Managing a construction firm today comes with its unique set of challenges. Thankfully, there are software solutions in the market that cater to the business, technical, and operational requirements of these firms.
Serving construction and capital project firms across North America, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia for almost 50 years, Toronto-based CMiC is a leading construction ERP provider. In fact, one in five of Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) top 400 contractors have made CMiC their ERP of choice.
Key stats that showcase CMiC’s secure foothold in the construction software space include:
• Being a leader in next generation construction ERP, which was reinforced by the launch of CONSTRUCT™ suite in 2022
• Over 30 of CMiC’s customers have revenues of $1B+
• Serving over 400 cloud customers (gained since 2014)
CMiC’s success springs from their vast knowledge of the construction industry, giving the team the insight necessary to deliver robust solutions to help customers improve performance. Since 1974, CMiC has carved out a reputation for pioneering construction management software to help construction firms optimize and transform their businesses.
Over the years, the company continued to expand their suite of applications with an eye to end user functionality. While CMiC has always led with innovation, 2014 marked a turning point in the company’s revenue as more than 400 new mid-market to enterprise firms joined its customer base. With a SaaS deployment being positioned as an option to cater to the different technology stacks of each firm, providing customers with multi-tenant cloud access catapulted the technology leader’s success.
From a software deployment option perspective, the company introduced the SaaS option in 2014. In 2015, they introduced mobile functionality to key applications, followed by new resource planning in 2016 and a new business intelligence tool in 2017. In 2020, they announced that they had open API integrations, which took their business to the next level.
2021 saw the launch of the Human Resources & Payroll mobile application. Staying on top of their commitment to investing in Research & Development, along with a strong focus on product innovation, CMiC continues to utilize machine learning, artificial intelligence, data intelligence, and other emerging technologies to propel the company forward and provide valuable solutions to clients.
CMiC is committed to evolving alongside the construction industry and their customers’ diverse needs. As the construction industry changes, the demand for software tools that transform and ease the process, while providing safe and secure navigation, has increased, and the desire to support profitability and longevity for clients underscores CMiC’s focus on functionality.
One of CMiC’s key competitive advantages in the construction tech market is their comprehensive and integrated suite of solutions built upon a robust, modern, and flexible platform. Accordingly, the company’s software is dynamic enough to address needs from the initial bid stages through to the completion of construction projects. For customers using CMiC, automating processes—from payroll to field operations to project management—is vital in a demanding industry.
At the highest level, their solutions are divided into two categories: CMiC Financials and CMiC Project Management. CMiC Financials helps construction firms manage accounting, human capital and payroll, inventory, and equipment—effortlessly. Through their cutting-edge, industry-specific functionality with proven workflows, CMiC Financials delivers total visibility of real-time data in complex environments with shifting cost structures—a single and persistent version of truth, from the back office to field operations.
Built to manage construction projects, with “layered-in” business intelligence software to help make data-driven decisions in real-time, key applications include Accounting, HR and Payroll, Opportunity Management (CRM), and Resource Planning as well as Inventory and Equipment Management.
CMiC Project Management software enables teams to collaborate with project stakeholders, control project changes, manage subcontractor tasks, stay on top of material suppliers, and simplify the bid process. Key applications in this category include Bidding & Procurement, Project Management, Drawing Management, and Project Controls.
From a business benefit perspective, this suite of solutions enables construction firms to complete complex projects with tightly managed costs and timeframes. They are also designed to help drive collaboration between project stakeholders, control project changes, manage subcontractor tasks, stay on top of material suppliers, simplify the bid process, and manage documents effectively. On top of that, managers can track labour productivity, manage labour budgets and payroll, and maintain the schedule of their field teams seamlessly.
CMiC also provides robust analytics capabilities which, by design, unify business applications and construction analytics tools, simplifying how firms manage and utilize construction data and insights. Embedded directly into their core CMiC interface, dashboards and reports are accessible via an end-user environment that is familiar and easy-to-use.
In 2022, CMiC launched their most innovative product suite to date, CMiC CONSTRUCT™. As an enterprise project management solution built with cutting edge technology, CONSTRUCT™ is designed to help construction firms drive integrated project delivery, optimize processes, and heighten office-to-field communications. From a foundation perspective, CONSTRUCT™ is built with a next-generation technology platform “layered in” with Business Intelligence to help teams make data-driven decisions in real time.
By design, CONSTRUCT™ offers end-to-end visibility and control over all aspects of construction operations. With all data in one place, firms can streamline processes, reduce data entry errors, and eliminate redundancies. This promotes greater efficiency and productivity across an organization. More importantly, the solution comes with advanced mobile functionality and provides consistent user-interface across iOS, Android, and the web, with solid offline support. On top of that, the platform also adapts to the user input method—be it a mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen device.
From a business benefit perspective, this robust suite of solutions equips users to:
• Enable creative workflows
• Accelerate processes and project deliverables through real-time collaboration
• Optimize cross-platform usage
• Maximize productivity through strong offline capabilities
“Our next-generation ERP, CONSTRUCT™ is a comprehensive solution that incorporates everything from back-office to the front-end field to the model to the drawing,” says Gord Rawlins, President and CEO—CMiC.
One of the secrets to CMiC’s longevity within this competitive space is that it is not just a technology company—on the contrary, with their ever-increasing customer-facing teams, from Implementation Managers to Account managers to Customer Success Managers. On top of that, additional forms of support they provide include:
• CMiC Assist, a robust knowledge portal (which includes hundreds of new training videos)
• Flexible training (including remote options)
• A virtual chatbot that delivers in-product help and training resources.
CMiC’s commitment to excellence has led to a long list of awards, including Deloitte’s Canada’s Best Managed Companies award for six consecutive years. Adding to that is the TrustRadius Tech Cares award which CMiC won in 2022, TrustRadius’ Winter 2023 Best of Award, as well as Tech in Motion’s Timmy Awards in 2019. CMiC has also won Construction Executive’s Hot Products and Hot Companies awards the past several years.
With the company celebrating half a century in business next year, their 2023 CONNECT conference is set to mark their silver jubilee in style. As an early adopter of new technologies, CMiC continues to break ground within the global construction industry and is looking forward to expanding their reach across Europe, Africa, and Asia in the coming years.
