Let’s be honest: spreadsheets are the backbone of any modern construction business. They can vary by form and provider, by functions, or by various small specifics. Still, they are cheap, familiar, and convenient, and that’s why we love them. Their influence has grown so much that even if you are using off-the-shelf management software, it still shares many features and services with traditional spreadsheets, or even uses them under the hood.

Another harsh truth is that migrating from one software to another is one of the most challenging and complex tasks for any industry or business. There are reasons many companies continue to use legacy systems from the early 2000s.

The final, undefeatable statement is that, despite their overall usability and convenience, spreadsheet-based solutions have many outdated features and imperfections. Everyone wants a more modern and innovative solution, but many of us back down after learning the scale and complexity of such a transition.

But what if we told you there are ways to move from good old spreadsheets to modern, intelligent systems with ease?

Why Migrate From Spreadsheets?

First, let’s talk about the reasons to consider such a transition.

Clearly, spreadsheets are cheap, simple, familiar, and convenient. Combined, these aspects make it an almost perfect solution for hard industries like construction: most specialists know how to use this software, requiring minimal or no training and onboarding.

This sounds excellent, and, frankly speaking, actually is. However, we must also discuss the challenges and issues of spreadsheet-based workflows:

• Manual data entry and updates are among the core problems. Despite countless formulas and templates, data inputs must be done manually. As a result, any such business is error-prone and suffers from human factors.
• Lack of automation is the second crucial drawback. Data management is not only about copying, pasting, and writing down the information. It includes countless operations, such as data sharing, verification, editing, and analysis.
• Version control. Spreadsheets are used for better performance and data management. However, usually the same sheets are used by different departments at the same time. If someone makes changes in the sheet, it must be updated for the rest of the employees. The more people have access to the file, the harder it is to control the version’s relevance.

How to Switch from Spreadsheets to Smart Systems?

Fortunately, there are many ways to fix the above issues at once. Basically, you have two main options:

1. Choosing off-the-shelf solutions. They suggest centralized, online updates that improve version control and semi-automate specific operations. Yet, the effect of such systems is still limited.
2. Considering IT services for construction. Custom software development approaches help to pinpoint your core business needs and challenges. Using this information, your tech partners will design and develop a tailored software solution that meets your requirements and constraints.

Ready-made systems usually provide clients with onboarding materials and various guides on how to use the software correctly. At the same time, a custom software development approach offers a much higher level of personalization and ensures a seamless switch from spreadsheets to modern intelligent systems.

In fact, while off-the-shelf solutions provide you with more advanced features compared to old-fashioned spreadsheets, they cannot offer as high-quality services as bespoke development on demand.

Choosing Between SaaS and Custom Construction Software

Each method for migrating from spreadsheets has its pros and cons. Your final choice should depend on your requirements, available resources, and final goals.

Time and Resources

For instance, off-the-shelf solutions are much cheaper and faster to integrate. As a result, they allow businesses to adapt software and start using it as soon as possible. Employees’ learning pace primarily determines the adoption time, as the software system already exists.

At the same time, custom software development requires a much larger initial budget because it is usually developed from scratch and entails numerous expenses, including developers’ salaries, tech licensing, software hosting, maintenance, and testing. Yet, despite a substantial initial investment, custom construction software usually delivers fast ROI and is more cost-efficient in the long run (typically 5 years or more).

Functionality and Scalability

SaaS systems have predestined architecture and infrastructure, as well as services and features to offer. At first glance, it seems legit and justified: you pay for what you are using. In reality, this is not exactly right. Many ready-made construction management systems are subscription-based, and users access the features available in the package.

Based on our experience, many SaaS clients have faced limitations in such services and the rigidity of these systems. In fact, off-the-shelf solutions make users adapt to software, not vice versa.

At the same time, the custom software development approach is always unique and tailored. Such projects aim to meet all your needs and requirements, even if it takes longer. Therefore, the software will meet your needs, and the services will be precisely the ones you have chosen.

Besides, such software is much more scalable and is planned for further software improvement and integrations. For instance, many ready-made solutions cannot implement more innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence or machine learning, because they are much older and complex, requiring extra steps to enable such compatibility.

At the same time, most custom products are designed with a long-term perspective, leaving room for further system scaling and adjustment. As a result, many startups and small custom systems adapted to the latest trends and offered new solutions such as artificial intelligence, much faster than large, rigid B2B solutions.

AI-Driven Spreadsheet Systems

Spreadsheets are indeed powerful tools for construction businesses and beyond. However, there are always ways to use the maximum potential from existing workflows.

Integrating artificial intelligence is one of the best and most efficient ways to keep things as usual while streamlining certain operations and reducing the risk of human error. Imagine it is similar to a more complex and autonomous formula that can perform many more actions and functions without human intervention.

The variety of use cases is limitless and can vary, depending on your goals and needs. For example, such systems can automatically find required information and paste it into spreadsheets or other management systems to which they are connected.

Despite artificial intelligence being a relatively new technology, it has already conquered numerous industries and businesses, helping them to achieve much higher results and better operational performance.

Thus, even if you are not interested in such integrations at the moment, you should definitely learn more about AI automation for businesses, as well as other innovative solutions and services that can help you grow your business.