ConstructConnect Bid Management vs. 4Clicks for Federal vs. Planview Daptiv

SmartBid is also very useful for conducting sub-contracting analysis and management simulations in the didactic field. The procedures for sharing documents are helpful, but the graphic can be improved. Many forms can be pre-filled. This helps a lot in saving time and money! SmartBid is great for exporting and/or sending single or mass emails. However, as mentioned, it would be useful to simplify some pre-construction processes and improve the overall communication

Incentivized

If you are considering purchasing this (very expensive) software, there is a 100% chance you are doing so because you have been awarded a Government contract that dictates you use 4Clicks Project Estimator. There are plenty of easier to use estimating packages out in the world, but you can't use any of them if you have a contract that requires 4Clicks.

Incentivized

I would recommend Daptiv for anyone who is look for a collaborative tool that is easy to use and provides excellent results for project management and resource allocation. The tool offers many various capabilities and is not isolated for use with one or two workgroups. Its versatility allows many workgroups across many different organizations to use it. In my previous role, I used Daptiv in both a Project Management and Account Services Information Technology role. In my current workplace, I would like to leverage Daptiv for Product Launch and tracking as well as change request visibility in the Release Management Organization of a pharmaceutical company. Both roles and companies are vastly different however Daptiv would serve a great purpose in both situations although my needs are different.

• It's very easy to set up a job and manage who receives solicitations. You can also keep detailed notes on who've you contacted and see if they're actually downloading and reviewing the documents.
• You can add a confidentiality agreement clause which they must accept before accessing the documents. It then stores this information if it ever needs to be accessed. This is much cleaner and easier then sending out a NDA form and having the subcontractor return it before actually sending drawings/docs.
• You can send Invitations to Bid and set it up to continue sending these ITB's until the subcontractor responds. However, this can also be a negative point because once you set up a delayed ITB, it doesn't update as the subcontractors view and respond to the ITB's. So if a sub is "Not Responded" and you set up a delayed ITB to fire off every day for 5 days, and the sub responds after day 2, that sub will continue to receive ITB's for all 5 days.
• Uploading drawings is quick and easy. It's especially convenient if you link to one of your cloud services such as Egnyte, Google Drive, etc.
• The search tools are quick and easy and often very accessible from any page.

Incentivized

• The estimates it produces are simple and easy to follow. The formatting is good.
• The tech support provided is very attentive.

Incentivized

• Resource allocation, when fully integrated provides a in depth view of what everyone is working on, as well as their availability.
• Portfolio reporting provides a good view of where all projects are at in their lifecycle.
• Time tracking is simple to use.

• Create sub categories under other trades that allow to better narrow down the exact jobs you are looking for.
• Not send repeatetive emails for the same projects.
• Make the service more affordable to small business's looking to grow.

Incentivized

• The software feels 20 years old. It has not kept up with modern times, and practically functions like an old DOS program.
• Clunky interface, arcane commands.
• Even their training info focuses on hotkeys like this is 1995. Even though I am of an age to remember computers in 1995, the younger generations of managers/estimators are not. It is time to bring the software into the new century!

Incentivized

• In my opinion, APIs / integrations are sometimes coming to their limit
• In my experience, no general archive available - therefore data sets cannot be frozen
• Data roll-up for different hierarchy levels (program / project / sub-project) is very limited, in my opinion.
• In my opinion, when having showing a large number projects navigation on project tab is not very handy

As previously mentioned, we were not able to get the product to solve our particular problem. After time spent implementing a custom solution, it was the decision of the executive team to discontinue the agreement. The costs of training the team didn't outweigh the cost of hiring an employee to do the translation of schedules to web view.

The main thing that I have to apologize for is the UI. Does the job but just not the flexible responsive experience that most users are used to.

Incentivized

In the 3 years I have worked with Daptiv I think it is been down once. The ONLY partial outages I have ever had have been with report automation.

Incentivized

SmartBid has an excellent support team that is always at your service. Any problem I've had (when I've even had them) has been resolved almost immediately, along with tips on how to avoid them in the future. If you're looking for a program with excellent customer service, look no further than SmartBid.

Incentivized

Good support team! Developed relationships and were very pleasant to talk to. Daptiv went above and beyond on ensuring the customers were satisfied

I recommend using daptiv resources on your implementation to help with setup and training.

iSqFt is a solid competitor in the bidding/estimating platform world but as a user, Building Connected is the front runner. iSqFt lacks on the collaboration side and isn't as easy to use and access as its competitors. Building Connected is used by most of our clients so it's easier to use because there is more information in one place.

Incentivized

WinEst uses much the same database (RS Means/Gordion type) and has a similar interface. It is a bit cheaper.

Incentivized

AdaptiveWork might not necessarily have robust Analytical abilities that Daptiv IBM Cognos BI tool have, but from the introduction I have seen of the product it has impressive capabilities. It is still work in progress and still learning about AdaptiveWork and looking forward to implementing and supporting it in the near future.

We are quickly able to add more users as needed.

Incentivized

• SmartBid helps eliminate jumping all over the place, all your invites are on one system.
• It allows us to see who and how many general contractors are bidding, let’s us know if it’s a job worth spending time on.

Incentivized

• As stated before, if you are buying this software, it is because you have a contract forcing you to. While it does work, it is clunky, awkward, and very expensive.
• The price of the software and databases has always been high, but with the fairly recent acquisition of 4Clicks by Gordion (who also bought RS Means for their databases), there is literally no competition. Prices will continue to be very high, with no check on how high they can go.
• Again, can't fault 4Clicks tech support, as I think it is the best in the industry. They know their product and they respond to issues immediately. Considering what we spend a year for this product, however, you would expect nothing less.

Incentivized

• I am in the process of establishing a hard dollar ROI received from Daptiv. However, there have been many soft dollar benefits we have achieved. Soft benefits include IT teams that are more aligned to business objectives, "one version of the truth" for where work is being performed and resources consumed, and more accurate estimation of project requests.

Incentivized