By Constructech
These days the small to medium-sized contractor has all the means necessary to compete with their larger counterparts in the marketplace--at least from an IT perspective. At a time where IT dollars are at a premium and contractors cannot afford to take on added staff, technology providers are doing all they can to ensure the cost to deploy and manage IT isn't the factor standing in the way of your firm competing on a large-scale basis.
A good example of this trend is with cloud computing. Hosting IT systems in the cloud isn't just for the larger firms. In fact, the cloud is in many ways more ideally suited for small to medium-sized contractors due to the cost and resource-saving capabilities. Still, by going the cloud route contractors still need to ensure they are working with a system suited for their industry-specific needs.
This is why the latest announcement from Viewpoint Construction Software, Portland, Ore., is so timely. The Viewpoint V6 Fast Track program is targeted at small to medium-sized contractors, for which Viewpoint says are constantly looking for a better way to improve their cash flow, manage subcontractors, and have job costing, accounting, and payroll under one integrated solution.
This cloud-based integrated construction-management software package is made possible by Viewpoint's relationship with 3t Systems, Greenwood Village, Colo. The two companies announced a partnership last August to provide a "private cloud" concept to the construction industry.
Through the development of a customized cloud computing architecture, the companies believe clients will receive more data control and can provide hosted services to a designated number of people behind a secure firewall. This, coupled with the advances in virtualization and distributed computing, enables the companies to incorporate the same virtualization and scalability used in larger Internet-based datacenters to their "private cloud"method.