Will A Microsoft 365 Construction Management Software Solution Work For Your Company?
If you’re looking for a way to maximize your construction project management strategy, consider better utilizing the tools already at your disposal. Believe it or not, many of the platforms and software solutions you’re already using haven’t been properly deployed. As a result, you may not even realize how much power you already have at your fingertips. Consider, for example, how you may be able to use your existing Microsoft Office 365 license as a driver for greater efficiency throughout your organization. Think about how existing SharePoint, Outlook, and Teams solutions might facilitate improved communication and collaboration. Then, find out how your other construction platforms, like Procore, Autodesk, BIM 360, etc., can work alongside your other programs to create the ultimate Microsoft 365 construction management software solution. This article will guide you through the benefits of a Microsoft Office 365 strategy while working to answer common questions generally associated with this approach.
There are more AECO software solutions than ever, and they all promise some pretty amazing results. Of course, the price for “new” can be steep. Particularly for an industry expected to do more with less and, once infrastructure dollars are dispersed, will be heavily scrutinized to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used appropriately.
And what if your “new” common data environment platform only works with certain other pre-designated tools used across the AECO. At that point, was it even worth investing in the newest and best tool on the market? Unlikely. The digital tools your organization uses should facilitate collaboration, communication, and efficiency. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Microsoft 365 has been around for quite a while and has innovated the way teams across all industries work together. Therefore, it should be no surprise that this robust platform can drive construction management success – both at the organization and project levels.
Get More From Your Existing Microsoft Office 365 License
Do you currently rely on Outlook to send and receive emails? Great! That means you already own M365! Unfortunately, however, if you’re like many others, you are only using Outlook on any given day, which means it’s unlikely you’ve unlocked its true potential. Microsoft 365 includes many powerful tools the AECO can deploy for immediate results.
Your Microsoft 365 license likely already includes access to SharePoint, Teams, One Drive, Power Automate, Azure, Power BI, Compliance and Security, and more. These tools, when harnessed correctly, are great at facilitating collaboration, document management, reporting, and automation. And the best part, once again, is that you already own it! Simply by taking a little time to learn about all the features available to you through M365 and developing proper strategies and procedures to maximize usage, you could realize huge savings while driving incredible results.
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Click Here To Read: From Systems Integration To AECO Digital Transformation
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Microsoft Office 365 & SharePoint For Construction FAQ
Of course, embracing and adopting a culture that embraces the entire Microsoft 365 tech stack is not without its challenges. In fact, introducing large-scale change is never easy, which has traditionally kept some companies away from the platform. Frankly, there’s so much to unbox, and it can be a little intimidating, especially if you don’t already have the breadth & depth of knowledge to drive its full potential or mold it to how you already work within the AECO.
As the only cloud-to-cloud solution within the AECO that fully understands and leverages the Microsoft 365 stack, ProjectReady has laid the groundwork necessary for properly leveraging the tools already at your disposal. In doing so, we addressed a few common questions raised by industry professionals.
How Can I Set-Up And Secure Construction Projects Within Microsoft Office 365?
Setting up SharePoint for construction-specific security challenges can be downright painful, especially when your IT staff already has so much on their plate. Depending on the size and scope of your project, relying on your company’s in-house tech team to put their daily responsibilities on hold to constantly update permissions at the job site, user clearance, and ensuring governance across the project is virtually unrealistic. Furthermore, the overhead associated with this type of task can become astronomical. ProjectReady has addressed this specific challenge by deploying a series of automated procedures designed to sync permissions across SharePoint and your other M365 systems at the touch of a button. Now, setting up and securing your construction projects within the Microsoft Office 365 space and managing governance between M365 and the different AECO software and platforms available has never been easier.
Why Should I Use A Tool That’s Not Specifically Built For The AECO?
While M365 isn’t built specifically to address the needs of the construction industry out of the box, its unique infrastructure is designed to be customized to meet the needs of all organizations, regardless of industry or specialty. Microsoft basically provided us with the framework and gives the green light to professionals to customize the product to address specific industry and organizational challenges. In fact, that’s why Microsoft Office 365 is so powerful. ProjectReady has been serving customers in the AECO space for more than two decades and, as a result, we gained a lot of insight into what an “ideal” M365 construction management solution might look like. Today, ProjectReady is proud to offer a tool that actually is specifically built for the AECO. Moreover, because of our deep understanding of the Microsoft tech stack, we are always improving and adapting our products to address the everchanging construction industry.
Will Microsoft 365 Replace The Other Construction Software Our Company Uses?
Microsoft Office 365 isn’t designed to replace the other software you use to do your job every day. It will, however, allow you to use your other software solutions more efficiently and effectively across your various project teams. Tapping into the M365 framework, ProjectReady deploys a true Integrated Data Environment (IDE) that can seamlessly read, sync, and share data, content, files, and more across leading AEC) tech solutions. BIM 360 docs, Procore RFIs and submittals, Bluebeam studio projects, Autodesk Revit files, are now easily accessible, governed, and synced to ensure complete project cohesiveness.
M365 Can Drive ROI Across The AECO
If you are an AECO pro who is looking for a way to make better use of your existing M365 subscription, consider a solution built by the only software company in the industry that fully understands and leverages the full Microsoft tech stack. The ProjectReady team works in tandem with Microsoft to help construction- and infrastructure-minded companies do more with the tools already at their disposal. ProjectReady’s team of industry experts and development professionals have unleashed the power of SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, Outlook, Power BI, and Azure (SQL & Active Directory); effectively connecting Microsoft 365 to industry specific platforms Autodesk BIM 360, Procore, and Bluebeam to deliver a solution that is rapid to deploy and easy to use.
ProjectReady solves the challenges already listed in this article (and then some), allowing you to better leverage and use your existing Microsoft 365 license:
- Automation of setup, security & governance of M365 solutions
- 95% reduction of IT overhead and cost
- Content synchronization
- Maintain control of the content you own across multiple platforms and systems through the synchronizing of projects across Microsoft 365 (including Teams and SharePoint for Construction), Autodesk Construction Cloud, Procore, and Box
- Built-in connected workflows
- RFI’s, approvals, submittals, and transmittals
- Email management with Outlook
- Advanced search across the entire project
- Comprehensive dashboards and Power BI capabilities
If you would like to learn how ProjectReady has helped construction companies world-wide to leverage the full power of Microsoft 365 please contact us go ahead and schedule a free demonstration today.
We would love to share some of our results with you. If you would like to learn how ProjectReady helped one company reduce administrative overhead by 95 percent, click here to access the case study. Alternatively, you can send your questions to [email protected] or fill out the form below and we will be happy to provide you with more information and show you a demonstration.