3 Tips for Construction Companies Heading to the Cloud

3 Tips for Construction Companies Heading to the CloudIn this day and age, it’s hard to imagine a construction company having long-term success if it doesn’t embrace technology. That said, make the jump isn’t always easy. Not only does it often involve a lot of new jargon and requirements, but it can be hard to even know where to begin. Should your construction company be 100% paperless? Or should you just back-up your fund control software? What risks are inherent in either option?

Read on to learn three of the things that we believe every construction company should know before they make the leap. If you’re not sure about the right software for the construction community, let ECL Software help. We specialize in this field so our products aren’t ones that can be customized to work for the construction industry – they were created to offer everything our clients need.

  1. This is about more than a new best practice
  2. Many construction companies start to make the transition and proclaim that backing up data is now a best practice. However, as far as we’re concerned at ECL Software, this isn’t far enough. Backing up data should be a requirement. Whether you make the jump to paperless or not, you should 100% have an effective plan in place for backing up all electronic data. You should also have plans in place for archiving and other needs.

  3. The risks of backing up are nothing compared to the risks of not doing so
  4. We see a lot of construction companies get nervous about the risk of backing up data. They worry about privacy, public disclosure, or breaches of security. The truth is that these are real concerns – but they exist no matter where or how you do your computing. Does moving your data to the cloud bring with it new security risks?

    To get the answer to that question, think about all the risks that exist if you have your networks and servers connected to the internet. If you choose to move that data to the cloud in order to back-up your data, then the risk of loss is being moved from you to the service provider you choose.

  5. Collaboration is infinitely easier when the cloud is involved
  6. Construction companies require more collaboration than many other companies. The best way to make the most of your collaboration options is to use the cloud. For example, what aspects of the construction projects are you specifically involved in? Whether you’re involved in litigation, pre-construction design, scheduling, etc., having a controlled access point to get project documents makes it faster, easier and more secure than it would to go to several servers to get varying information.

When you go to the cloud, everyone working on the project can see, code, and share documents at various times throughout the drafting process. What’s more, you get to decide who has what access to certain documents, such as who can edit certain files. To learn more about utilizing construction software to further your company, reach out to ECL Software today.