3 things to consider when choosing an ERP for your construction business

Companies in the construction industry know the challenges of juggling numerous moving pieces such as job costs and budgets, progress reporting, managing subcontractors, scheduling field crews, tracking materials and equipment, rescheduling due to delays, and much more. An all-in-one business management solution, such as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, can help streamline and automate various tasks. With an ERP, you can manage financials, project, scheduling, field service, customer and vendor relationships, employees, taxes, and more, all in a single software application.

But you don’t want to choose just any ERP. Ideally you will select an ERP that will meet the needs of your specific industry. After all, the needs of a construction company can be very different than that of a food and beverage company. A construction industry-tailored ERP should help you manage employees, contractors, vendors, and suppliers, schedule jobs easily, create and track budgets, and increase visibility across all operations.

With the infinite number of ERP solutions out today, how do you choose the best one for your construction business? The first step when selecting new software is to identify what exactly you need it to do. Start with a list of all the desired functionality, then divide the list into “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” to help you narrow the search. Once you have a clear idea of necessary functionality, then you can start researching solutions that meet those needs and provide some nice to have features.

What else should you consider when choosing an ERP? Below are the top three factors that our team of software experts recommend you take into account.

Since an ERP is meant to facilitate data flows and enhance productivity, it’s essential to ensure it connects with the rest of your technology stack. When evaluating options, take care to check out-of-the-box integrations with software you’re already using. Building custom integrations is possible if you find a solution that doesn’t connect with your other systems, but it is often expensive and lengthy, which could delay the implementation timeline of your ERP.

Equally important as the features of the ERP itself is how the system will be deployed across your business. Do you pay for the cost of the software upfront and host it on-premise with your own servers or do you deploy it in the cloud with a pay-as-you-go structure? ERP systems have traditionally been deployed on-premise, where you install and run the software on your company’s hardware and servers. Cloud-based ERP systems are becoming more common in today’s landscape. When you choose to deploy your system in the cloud, the software, databases, and associated data are delivered through the internet and can be accessed on any device with a web browser. This is especially relevant for the construction industry where many of your users need to access data while in the field at a project site on a mobile device or tablet.

In an ideal world you find an ERP solution that has every single functionality you want, and your business processes fit right into the system’s pre-built workflows. However, that is not often the case. Although there are many quality ERP systems tailored to construction industry processes, you’ll likely want to perform some system customizations to fully accommodate your specific company needs. When researching ERP options, be sure to investigate how customizable the system is and what is required to make it happen. What will it cost and how long will it take? How easy will it be to find someone with the skills necessary to perform these customizations?

The ERP software selection process can be daunting, especially when trying to find the best one for your specific industry. An experienced software partner can help your business evaluate options, select the best fit, implement the solution, customize it to your processes, and train your users on the system for long-term success.

Rand Group has over 20 years of experience delivering ERP systems for clients across industries. From configuration and data migration to training and user adoption, Rand Group will be with your organization every step of the way to ensure a smooth transition onto your ERP application. Our best practices, documentation, and tools are designed to help you implement effective technology strategies. Contact us today to get started.