SmartBid vs. Viewpoint Spectrum

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
SmartBid
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
SmartBid is a construction bid management software for general contractors. SmartBid provides a web-based and mobile platform to streamline their bid project data, documents, and subcontractor communications. It also supports user permissions control for data security.N/A
Viewpoint Spectrum
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Viewpoint Spectrum is a cloud-based construction ERP suite with project management, accounting, resource management, and reporting and analytics. Key features include workflow automation and collaboration tools, document imaging and sharing, cost estimating tools, and RFI management tools.N/A
Pricing
SmartBidViewpoint Spectrum
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SmartBidViewpoint Spectrum
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAs a cloud-based solution, our clients can scale their access annually depending on the number of users. Subcontractors invited to bid or prequalify in the system receive access at no cost.
More Pricing Information
Features
SmartBidViewpoint Spectrum
Construction Project & Field Management
Comparison of Construction Project & Field Management features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
8.8
5 Ratings
15% above category average
Viewpoint Spectrum
-
Ratings
Plan distribution & viewing8.55 Ratings00 Ratings
Document sharing9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
RFI tools8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration & approvals8.53 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
4.9
20 Ratings
39% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.520 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.915 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.217 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.2
7 Ratings
15% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings6.27 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
8.2
23 Ratings
2% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.318 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.023 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
5.2
25 Ratings
29% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings6.825 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings6.725 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings6.424 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
7.3
24 Ratings
4% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings8.423 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.122 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings5.26 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.216 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings7.919 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.017 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings7.719 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
5.9
14 Ratings
29% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings6.214 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings5.44 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
8.8
12 Ratings
12% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.810 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings8.611 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings8.84 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings9.19 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
7.5
23 Ratings
1% above category average
Billing Management00 Ratings8.020 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings7.619 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Period Close00 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.9
3 Ratings
1% above category average
Project Planning and Scheduling00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality00 Ratings8.43 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools00 Ratings7.12 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
SmartBid
-
Ratings
Viewpoint Spectrum
6.7
4 Ratings
4% below category average
Bids Analyzed and Compared00 Ratings7.73 Ratings
Contract Authoring00 Ratings7.12 Ratings
Contract Repository00 Ratings7.12 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated00 Ratings5.13 Ratings
Supplier Management00 Ratings6.52 Ratings
Best Alternatives
SmartBidViewpoint Spectrum
Small Businesses
FollowUp CRM
FollowUp CRM
Score 9.5 out of 10
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Procore
Procore
Score 8.7 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 8.0 out of 10
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Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro
Score 8.2 out of 10
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
SmartBidViewpoint Spectrum
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(7 ratings)
8.0
(64 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(25 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(2 ratings)
4.9
(28 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
5.6
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(20 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
SmartBidViewpoint Spectrum
Likelihood to Recommend
ConstructConnect
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
Read full review
Trimble Viewpoint
Viewpoint Spectrum would be fine for small to medium-sized companies. It would be great for transitioning from an in-house paper-based process, especially since it's designed with small construction companies in mind. They're making it even easier for smaller companies by offering additional features that you'd normally have to find in other products. However, companies can easily outgrow this system. We have about 15 years of data in the system, over 300 active jobs, and nearly 1,500 employees. In the past 3 years we've noticed slower performance and frequent locks in the system that require intervention from a system administrator. We moved to the cloud about 2 years ago and this has made troubleshooting even more difficult as we don't have the same access that we did before to resolve performance issues.
Read full review
Pros
ConstructConnect
  • 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.
Read full review
Trimble Viewpoint
  • Job Costing - Viewpoint Spectrum handles job costing per project, per work order, per site, and gives us an up to date analysis of the project.
  • HR - helps to keep all of the training certifications and HR incidents in a consistent and manageable order for all Managers to use.
Read full review
Cons
ConstructConnect
  • 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.
Read full review
Trimble Viewpoint
  • Subcontract Kiosk can be glitchy - allows subs to overbill on subcontract billing items
  • Document Imaging can be glitchy - often says users do not have adequate security to view/add documents, but they do - if they sign out and back in, it works fine
  • At times, support can be lacking - sometimes case responses are delayed or you get an incorrect answer
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
ConstructConnect
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
The product is working for us and the cost to implement a new system does not warrant the expense.
Read full review
Usability
ConstructConnect
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
Some things in Spectrum are NOT that intuitive, but I think knowledge of the software just comes with time. There are still some things I need assistance with in Spectrum but I'm very comfortable with my day to day items now that I've been using it for years. However, if there is something I don't do often or haven't done before, I don't find the software to be that intuitive, I actually find the logic on some things to be a little weird but it's fine once I know how to do it.
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Reliability and Availability
ConstructConnect
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
I've never seen Spectrum down
Read full review
Performance
ConstructConnect
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
For the most part the product is very reliable. Since we are hosted we sometimes have connectivity issues but I would say that is more our ISP than Spectrum.
Read full review
Support Rating
ConstructConnect
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.
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Trimble Viewpoint
The support has recently changed. Last year, you could call in and get an immediate response. Now that doesn't seem possible unless you have an urgent situation with access to the software, payroll or payables. I have found that using chat or e-mail works nicely for the most part, but sometimes I feel it would be easier if someone from support would jump on our site and take a first-hand look rather than going back and forth
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Implementation Rating
ConstructConnect
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
It is important to have a strong implementation partner. It made the transition from our old system to the new system easier.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
ConstructConnect
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.
Read full review
Trimble Viewpoint
I have previously used Sage Masterbuilder, another construction industry software. This has been a number of years ago. The company I am working for already had Spectrum and have been using it for as long as it has been around when it was known as Forefront. Based on conversations I've had with the personnel that were here at the time of purchase, Spectrum clicked off all the boxes they were looking for.
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Scalability
ConstructConnect
No answers on this topic
Trimble Viewpoint
You can grant user specific access which is nice. Project managers do not need all the same modules as Accounting. But Accounting does need access to PM modules as well
Read full review
Return on Investment
ConstructConnect
  • The Data mangement helped us a lot with project managment.
  • ROI is worth it because of the project managment is great
  • We only had positive feedback from the subcontractors.
Read full review
Trimble Viewpoint
  • [In my opinion,] it takes at LEAST twice as long to do our jobs now.
  • [I feel like] we are paranoid about something not being printed correctly because of [what I believe are] buggy text fields.
  • [In my experience,] we still have to refer to a physical file cabinet with paper, even though a main point of switching was to go paperless.
  • [In our experience,] screens can now be "locked", so we can't see something if our coworker is also looking at it.
  • [I believe that] the financial hit our company took from this switch was astronomical. [In my opinion:] Beware!
Read full review
ScreenShots

SmartBid Screenshots

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