iSqFt for General Contractors

I used iSqFt for a short while before their last major overhaul and it definitely needed to be updated, but they took out a lot of features that make it almost as difficult to work with. I rate software based on the number of clicks it takes me to get something done and the last update has actually added more clicks.

Customer Support often has their hands tied because the system "was designed to work that way."

Pros

A much easier platform to work with. It has an updated feel to it, but this is probably the only good thing about it. I can navigate fairly easily between tabs such as bidder's invite list and the details of the project.

I can see fairly easily who has received the invite and who didn't.

Cons

Since the update, I have to now add contacts such as the architect, engineer, general contractor, etc. for a project individually instead of pulling from the contacts list. Some projects have up to 10 different professionals between the architect, mechanical eng, electrical eng, structural eng, site, GC, owner, etc. We even have to enter our own information if we want to add the estimator to the list.

Second most frustrating part is the bidder's list. We don't usually invite all bidders so we have a condensed list that we pull from. The site has a main directory and then we can add contacts to our personal directory, but sometimes the actual person isn't the one that we deal with. We can't modify "our" contacts because everything is saved by the email address. If the bidder changes anything, we have to manually sync with our contact list. I believe before, all contacts were "our" contacts.

The bidder's invite process is also time-consuming because I have to click a button to expand the spec section and then click the bidders from that section. Then click the next spec section to expand the bidder's list and click the bidder's I want to invite. Clicking individual bidders has always been ok, but the extra step I have to take is opening each spec section rather than just a complete list of bidders. This can add up to 20-30 extra clicks when I'm sending out bid invites.

Finding bidders that aren't on our condensed list also takes a lot of work. I have to search for a bidder (maybe by company name, phone, email, etc.) and then select them to add to the bid list. That takes me back to the list of bidders I'm inviting. Each time I add someone, it always takes me back to the main list and I have re-open the search window again to find the next person, not on our condensed list. So the steps are to (1) open the search window (2) type in and search for the company I need (3) select them from the search results (4) add to the list at which point that search window closes. Start back at step (1) again if I have more than company to add. The alternative is to not select bidders from our condensed list, to begin with, but that list is vast and would take just as long, if not longer, to scan through when I'm adding a handful of bidders from one spec section.

One other thing I wish they would change was the home projects screen. It shows all active, inactive, and archived projects. I can uncheck the inactive/archived or check the bidding only projects, but it changes back to the default to show all projects every time I log in. I wish I could start each session with just the active bidding projects.

They also changed the way documents are saved. Once I upload drawings or specs, I have to manually edit each file with the page numbers. This is minor and I've noticed that most other companies don't even bother to specify the number of pages in each file or the page size. If you upload each spec section as a separate file, making this change (which involves in several clicks per edit) can be very time-to consume.

Advice to Others

I know a lot of companies use this, but there has to be a better option out there.

I think my cons remark pretty much says it all.

Pros

When if first came out 10 or 12 years ago it was very good. But now it is old, outdated and unreliable.

Cons

You gave full access to the subcontractors which made your system unreliable. Many of the subcontractors and suppliers went into the system and tagged themselves for every trade on the list instead of their specific trade. This made your system very unreliable at best for monitoring sub responses. And difficult and time consuming when selecting specific subs for each of the trades. Just as example, when you look up electrical subs you also have landscape subs, roofers, door suppliers, drywall subs, painter, plumbers, HVAC sub in the electrical category because you let subs tag themselves for all trades. Instead of sorting through 300 electrical subs I have to sort through 900 subs, most of them not electrical subs. Not sure if that was your intent but it is what has happened.