It was only a few short years ago that the Internet was a very different place. Websites were less centralized around a few selective powers, in addition to a general higher expectation of user competence. Nowadays it’s become relatively simple to open a website, thanks to hosting platforms such as Wix.com. This trend was kickstarted and further propagated by the Internet becoming a place for commerce, which drove the social media phenomenon, which looped back around to boost the commercial success of Internet-based business ventures even more. While many of these businesses were understandably consumer-based, with the notable examples of sites like Amazon and eBay, other industries have increasingly found their niche online. Construction is one such industry.
That said, the true strength of the Internet’s potential wasn’t being used by construction for quite some time. As with other websites of the Dot Com Era and prior, both contractors and suppliers primarily used their websites as storefronts, and little else. Contact information might be provided, as well as a listing of available services, but too many possibilities were being left out. There was far more to the construction industry than merely purchasing materials or hiring contractors for a job, after all. The day-to-day experience, the actual physical labor, was where the majority of the industry remained focused. Why couldn’t computers assist in that area as well?
A boon to the Internet as a whole, but especially to an industry as subject to immediate changes as construction, is the advent of cloud computing. By now the average computer user is aware of the concept: services which previously would require individual servers and registered domains could instead be obtained through the web itself.
As businesses increasingly invest in cloud technologies, it’s important to question where and how this technology can most accurately benefit the industry in question. With the Internet and the cloud as a whole becoming more of a staple in people’s lives since 2020, migration to the cloud is shifting from a potential option to a necessity for companies aiming to stay competitive in today’s market. This is especially true for an industry still playing catch-up to the rest of the world like construction.
For years–and even still to this day–the cost estimating process for construction companies usually boiled down to one of three options: composing the bid by hand, using a spreadsheet like Excel, or paying someone else to do it for you. None of these options are particularly efficient, even more so now that alternate solutions have become more readily apparent, and for a reasonable price.
Enter SharpeSoft
SharpeSoft Inc. was founded in 1986 by a civil construction contractor tired of the lack of quality cost estimating software keeping the industry back from success. Nothing like it existed on the market at that time, leading to SharpeSoft becoming an early innovator in the field, a position it maintains to this day. Incorporating the needs of contractors and laborers out in the field into an efficient, easy to use package, SharpeSoft still offers benefits that far outstrip the clunky programs offered by its competitors.
For nearly four decades, SharpeSoft has continued to develop that legacy of real-world estimating experience to make bidding faster and easier.
Using trusted cloud providers to bring solutions to you
Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon, is one of the top performers in the online cloud market, providing platforms and APIs to thousands of companies looking to take full advantage of the rapidly growing online market. AWS shares its cloud provider dominance with Microsoft, IBM, and Google, making it implicitly difficult for smaller providers to stay competitive. SharpeSoft takes full advantage of the strengths of AWS in order to focus on what’s more important: bringing quality cost estimating software to its users at an affordable price.
SharpeSoft Offers Exceptional Efficiency
Other cloud-based construction software can take several months to reach the implementation phase after gathering information with which to populate a custom database, not to mention training. SharpeSoft offers a 15-day maximum setup period, beginning immediately after the initial purchase date.
Up-front and long-term costs are also more affordable, as cloud-based architecture removes the need to spend extra capital on expensive installations and physical upgrades. The SharpeSoft cloud environment costs less to onboard when signing up, and less throughout the entire lifespan of your subscription.
But more than anything, SharpeSoft is proud of the efficiency of the system itself. Geared for the average worker, the SharpeSoft Estimator features an elegant COBOL based system that’s easy to pick up, even for someone unfamiliar with the construction industry or the process of bidding. SharpeSoft sat down with Dave Fantini, previously president of FDM Contracting, for details:
“When I was in the market for an estimating software, a friend of mine said ‘Dave, you gotta call these guys.’ He said that he looked at the program while he was there, and he said it’s something that he would’ve bought right off the bat if he was still in the sewer business. He said it’s efficient. It’s so fast. You can bid for a job yourself, and it’s so simple.”
Security for the Future
A worry that plagues most industries located primarily online, and especially functioning on cloud architecture, is the question of security. This fear primarily stems from a lack of understanding on how the cloud functions. While any system is open to potential failures, SharpeSoft works hard to ensure that its users can access their data safely. Routine updates to cloud processing and server infrastructure keep clients in business. Housed on multiple servers, each customer’s data is kept on private databases, inaccessible to anyone without proper authorization.
As cloud trends continue to shift, SharpeSoft is excited to continue to be on the ground floor for future innovations.
About SharpeSoft
SharpeSoft Inc. was founded in 1986 by a civil construction contractor who was so discouraged with the estimating software available at the time he decided to develop his own. All of the systems that he had tried actually made bidding harder because they did not mesh with the way estimators really worked. They were rigid, unintuitive, and unrealistic as if designed by programmers who had no real-world civil construction experience.
His solution was simple and practical – use the same terminology and methods used by real estimators. Make bidding faster by utilizing reusable bid items and by allowing multiple users to work on a job at the same time. Allow bid items to be broken down into multiple levels for exacting accuracy. Make the interface simple and intuitive so that even those with very little computer experience can use the system.
Although he designed it for his own use, he shared his system with friends and colleagues, who also found it superior to the systems they had been using. As word spread, people started offering to buy the program and SharpeSoft was born.
Fast forward almost 40 years and our systems remain the most comprehensive and user-friendly software solutions available for civil construction contracting and project management.
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