SmartBid Bid Management Software

JE Dunn Construction is an ENR top 20 General Contractor with offices from Charlotte, NC to Seattle, WA. We have been using SmartBidNet nationally since March of 2010 and regionally in the Southeast for another year prior to that. Before using SmartBidNet, we used iSqFt for several years and several other systems including Pipeline and BidFax.

SmartBidNet is the right bid management software package for our organization for a multitude of reasons, several of which are:
- Flexibility and customization of the system set-up
- SmartBidNet's commitment to adopting current technologies
- Ease of use for subcontractors

The SmartBidNet system can be configured to accommodate firms ranging in size from only a couple of users to the largest multi-divisional, multi-office organizations. We currently have a total of 431 users across 20 different offices. SmartBidNet allows us to configure our system so that we can group our internal users, projects, and subcontractors by office and our offices by regions so that we can tailor the access of our users to fit what those users should be working on. We can limit or allow access to projects and subcontractor records by user, by proficiency, by office, by region, or by function (preconstruction, operations, accounting, HR, etc.). As an administrator, this flexibility is invaluable and crucial in maintaining security and accuracy of our information.

The directors at SmartBidNet have adopted a shrewd practice of releasing new versions of their software about once a month. All subscribers to the system automatically get these new releases by virtue of the system being web-based. In these releases, SmartBidNet will implement (usually) small changes. Users benefit from this methodology by not having to go through extensive training following the typical 'Major Product Release' pattern of most software vendors. This method also allows SmartBidNet to run a continually changing list of product development activities and can more quickly adapt to incorporate newer technologies into their system. This has been particularly important to us as an organization as we have begun to integrate our custom in-house software applications with SmartBidNet in various ways. SmartBidNet offers a refreshingly open policy of allowing our internal systems to push or pull information directly to / from the SmartBidNet system, commenting to us at one point, "It's your data, you can do whatever you want with it".

The last item I want to highlight speaks for itself. SmartBidNet leads the industry in ease of access and ease of use for subcontractors. One button access of project information was pioneered by SmartBidNet. Their commitment to a simple subcontractor interface is second to none.

SmartBidNet has allowed us to pull together all of the offices for our entire company into a cohesive, well-organized, properly restricted system for the first time ever. This has allowed us to capitalize on many of the synergies that a multi-office general contractor should have in regards to shared resources and shared contacts. It has been a major improvement over previous systems.

It did get us out in touch with the trades, but the coverage was week.

Pros

I do like the way a project is created and the publishing features. I do feel that it was advantageous in the way we were able to take a project that we were going to bid and get the information out to the trades

Cons

I hated the fact that their database is so out of date. Many times our bid invite was going out to the wrong person or that person was no longer with the company. The software needs some form of check and balance to ensure that the information is accurate and that companies are keeping thier information correct.