CMiC Construction Platform vs. iTWO costX

CMiC is a robust platform best suited for large companies with resources for implementation and management of the program. One analogy is CMiC is like a droid phone where the user must decide how to use all the features of the program (as opposed to an iPhone where most configuration decisions are made for the user). Smaller companies with limited resources can struggle with CMiC both with the expense and configuration.

Incentivized

Easy to use, one-stop for all construction-related tasks. The best thing is the split-screen, during the Bill of Quantity verification users can see for what part of the design Bill of Quantity is generated. Auto-updating of Design is another good feature.

Incentivized

• The user interface is similar to that of other project management software applications so folks in our company that had previously used other applications have been able to switch over fairly easily.
• I really like the software and it was much less expensive than other applications.
• I like the mobile application so that our superintendents can view the documentation on their phones.
• I really like the punch list capability mobile field, however, we have a hard time getting our superintendents to use it for some reason.

Incentivized

• Allows multiple users to work on the same estimate at once. This is huge!! Not only can we team up on a project that has a quick deadline but we can also simultaneously collaborate on database updates.
• Performs your takeoff on CAD drawings or vector PDFs. Your typical takeoff software does takeoff on an unintelligent PDF. I say unintelligent because the process you go through is simply to trace the boundaries of your shape. This is time-consuming and can lead to mistakes. With CostX your cursor will stick to the line lines and takeoff the exact measurement. This has cut our takeoff time by 75%. The best part is that this is done in the same software as your estimating software. There are a few software's that have takeoff and estimating in one but CostX is the only one the provides CAD smart takeoff.
• CostX is a lot like Excel. You have the flexibility to set up your workbooks the way your project team thinks. For example, ours is set up to evaluate labor in two ways; productivity (man-hours per widget) or crew hours (3 guys for two days for a given activity).
• Reports are very flexible and the report writers is much easier than Crystal reports.
• If you subscribe to the full version of CostX this provides the most powerful feature of them all......Auto-Revisioning. This function will compare two sets of drawings, identify the changes on a color coded drawing, ask for you to approve the changes and then update your estimate and takeoff. You can even use this to produce custom print outs for RFI's show your design team what changed.
• Your estimating workbooks are live-linked to your takeoff. As you make adjustments to your takeoff your estimate updates accordingly. The workbook has color coded text to hep your team understand whats behind your estimate; Black = manually input, Blue = rates linked to database, and Green = quantity linked to take-off.
• Full integrated subcontractor comparison. We use to do this in excel to compare multiple bidders across every division.
• This is also color coded for a streamlined review process; green = quote, blue = estimate, purple = plug, and orange = other.
• Built in error checking notifies you if you forgot to normalize an item on your subcontractor comparison.
• In the near future the software will be available online allowing you to use remotely.

Incentivized

• Needs to be more user friendly on the mobile side of the platform. Ease of use is key here.
• There is not much instruction or support in standing up some programs like deploying ECM for outlook, making Collaboration Gateway work, or setting up the system for getting Plans available on the mobile devices.
• Security configuration is extremely detailed and spread throughout the system. It is extremely hard to make adjustments to a person's security unless you know exactly where to look, which requires years of experience but shouldn't.

Incentivized

• iTwo Costx has 3D features that may require enhancement in terms of Look and feel perspective.
• The eye Function section view feature may require enhancement. But I am not sure how much more we can bring it to scale
• Not seen Cloud base service. So that easy to use from any where.

Incentivized

This is a platform that would continue to be in the best interest for our company. I just hope that CMiC support removes the gaps between the enhancements that they create to better the system to what they currently have

Incentivized

I believe it isn't easy to use and is unintuitive. Undecipherable error messages appear throughout the application without indicating what is wrong or how to correct it, in my experience. The terminology on the screens is specific to Canada, which adds to the confusion.

Incentivized

Sometimes since this is a cloud based product the system can become slow but we haven’t had any issues of availability without CMiC first letting us know it would be down

Incentivized

Reports are pretty shown to run but general pages typically load pretty quick.

Incentivized

The support team [has] been in touch with our deployment team and has given them effective guidance up to completion. It has helped us in [the] best methods of resource allocation and secure record-keeping process. We have tracked all our billing information and made the right payments with documentation and avoided [unnecessary losses]. [The] support team has [to] lead our teams to the right channels and empowering our team with the right skills for maximum production.

Incentivized

The training was on system functions and not really how best to use it for our business. It would have been nice to be provided recommendations for use rather than just a blank slate of functionality.

Incentivized

I felt the training was good and the trainers knew the software.

Incentivized

Lots of confusion between sales and implementation regarding what was included and not included...the security encountered a "bug" and made it extremely difficult to set up roles and individual responsibilities

Incentivized

CMiC Construction Platform is the best price point in the market. Others are revenue-based billings, and the annual fees reflect as such. CMiC Construction Platform support staff is generally amazing and offers real-time support on critical issues. The imaging and workflow functions are real-time savers. CMiC Construction Platform is generally a smaller and in touch organization that treats your team like their own and stays with you after the purchase.

Incentivized

We are not aware of another software that has fully integrated take-off, subcontractor comparison, estimating and reporting besides CostX.

Incentivized

CMiC has several key features that can either work together or independently depending on your companies needs.

Incentivized

• Better project visibility, surely. I can step into a former project and see how well/poorly it was run.
• Forecasting underway - nearly complete with year 2.
• Cost status tracking - this has been valuable, especially when figuring out how much of a liquid budget is left over.

Incentivized

• Easy to Collaborate Between the Team members. Saves a lot of work
• Integrate with multiple types of data drawing which saves efforts in converting the design.
• Bill of Quantity export can be done based on the Design section and can share with contractors for Quotes. Instead of just downloading the whole report and then editing for the required pack.

Incentivized