Procore vs. SmartBid

It works great for project management and putting all job-specific documents in one place. We are able to share drawings, submittals, and forms with our customers and subcontractors in a safe and reliable platform. However, getting reporting data is somewhat lacking, so if your business needs advanced options, you might try and find a better product.

Incentivized

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

• Does well Emailing me (If i am subscribed to a project) to let me know when revisions have been updated.
• Easy to navigate
• Great at Allowing me as a project Engineer to Upload my drawings to Procore. Not a lot of steps, and very easy to do.

Incentivized

• 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

• Downloading drawing sets sometimes involves an extra step that holds up the process
• The dashboard is simplistic to the point that I don't feel like I am getting enough information about a specific project from the get-go
• Granting access to a project on Procore is not very straightforward as a consultant- restrictions sometimes cause hold-ups

Incentivized

• We have seen intermittent problems with notes disappearing.
• Ability to have more than one project bidding open at the same time/on multiple windows.
• Mobile apps.

Incentivized

We will undoubtedly renew Procore as it has proven itself to be a means to better track and improve upon our efficiency and communications between job sites and their project managers as well as all other departments. Procore has made an incredible impact on how we, as a company, do our job on all levels; it is one of our most powerful and effective resources.

Incentivized

90% of Procore is very intuitive and any user can pick it up and go. There are a few elements, more so on the Financials side that need some prior knowledge of systems in order to understand how and why it functions as it does. Once this is understood, it flows effortlessly

Incentivized

If you are working in an area with little to no signal, Procore will still allow you to get in the system and use it fully and will then update once you are at a place with a strong enough signal. Whether it be with wifi or LTE cell phone reception.

Incentivized

For the most part Procore is very responsive. However there are times when it's a little slow but it's minimal.

Incentivized

General Support for Project Management and Financials is consistent. The ERP support is never consistent and I do end up at times in a black hole. I have to continually reach out to get the issue resolved or get an update. The ERP support needs more of Procore's attention

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

Procore's Implementation Team does a great job of ensuring users are confident in using the system. They run through a process of training sessions based on the tools you have purchased, and lay ou ta plan to help the power users configure the tool to suit the company's needs. They provide useful resources for certifications, support and ongoing training as well.

Incentivized

Procore's certification program and focused how-to training videos allowed for easy training that did not feel overwhelming. The way the certification programs were broken up into small parts made it seem much less daunting to complete. The training feels focused and does not overload users with too much information all at once.

Incentivized

Iron out your cost code list in your accounting software before you link with Procore. Once the link is established that list is more or less permanent. Review the permission matrix carefully. It controls so much. You want to ensure the information provided to your users adequate but you also want to protect your sensitive data. Procore Financials are organized in a total contract value style. Any markup or Profit will need to be sent somewhere on your budget. This may be significantly different than the Cost budgeting that many contractors do

Incentivized

Procore has a clearer user interface and a wider variety of tools than any program I've used. Procore also lives up to their name in terms of helpful and fast customer service. There is always a Procore rep. that is available to contact, making any problems just a mini hurdle.

SmartBid is used by more of the contractors that we happen to do lots of work with. It has basically the same features. However, SmartBid will let subcontractors view all the jobs a general contractor is bidding, even ones we were never invited to. So it has the potential to bring more opportunities.

Incentivized

once in awhile Procore is down for a period of time, its frustrating when it happens but doesn't tend to last long.

Incentivized

• The Procore service impacts on construction projects are effective and reliable on production acceleration.
• The collaboration is stable and easy files access and uploading of engineering drawings and plans is excellent.
• New project planning and project financial data management on Procore functions are excellent.

Incentivized

• It is a big time saver compared to sending out individual emails.
• It saves time in having multiple individual databases for company contact info.
• It ensures that everyone is getting the same information.

Incentivized