Item: Procore
Rating: 7
Author: Austin Tuck

Overall Satisfaction with Procore

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Better clarity on the activities, documentation and critical information associated with our projects, which number in the hundreds. Procore allows us to easily collaborate with our employees, outside members, other consultants, our clients, etc. Perhaps most importantly, Procore enables us to better serve our clients by keeping critical project information together in a trusted system. It has even enabled us to compete with much larger firms by showcasing the quality of work produced.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Field communication is made easier (with the right workforce)
Drawings and their markups are more accessible
Forms can be used to get safety logs done quicker after the initial phase of showing/teaching employees how to use and navigate

Cons

Customer support did not help with new features being released
Many things that were talked about in the initial demo were not quite what they were made out to be
Hard to use with our accounting system ComputerEase

Return on Investment

Learning how tech-savvy your workers need to be to use Procore to the full extent has led us to look for other alternatives.
Procore has shown us how big of a tool unit-based budgets can be
A field communication system has to be able to talk back and forth with your accounting system

Systems Integrated With

ComputerEase did not quite work like we had hoped.

BusyBusy time-keeping was initially integrated with Procore but ended up not being used once Procore's time-keeping system was released.

Daily Logs

We use the form tool inside Procore to fill out our daily reports. Being able to know who has not turned in their forms by a certain timetable saves us time not having to track down pen and paper reports, since you can send them by email after filling them out in Procore.

Procore Impact on Talent Retention

Procore more than anything else showed us the need to look for and recruit workers who were familiar with using technology on a daily basic. We saw the application being used more efficiently when the worker had experience using apps and software for school, past jobs or had a healthy social media presence.

Alternatives Considered

Trimble Connect and Rhumbix

Procore was our first dive into field-to-office software. We have not tested or demoed any of the products listed above but these have been the other "big players" that we have heard of other companies in our are using.

Likelihood to Recommend

Procore is great with a technology-savvy workforce. Employees need to be quick learners or already use technology on a daily basis to be able to learn the ins and outs of Procore. One of the main issues we had with Procore was getting it to talk back and forth for time-keeping with our accounting system ComputerEase.

Procore Feature Ratings

Using Procore

Users and Roles

20 - Most users are in the field as project managers or foreman. The rest are made up of office workers (accounting, payroll, HR, IT manager) and of course the director of operations and president.

Support Headcount Required

2 - In-house support falls on our IT guy and the director of operations who is approving time each week. These two users were over the implementation of Procore and over that and teaching others how to use the software for their field of work, gradually became the most learned on the applications. Patience is a key aspect of learning the program and then teaching it to the end users.

Business Processes Supported

Time keeping in the field
Daily safety forms being filled out

Innovative Uses

Use of other add-ons that were available (zapier, Azure)
Procore BIM just added to our package looks like a game changer for us

Future Planned Uses

Wearable technology seems to be something Procore is looking into, that would be a big game changer for construction
Deeper dive into the construction financials module

Likelihood to Renew

Not 100% privy to this information but Procore has had a strong first year for us

Other Software Used

ComputerEase Construction Software, AutoCAD, Navisworks

Evaluating Procore and Competitors

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation
Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
Third-party Reviews

Procore had the features we wanted. It was the biggest name in field to office technology. All other packages lacked when showed next to Procore, and the company knows this. They charge a premium for the software and do not expect them to make changes for small companies when they already do enough business.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

Ask for a trial period. Speed up the set up to see where we lacked in areas before turning it over to the field end users. A lot of modules can be hard to grasp/learn. Having a bigger team to go over the training would have helped the evaluation and selection.

Procore Implementation

Implementation Rating

Make sure you know what you are getting into with the communication of Procore and your accounting system. Does your accounting system have an open API? If not, make sure you are willing and able to commit the time necessary to configure a way to get useable information out of Procore and into your software at the office.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Yes -

Train the Trainer approach was taken. The IT guy was put through many hours of videos and reading to get comfortable with the system then he would roll out the technology in phases (in the following order)

In - House users
Project Managers and Foreman's
Field Employees

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a minor issue with the implementation - Change will always cause issues, but the roll out process was so long that users were able to work out kinks before the final day to roll out the technology.

