CMiC Construction Platform vs. Podio

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.

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Some people seemed to be confused by too many options. Customizing your work in a digital workspace needs means rethinking your possibilities by knowing your toolset well. In the beginning, I was a little bit frustrated, because I didn't see all these options and there was a lack of best practise. Studying the large Podio App Store solutions helped me to understand. If you do not have the time it's the best moment for getting in contact with one of the Podio partners.

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• 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

• Podio's apps are the most customizable tools I have seen anywhere, and I have tested and evaluated a large number of work management solutions. The abstract nature of their apps makes them ideal for very specific, niche cases as well as common, general purpose uses. The solution is elegant: an app is simply a collection of app items, with characteristics and perhaps links to other apps & their app items, all of which can be defined by your needs. Anyone who enjoys making "lists" of "things" should love this.
• Custom reporting is a dream in Podio. I can take any characteristics or fields in any of my app items, compare or filter them with other apps' items, run calculations on them and figure totals by month, team member or almost anything else you can imagine. The possibilities really seem limited only by your imagination.
• Podio has a lot of features, but another strength to factor in is third-party support. There are a lot of outside companies that offer additional features like detailed workflows, synchronizations between other cloud-based apps, and possibly even graphs in the near future.

• Entering a code of the vendor instead of the company name while recording an invoice takes time and seems counter intuitive
• Editing an invoice created through Image Management on the AP side is limited to description and address field. When changing the rest (invoice# or a date or an amount) - the whole trace of who entered/submitted/approved disappears. The way it works now is: deleting an invoice from the batch, locating it through Registry/invoice search, unsubmitting it, making changes, submitting, adding back to batch - time consuming
• In Multiple distribution pop up window, when entering a new invoice, I'd make the field "Company" to be autofilled once "Job" is entered. It takes time to memorize what job number belongs to what company.
• There is only web version available and it is limited compare to a desktop client. For instance I can only make one change at a time and save it. Multiple changes don't get saved in one click

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• Not sure if this has been implemented but having drop-down menus that change depending on your previous selection - AND/OR functionality would be great.
• Some ability to reskin Podio.
• Archiving of old projects / content of apps without manually moving contents.

I can't even begin to imagine the thought of going through another software conversion so I do not think I would even consider switching at this point. It does everything we need it to do so I don't have any reason to recommend not renewing at this point in time

Incentivized

Podio customer service is great. The cloud and mobile service is fast (almost instant, continuous syncing). With a solid user base, and backed by Citrix, this is a serious business solution. They're also constantly working on improving and making it more powerful. I anticipate it only getting better

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.

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It takes a while to understand how to wield the power of 'relationship' fields and unlocking the flow of data across Podio apps and workspaces. Once the lightbulb comes on, the options and builds are effortless and limitless. Because of the unrestrained customization, you truly start with a blank slate and must endure a potentially frustrating learning curve to crack to (no)code. But once you get it, all the power is readily at your fingertips.

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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

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Never experienced an off-time. Minor Bugs often solved within hours after reporting.

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

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It works all the time and if I have a question, support get back to me ASAP

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

Podio support was always responsive and very quick to provide answers and assistance during the history of using this product, their support team has always been top notch. There have been several cases where calling podio support a feature was not available and they provided either workaround solutions or added the features straight into their roadmap.

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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.

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

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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

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Could of got more help sooner and mapped out structure after the 1st month. Future planning

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

As everyone knows Asana is a well-known project management solution but because of its ranking Asana and its functionalities are coming down and coming up with some complaints. So, I decided to choose Citrix Podio because it works well and provides effective services.

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

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As you business grows, so does Podio. There seems to be no limit to the workspace and apps you can create on the platform

• We've knocked days, if not weeks, off of our timeline to getting invoices paid using Image manager and workflow approvals.
• Because we have real time cost and budget information all in one place, we've knocked a day or two off of each project for their monthly forecasts, and we're much more consistent and accurate than we were before CMiC.
• Because we pull a large chunk of project information into our BI reports, we've never had better visibility into projects and their potential issues. We're able to compare current project progress with past similar projects to determine if we are going to have an issue before it actually happens.

Incentivized

• Podio has made our internal communications more fluid and timely.
• It's much easier to search and find things (previous developments, notes, updates) in Podio than in the traditional combination of email, document storage, etc.
• The Podio platform fosters a clearer understanding of all the work, projects and updates we are juggling at any one time.

Incentivized