Autodesk Construction Cloud vs. UDA Construction Suite

Well Suited: Autodesk Construction Cloud is cost effective, user friendly, and robust. They aren't nickel and diming you for use of each module. Once users are on-board with the system it creates an ecosystem that all users "go to first" for an answer. Less Appropriate: As a Developer, there are some hiccups as it is designed more for the GC (general contractor). A template option that is Developer forward would an improvement.

Incentivized

If you've never used software before and have low expectations, then you might be able to make it work out.

• Meeting Minutes: Simple to use and adapt from Agenda to Minutes, attach reference documents efficiently, and assign accountability to attendees.
• Budget/Cost Reporting: There is a learning curve, but the visibility of budgets and costs from inception to closeout is beneficial for the user and makes reporting to investors simple and consistent.
• Document Management: The version history on drawings "sheets" is very helpful when managing a project through design and construction. Issuing addenda, drawings, or tracking down a change in design is simple.
• Pay Applications/Change Order Workflow: the customizable workflows along with time stamps of reviews and response makes tracking down status and bottlenecks very easy.

Incentivized

• The beautiful user interface. It looks good.
• Their videos are professional.
• They have webinars.

• Managing Data
• The footprint large projects leave within Desktop Connector and Mitigating that data
• REMOVE "add up to 80 projects" from the Desktop Connector Select Projects Screen! It is better to cycle the project data in/out for syncing latest greatest rather than have users load up their desktop connector full of projects and let data stagnate/have to be racked to update.

• Their spell checker creates a squiggly line to tell you that you have a misspelled word, but, doesn't allow you to correct it.
• The spell checker lets you add custom words to a dictionary, but, it can only use one dictionary at a time to check spelling. So the default dictionary gets used, and your custom words still show up as being spelled wrong!
• You can't select-copy addresses, in order to paste them somewhere else.
• Using duplexing on my printer doesn't work right. It works for every other software I own, but not in UDA.
• There is a bug in the WIP date range that doesn't pull accurate data.
• "Options" in the estimate show only cost, not margin. So if you show your customer that report, you are revealing cost info, not selling price!!
• You can't import a PDF into bid notes, even though the premise of UDA is to try to make it a single repository for all your information.
• You can't use the arrow key to browse photos in UDA. You need to close, and click into the next one. No inuitive functionality.
• The estimating module separates material and labor, in ways that create a very confusing Scope of Work. You need to select the labor item from your database, then separately select the material from your database. You end up with two line items in your Scope of Work for the same thing. Instead of writing, "Supply and Install a new window" you have "Supply a new window" and then "Install a new window." It's hard for my estimator, and confusing for my client.
• UDA will WREAK HAVOC on your contacts in Outlook.
• It does a terrible job of managing husband/wife or partner/partner situations. You can't mail merge them properly, or, you get forced into combining their contact into into a single contact-- and then how do you know whether the cell phone is his or hers???
• There is no good way to credit design fees against the construction contract, if you happen to use that paradigm for your contracts.
• There is no way to filter contracts by their date created. So, how do you find your newest contacts for entering them into something such as Constant Contact?
• If you try to use integration of QuickBooks(QB) and UDA, your ITEMS list in QB will either get expanded to hundreds or even THOUSANDS of items... or, your POs in QB will get created in a summary form such that they are virtually meaningless.
• The "lead funnel" graphic may look cool, but there is not a good way to actually report on the lead status, track the activities and calls that you make, note significant emails that you write, or keep track of when you send out thank-you cards or spiffs/gifts!
• They might tell you that these things work, but, after spending MONTHS with UDA, I found out that these problems are deal breakers.
• Within their customer service department, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. They do not use a structure such as Zendesk that so many other great companies use. Even though I was paying for priority support, there were often days going by where I could not get a call or email back to assist me with a support request or provide a tutorial on how to do something. Had I not paid extra for support, this would be acceptable. But when paying for "TotalCare" priority support, there are times when the software had me stuck, and I was stuck for a day at a time waiting for an answer. Sometimes no answer ever arrived.

I don't make these decisions and its what the company wants

It is overall a very great product in terms of usability. Some features need some work like RFI tools and contruction administration tools. As the product develops I imagine these becoming more important and easier to use

Incentivized

5 major outages in the last year, some on days of major deliverables or deadlines... dependent upon AWS

The data mitigation is complete garbage. Any cloud collaborated model takes 2x to load in the Autodesk Construction Cloud environment that if it was saved locally or to on prem servers. We had our systems and bandwidth all evaluated to be applicable but the data downloads and sequencing through Desktop Connector leaves much to be desired.

Autodesk staff intervention often required to support IT when normal installs and direction was erroneous

Great to have hands on folks to answer questions. Live training worked better for real time scenarios.

Good as any other online content, not incredible. There was a cost associated with this training

Be prepared for nothing to work originally, and support staff to fight change and be cumbersome at properly learning how to use in my opinion.

Procore's user interface is not as user-friendly. Next steps are not as obvious and the overall graphic design is more old-school. I do however like how Procore lists the specific issues that you are assigned on the home page. Procore can be more difficult to navigate and it's hard to find attachments.

Incentivized

QuickBooks has great quality assurance and while they don't provide support, their software is nearly flawless. Co-construct provides great support and solves problems. In comparison, UDA Construction Suite is full of flaws, and their customer service department is disorganized and overworked.

Required yearly upgrades and contracts a opposed to one-time purchases

Not applicable/harder to implement across larger workforces or large-scale projects

They were attentive and thorough when their software releases caused errors

• Make us easier to manage files
• Coordination model more easier
• Keep internal file secret to external by managing access to our Autodesk Construction Cloud system

Incentivized

• All my money was wasted. I could not get a refund.
• All my time was wasted. I spent much time on customer support, and even more time "stuck" where customer support could not be reached.
• My staff time was wasted, because it was hard for them to implement and then we ultimately abandoned it.