How Cloud Technology Solves The Challenges Faced by Contractors

The real estate industry is booming across the globe. One can easily witness hi-tech construction projects, be it residential buildings, commercial malls, etc. becoming popular amongst the masses.

But behind the successful completion of these projects lies the hard work of the involved contractors and project managers. They work day in and day out to perform project-related tasks, which need to be completed on time.

Some of the main aspects of the construction industry include work scheduling and budget management. However, in between all this, contractors face several challenges that can be best handled with the help of technology.

Cloud computing is one such technology that has turned out to be an advanced face of modern technology for the construction industry.

There are several different desktop software solutions that enable contractors to manage their work efficiently. But when backed by cloud technology, their features grow even more in terms of utility.

For contractors, being available to their clients, vendors, and partners ahead of all the business-specific challenges is important to outperform the competition.

Here are some of the most common challenges that contractors can overcome with the help of cloud computing –

1. Lack of Flexibility to Do Work

Every contractor wants to grow the business and handle multiple construction projects at the same time. But when the contractor succeeds in achieving that, the work-related complications grow further.

Business growth demands higher efficiency at work, along with the ability to handle the construction processes followed at different sites.

Indeed, the chaos that contractors have to face every day at work is much more than those working in offices. They have to handle multiple teams, visit several construction sites regularly, supervise the work being done, and do much else.

Even though there are certain advanced software designed for contractors, having them installed in the office computers does not help a lot.

It is where cloud computing comes in to add flexibility to the work-life of contractors.

The highly used construction software such as Sage 100 Contractor can be hosted on the cloud with the help of a cloud service provider.

Once the cloud migration process is completed, the software and its data can be accessed at any time and from anywhere by the authorized users.

In simple terms, cloud technology makes it easier for contractors to see the progress reports of work done at different sites, even from a remote location. The flexibility to do work from anywhere improves their work productivity.

2. Risk of Losing Business-related Data

Previously, the construction industry was considered the least digitized. But with time, more and more contractors are willing to handle the work-related data digitally. They are now using software solutions that are specifically designed to simplify their work.

Data files of different projects with all the related details, bills, invoices, etc.; there is a lot of digital data that gets saved in their office computers. Consequently, there is a considerable risk of losing this data at any point in time.

Because of hardware malfunction, data theft, or similar other events, loss of the important data can make a contractor lose his peace of mind.

Simply put, it is not easy for contractors to eliminate the risk of data loss when working on local systems. But this risk can be minimized with the help of cloud solutions tailored to match their needs.

One can opt for cloud hosting solutions for construction software and data to keep them safe and protected. Once the software and its data get hosted on the cloud and is made accessible to authorized users, the contractors do not need to worry about possible data loss. Even if the local computer system gets crashed or faces functional issues, the data stays safe on the remote server and can be recovered easily.

Some people may think having safety measures installed in the local computers can keep their data safe, which is true as well. But with cloud technology, they get an additional layer of security to prevent unexpected data loss.

3. Difficulty to Collaborate with Team Members in Real Time

For contractors, team management is a crucial part of their day-to-day work. As per their work responsibilities, they need to collaborate with several stakeholders of different construction projects altogether.

Whether it is about guiding the team members about the work to be done or sharing the updates with clients, real-time collaboration is highly important in the life of a contractor.

Unfortunately, it is not generally easy for them to collaborate with their teammates in real time. The same contractor can’t be at multiple construction sites at the same time to supervise the project.

Still, the projects must be completed within strict deadlines.

To enable real-time collaboration between the team members, a good number of contractors have started using cloud technology.

Cloud-hosted construction software such as Sage 100 Contractor can be made accessible to several users who can work on different phases of the project simultaneously. Even the clients can have access to the data saved in the cloud to check the project-related updates in real time.

As a result, productivity and work-efficiency of all the team members at work improve as well.

4. IT Failures Causing Business Continuity Disruptions

Irrespective of the industry, IT-related issues and failures can happen at any point in time if there is IT infrastructure installed in-house.

The same is true even for the construction businesses.

As detailed above, the contractors can have multiple construction software, and other IT resources installed in-house for their team to work upon. But it all comes with the responsibility to manage and prevent IT failures from happening.

There is always a slight risk of events like system crashing, software integration issues, etc., which can cause a discontinuity in maintaining the flow of business operations. Plus, it becomes necessary to hire in-house IT experts to deal with such events whenever they happen.

Being a part of the enormous construction industry, business discontinuity can harm the reputation of contractors to a large extent.

To be on the safer side, they can get helped with the cloud solutions.

Renowned cloud hosting providers guarantee 99.99% uptime to all their clients, thus, ensuring that the business continuity does not get affected at all.

5.   Budget Constraints

With time, the reputation of contractors builds up as per the projects they have completed. They get more clients, more projects to work upon and grow further.

At the backend, it also means that they need to invest more in the required IT infrastructure, be it computer systems, software, etc. along with an IT team.

In short, they may get to face constraints related to the budget they can afford, which can have their impact on the business growth plans to be followed.

The financial challenge seems even more prominent to smaller contractors.

A practical solution for contractors to deal with this challenge is to opt for cloud hosting services. It is because they need not invest in buying, maintaining, and upgrading advanced IT infrastructure in-house. The chosen cloud solution provider takes care of it all.

One can choose the cloud-subscription plan based on his specific business needs and pay as per use.

This way, selecting the right cloud hosting provider can benefit a contractor in not just one, but several ways.

Conclusion

Several challenges related to the construction industry can be best handled with the help of advanced cloud solutions, as detailed above.

Cloud solutions are highly secure, flexible, and budget-friendly. When utilized maximally, they can improve work productivity, leads to higher data security, and ensure business growth for a contractor.

If you work in the construction industry as a contractor, now is the right time to switch to the cloud. Connect with our solutions consultant at 855-375-6515.