issues, it may be time to make a change. Many tasks like document control and even estimating can be expedited through automation or improved with AI. By removing redundant responsibilities, employees can reclaim their time and focus instead on higher-value, more fulfilling projects. This shift to software-assisted performance can not only improve productivity but also reduce stress and improve overall company morale.

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