ConstructConnect Bid Management vs. WorkflowMax

As mentioned before in some of the previous questions, the confidentiality agreement feature is extremely helpful. I have worked on several projects where it's so early in the design phase that the documents are considered confidential and we are required to get a signed NDA from every person who sees the documents. This feature makes it extremely painless. SmartBidNet is less appropriate if you're just doing a quick cost exercise where you might not need to contact several subs. It's easier to just use email and a cloud sharing program like Box or Egnyte.

Incentivized

WorkflowMax is a good solution for the architecture and design profession in that it allows for multiple ways to track a project, apply time to a project, and invoice against a project. The ability to do staffing forecasting and future planning fills a need that most firms in this profession require.

Incentivized

• Even with a "Limited Access" free account, you are able to see all the necessary files. When using it to just look at a job and download documents, this is all you should need. With more access you can see more projects that are out to bid but as a sales engineer for a manufacturer, I receive the bid requests from my contractors who are bidding there is no need to upgrade my access level.
• Documents are very easy to download into a .zip file and you can pick and choose which documents you want to download for specific trades. Plus there is a specific tab for Addenda so you don't have to search through the Documents tab. The tabs also show the amount of files in each tab so you can easily stay up to date on current documents.
• The Dashboard of each job shows the project general contractor and for subcontractors, responding to a bid request is as easy as clicking a button to indicate if you will bud or will not bid. This dashboard also shows location and the project description which are particularly helpful for a manufacturers rep/sales engineer that may not see the project description otherwise.

Incentivized

• Great for managing teams which are not in one spot. Awesome for small or growing businesses with employees who might work from home.
• Really good for teams to keep up with where a project is at against the time left to achieve the goal
• Great for keeping all the information for each project in one spot.

Incentivized

• iSqFt has one major flaw that makes it a pain to use. I go there to get plans and specs. You think a company that sends you plans and specs would have a faster download speed, it takes forever to get the plans and specs. I usually find a way around iSqFt to get the plans and specs.

Incentivized

• Integration with inventory - there are a lot of companies out there which provide a service which includes selling items either purchased or held in stock or "kitted"
• User permission levels need to be more flexible and ideally closely tied to Xero
• Two way integration with Xero - ability to import invoices to specific jobs
• Ability to save pdfs to purchase orders, invoices (like Xero)

Incentivized

Because we can't imagine being without it!

Incentivized

It's easy to use and provides me with instant online access to the management of my business whether I am at my desk or overseas

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

We have had very few issues with Max

Incentivized

Decide how to breakdown your ongoing jobs - are they monthly recurring or annual broken into chunks? What are you going to give clients i.e. how will your proposals and invoices look?

Incentivized

SmartBid is the first software of its kind that I use. However, comparing it with other software used by colleagues, it is evident that SmartBid has a much higher potential than software of the same category. By allowing easier management of documents and sub-contractors, SmartBid allows a high increase in the overall speed and efficiency of the interventions in the construction sites. Furthermore, using it makes it possible to increase the number of projects we can manage simultaneously.

Incentivized

I'm not sure if it was by Ascentis or not, and it may have been an old version, but we used a program called Timekeeper. It was very outdated, difficult to use, and didn't provide easily producible reports. WorkflowMax is infinitely better to use for our business.

Incentivized

• It has helped increase exposure and the number of General Contractors we can meet and bid with
• It has caused some wasted time by digging through bids that do not have all the relevant information to issue a proposal
• It has made bidding opportunities easier by sending them directly to us.

Incentivized

• The time the company saves by using employees efficiently on each project makes the purchase of this software worthwhile. You can clearly verify how much time the staff spends on each project, with each client, and you can compare whether it is profitable or not the hours invested, thus increasing your profits.

Incentivized