Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro vs. Buildertrend

Autodesk Bim 360 is well suited to the majority of construction projects in my opinion. On the construction side I could see how the straightforward nature of the platform would be well liked. The new update with the widgets is a great touch and allows for ease of site visits by showcasing good to know info like project location on a map and the local weather. You can also customize the "widgets" as you see fit to add more information if necessary to the home screen. From my experience as a LEED consultant, Bim 360 does not differ much from other platforms used for submittal review like Procore. It is easy enough to search for what you want but searches do take a while and you need to move the cursor over every time you search and do not find what you're looking for, which seems very unnecessary. Overall it is fine for reviewing documentation but isn't anything extraordinary.

Incentivized

Buildertrend was made for a specific industry (building) and so I would recommend it to anyone in that industry, with the exception of Sales and Marketing. But for everything else from the financing to the permitting to the construction and all else, Buildertrend is exactly what our team has used and will ALWAYS use. Even with our decision to use other systems for Sales and Marketing, we have never given one thought to taking Buildertrend out of our process. We will always be with Buildertrend.

Incentivized

• It helps to collaborate on different components of projects that work according to different specifications in one place.
• With this the client can have all date at once where they can review all things.
• The place where an architect and other Engineers coordinate to get a full-fledged model.

Incentivized

• Manages in one place - crucial for organization.
• Professional, across the board it provides companies with a seamlessly organized and flawless presentation - to subs/vendors/owners/etc.
• Time Saver - you don't have to dig around through files/create templates/flip through your contact binder - it's all there.
• Practical tools- designed for contractors. You get what you need - period.

Incentivized

• Bim360 is extremely unintuitive and frequently confusing to end users.
• There are multiple avenues of sharing and collaboration for models and information. The advantages/disadvantages of each and how to perform even the most basic of tasks requires extensive training and mentoring for even the most advanced of users.
• There are many enormous limitations and constraints to BIM 360 that are not immediately obvious and even contrary to published marketing materials and even product naming.
• Development cycles of the product are seemingly monthly, but incredibly minor. This makes the desperately-needed and glaringly obvious massive usability, capability, and performance improvements into deal-breakers and hair pulling events. Change cannot come fast enough.
• There are no integrations into Microsoft's Azure AD SSO or other 3rd party SSOs available for SMBs. This makes the provided MFA a huge headache for all SMBs.
• There are no integrations into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem for SharePoint/OneDrive or Outlook. This is desperately needed for most organizations using Bim360.

Incentivized

• Onsite consultants. There is a demand for this service that is great enough to allow outside BuilderTrend Super-Users like me to partner with BuilderTrend and make this a reality.
• As their company grows, their support needs to grow as well.
• Provide incentives for Super Users that are helping BuilderTrend acquire new business. Advocates should be their best friend.

Incentivized

It's not very difficult to use for majority of all our users. We really like storing and managing all our project data in one location so users have only one option to access the requested information. Managing our architectural engineering projects with two workflows in one system is really a good asset

Incentivized

Its simple to use and intuitive. The level of support that we have from online videos, to access to customer support, and the ability to call anyone at anytime on the main line has been invaluable to utilize and not get stuck on something you don't know yet. We've never not had anyone that couldn't respond in time for us.

AutoDesk support is slow and if you are not an enterprise customer they will likely tell you to go to forums and post for help pushing the support on the high-level end-users (some of which are AutoDesk employees). I haven't actually had issues requiring support with docs altough there are some features I wish it had

Incentivized

I highly recommend. The only suggestion I have would be to offer a free trial. They do offer a 30 day money back guarantee. The price point isn't daunting if you have had a 100 % no strings attached/no effort to cancel or try to remember to get your money back - no strings attached chance to try out the product. Especially for such a big purchase decision, I think Buildertrend would see an incredible increase in sales. They have the value and companies just need a chance to see it first hand.

Incentivized

The saving in reduced field changes/mistakes quickly paid for the license plus some. The software allows for easy data collection, especially at project completion for field software by checklist creation. Furthermore, the internal punch-list tracking, tracking completion lists and punch lists created for us by others is optimal compared to the competition. We chose Bim360 over other options due to its ability to import out of other software programs directly into the system, adding reports in one location and then distributing it to subcontractors and internally from there to fix deficiencies. It does the tracking, importing, markups of pictures and document viewing well and fulfills our needs.

Incentivized

The program has outstanding customer service. With project scheduling, project management, financial management, customer management, and service management capabilities in a single suite, there's really not much this program can't do! Owners generally love the use of this software as well, giving them the ability to view daily logs, photos, schedules, etc.

Incentivized

• We are able to complete a design quicker.
• The fact that your files are not on your servers. Anytime that the Autodesk servers go down you are down; it does not happen very often but when it does there is nothing you can do about it except wait.
• Because of how BIM360 licensing is setup it does force you to manage the personnel on a project closer. This can at times be viewed as a negative but in the long run is positive because with better management comes better profit.

Incentivized

• The prior year cost me roughly $4300, which was barely reasonable for my volume. Some clients liked the format, some hated it and didn't participate. In my experience, few subcontractors or suppliers embraced the program, severely limiting the effectiveness.
• For the coming year the fees would have exceeded $17,000, far too much for a program with limited client, employee, and subcontractor appeal with as small a volume as I have.
• Honestly, for the last year, I feel they've been a burning tire hung around my neck and I regret not cancelling them in early 2019, I'd have $10,000 more in my pocket and no significant negative impact.
• I did appreciate the daily log as a way to report on progress, but less than half my clients made use of this option.