Bentley ProjectWise vs. GeneralCOST Estimator for Excel

ProjectWise is good for really large projects with many team members. I would not recommend it for small projects or those with a small team of people working on them. It is best for technical people and those who plan to use it daily. There are better FTP options out there if you just want to use them for file sharing.

Specific scenarios where GeneralCOST Estimator for Excel is well suited include:

• Small to medium sized contractor who typically works on small to medium sized projects with limited complexity
• Contractors who value low prices over full functionality (this software application is very affordably priced)
• A new contractor or new contracting accounting / finance professional who would appreciate the specific limitations imposed by the software

Specific scenarios where GeneralCOST Estimator for Excel is not well suited include:

• Larger contractors who think about and price projects in line with typical commercial design and construction
• Residential projects (the software is much better suited for commercial lease buildouts, for instance)
• A contractor whose finance department already uses full-suite accounting software

Incentivized

• It works for collaboration
• The backend is customisable to do work that other document management systems just cannot do.

• Convenient estimating
• Streamlines the price quotation process
• Standard cost application
• Overhead calculation and pplication

Incentivized

• many users cannot be in the same file at the same time
• files are not automatically freed upon closure
• copying files to another ProjectWise folder is complicated. There is an option to copy, another to copy to, etc.

• Only CSI construction cost database data
• Only works with Microsoft Office (Excel)
• The online help system has limited functionality

Incentivized

Bentley ProjectWise from a user perspective just does not stack up to even something as simple as Dropbox. ProjectWise is powerful, it is capable, it has a ton of features. The best implementation I have seen from Projectwise is where the admins unlocked everything and let the users do as they please defeating everything it stood for and using it as a big Dropbox account, though even then the user interface couldn't be improved still causing significant workflow delays. I would reluctantly leave a good company if they implement ProjectWise, I respect that it's powerful for system admins but it sucks for users. This means 2-10% of what it is used for is well designed while the other 98-90% of its functions are just bogged down by a lack of development in its user interface and I say this as someone who has periodically used it over the last 10 years and seen no effective improvement in usability. Bentley ProjectWise was one of the first I believe to do this type of system, but as is common with being the first is you don't keep up with the times and bring a lot of baggage with you.

GeneralCOST Estimator for Excel is cheaper, easier to use, more streamlined and is easily installed and up and running. The flip side to the ease of use is the limited functionality, somewhat outdated cost bucketing profile and general lack of sophistication. The add-in also does not talk with full suite accounting software which requires additional reconciliations if used within a large organization.

Incentivized

• It has saved us time in archiving and versioning documents
• It has saved us effort in backing up files and restoring them when mistakes are made
• It has had an overall positive impact on our bottom line by helping with file sharing and collaboration

• Allows us to quickly bid on small projects
• Allows us to pay less for accounting / finance professionals
• Allows us to standardize our cost structure

Incentivized