Apart from some industries, the construction industry is in a state of flux. New technologies are being developed every year and companies are struggling to stay on top of the necessary updates.
Unfortunately, this rapid tech innovation can be intimidating, so many construction businesses continue using decades-old legacy solutions because they “work well enough.”
If this is what your company has been doing, then the majority of your IT problems are likely the result of outdated/unmaintained technology systems.
There are powerful IT opportunities available that you should be taking advantage of! But know that technology for the sake of technology isn’t the solution.
You need to partner with an IT firm that understands the special needs of the construction industry and is able to suggest tech improvements that solve your specific problems.
IT Problems Facing The Construction Industry
The IT team here at Emerald City Solutions has spent decades serving the construction industry. Some of the common problems that construction companies approach us about include:
- Outdated legacy systems that require a complete overhaul to update.
- Problematic job trailers that don’t sync properly with the main office.
- Lack of in-house IT talent due to the high turnover rate within the construction industry.
- Less-than-reliable internet service at the job site.
- Outdated communication systems.
- Trouble maintaining a wide range of mobile applications and devices.
While it can be easy for an IT company to come in and throw technology at a problem until it goes away, Emerald City Solutions uses a different process to solve our client’s dilemmas.
As stated earlier, tech for the sake of tech isn’t going to work, and in practice, this usually ends up causing more harm than good.
To prevent this from happening, our team never makes technology recommendations until we understand exactly what our client’s problem is. This “problem first, tech second” process is what has helped establish Emerald City Solutions as an IT leader in the construction industry.
As an example of how we tailor technology to meet the unique demands of the construction industry, let’s explore one of the listed problems further!
An IT Firm That Understands The Unique Demands Of The Construction Industry
One of the most frequent issues our construction clients come to us with is job trailer set up and maintenance.
Traditionally, the job trailer has been seen by IT companies as the customer’s responsibility. So while most IT firms will help you set up, troubleshoot, and maintain your main office, they won’t actually go out to the job site and help you with your job trailer.
Obviously, this isn’t ideal.
After all, the job trailer is an extension of your office. So if both locations are set up and maintained by separate teams, then your technology systems will likely have trouble communicating and sharing files.
And this is exactly what happens — files aren’t synced properly, resulting in miscommunications, technology downtime, and delayed construction schedules.
Every week, we get calls from office managers that sound like this:
“I’m having serious issues with my job trailer. The foreman is complaining that the internet service at the job site sucks and my office workers keep having trouble getting on the computer system. What can you do for me?”
Fortunately, our vast experience has enabled us to develop an innovative and efficient solution for this unique construction technology problem. Which brings us to:
How We Used Our “Problem First, Technology Second” Process To Solve The Job Trailer Problem
Technology plays a crucial role in today’s construction environment. The crew on site needs access to the business computer system — including files, blueprints, communications, and other office applications.
The job trailer meets these needs by operating as a satellite office where managers and foremen can stay connected to the main office.
But, as shared in the last section, problems can quickly accumulate if your main office and job trailer are set up and maintained by separate IT teams.
After years of helping construction companies iron out the problems with their job trailers, we decided to put the problem to bed once and for all.
The first step was research. We asked numerous office managers and foremen about the problems they were facing.
Next, our team combined this information with the job trailer experience we already had.
Only after we understood the job trailer problem inside and out did we begin considering tech solutions. Having an accurate understanding of the issue empowered us to create a comprehensive solution that provides construction companies with the exact tech they need — no superfluous accessories!
What we developed is an all-inclusive solution that we call, “job trailer in a box.”
Job trailer in a box is a set of standard technology that you can use to quickly set up your trailer. It provides construction crews with these solutions:
- IT best practices, making sure that your systems operate effectively.
- Scaleability, so you can set up as many job trailer systems as you need and increase or decrease their size.
- Wireless capabilities, so that you can set up wifi for the job site.
- Reusability, allowing you to move job trailer in a box from site to site.
This is just one example of how Emerald City Solutions goes the extra mile to solve the unique IT problems of the construction industry.
To learn more about our team of IT experts can do for your company, contact us today.
