Likelihood to Recommend 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.
Read full review 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 Pros Same format Spreadsheet Ability to adjust by percentages Ability to separate phases into categories Read full review 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 Cons 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. Read full review 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 Likelihood to Renew It is a good product and meets all of our needs
Read full review Support Rating 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.
Read full review 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.
Read full review Alternatives Considered For our needs and after completing a valued score card SAGE has always exceeded our min. requirements
Read full review 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 Return on Investment Manupulation of existing data is very user friendly thanks to "Database Manager". A bit pricey Read full review 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. Read full review ScreenShots