Sage Estimating was initially created for the construction industry and many of its current users use it to estimate buildings, but it has adapted quite well for the oil and gas industry. If the user is willing to invest the time and energy to develop and maintain their database, I can see it working for any industry. It is very easy to adjust and adapt the database as estimating methods and project designs change. As an example, our accounting department sometimes changes the way projects are reporting in our accounting software. Because I can go through our 9000 line item database in a couple of days, I am always ahead of the curve and can report my estimates in the format they require.
It is very adaptable to our business plan. Also, it is very cost-effective than any other software I used while working with previous companies. Also, as previously mentioned it helps a lot with our takeoffs, customers know what the job consists of, and what our costs are, and make it easy to pass on job management items to others.
The program has a fairly antiquated user interface such that someone working in it may not feel like they are working with advanced software.
Sage Estimating has absolutely no remote access capability outside running it in a Citrix/RDP environment so users have to be using a fat/full client vs. any hopes of access on a mobile device.
Sage's support of Estimating is adequate though frankly we rarely need it. Outside of more complex operations such as upgrades and installation problems the program itself is so straightforward that we do not usually have any "issues" and questions that are more about usability can easily be answered in online forums. We trust Sage's capability to answer these questions if needed but rarely use it.
I dealt with one individual and the owner. After making me feel stupid for not being able to get an up to date price list from my suppliers, they decided to try. There were unsuccessful as well. The right thing to do would have been to refund my money, but they refused to do that. I was lied to and basically called a liar on many occasions (including in emails). I have never had an experience like this with a company before. Most of the other companies guarantee their products and would refund your money if something was wrong, didn't work or you were unsatisfied. Not this company! They could care less once they have their money.
We selected TurboBid because it was very cost-effective. The adaptability to use this program is also very easy and guidable. The database has a very large capacity. Along with the accuracy of the program as well. As you can see there are many reasons to go with TurboBid as it delivers to the contractors with ease.