Implementation Issues

Communication with our accounting software and Procore
Training users on the tools they needed to learn

Procore Training

Training Types Used

Online training

In-Person Training

Online Training

Training can be at times hard to follow and a little boring, but this is your best bet to get the software on track and deployed into the field. Procore's web materials and videos can be helpful but the MOST helpful is when you are using the software and have the live chat support function at your disposal.

Ease of Procore Training

We used training to get familiar with the product before use.

Configuring Procore

Product Configurability

Not customizable, what you get is what you get. This should not be a problem with most users because what you get is a lot of functionary and tools, but if the time arrases where you might could be innovative and think out side the box, Procore may not allow you.

Configuration Lessons

Make sure before you buy, what you want to do is supported and you see for yourself the application. Do not take the sale's men word on the matter. They are doing their job in making the product look like the right fit, it is up toy you to determine if it truly is or not.

UI Customization

No - there is no facility to customize the interface

Extensibility and Customization

No - the product does not support adding custom code

Additional Customization Considerations

None was allowed.

Procore Support

Support Rating

Fast to reply but with most cases, if you can not find what you need through their web materials, the customer service agent will just give you "this is not offered at this time" excuse.

Procore Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Quick Initial Response	Not kept informed Escalation required Need to explain problems multiple times

Bug Resolution

Exceptional Examples of Procore Support

When we needed to create a CSV export file to go into our accounting system, the agent who was over the creating of the macro was very helpful. All though it was annoying to have to create on in the first place, the agent who we worked with for multiple days was helpful and very insightful on how to make the sheet work.

Using Procore

Usability

You must first learn in depth how to use each module. Once the time and preparation is taken to learn the product, users can become very effective in using the technology in the field.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use	Difficult to use Requires technical support Slow to learn Lots to learn

Easy Tasks

All of Procore's modules need time to learn
Once you learn them however, they can be used fast (forms, time keeping, mark ups etc)

Difficult Tasks

Loading unit installed budgets
Exporting weekly time sheets to go into our accounting system

Mobile Interface Availability and Impressions

Yes - One of the better tools the Procore package has to offer for your company. A well made app that is very mobile friendly for iPhone's Androids and iPads.

Procore Reliability

Scalability

Very reliable, no bugs were ever found in our use.

Reliability and Availability

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.

Performance

Very fast response times and updates drawings, forms, time sheets and other tools very quickly.

Integrating Procore

Systems Integrated With

ComputerEase Accounting Software

Very difficult, all communication in-between the two systems is manually forced and not seamless in any way.

Make sure you know what you are getting into with this BEFORE you buy.

Future Integration Plans

None as of right now
Procore BIM answered a lot of that for us

Types of Integration

File import/export
Single Signon
API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
Javascript widgets

Integration Lessons Learned

Make sure you know what kind of time and resource commitment you are getting into with Procore. If the software you are wanting to use with it is not a single push function that talks back and forth, you are going to have to get with their support and find out a way t make that connection.

Ease of Integration

Procore argues they have enough tools that you will not have to integrate much. That can be the case for most companies but we rely heavily on our accounting system so having that communication between the two is vital.

Relationship with Procore Technologies

Pre-Sale Experience

Very easy to get a hold of and helpful during the process. Once again, it is up to you to make sure this is a good fit for your company. The sales team is doing their job to make sure the product looks like a good fit, do not rely on them solely to make your decision.

Post-Sale Experience

We got bounced round by their support team after signing the contract, this was a little annoying in not knowing who was best to contact but they all shared about the same knowledge of the product and were able to help us when we needed it in a timely fashion.

Key Negotiation Points

NONE, you sign a contract, make sure you know the ins and outs of it before you agree.

Dealing with Procore Technologies

Very helpful, they will be easy to work with, just do your part and come to the table knowing what you and your company need from Procore, and make sure that is discussed to your satisfaction before moving forward.