The Must-Have Technology Tools

AGC TechBrief, April 2012
By James Benham, President of JB Knowledge Technologies, Inc., Makers of SmartBidNet

Depending on your age, the technology on your desk has probably evolved quite a bit since your first day there. Whether your beeper was going off at your hip or you were punching away at an encyclopedia-sized laptop, technology today makes those days seem archaic in retrospect. But the best part is there’s a good chance you haven’t even seen the best of today.

Every day, an innovation emerges with the potential to propel your work day into the Jetsons’ era faster than you could have predicted. Many of these developments will be bought by the likes of Google or Facebook, who will then find a way to incorporate them into something you already use or an unreachable luxury for high-class nerds. But some will find their way into what I will call your "Tech Toolbox." These are the technologies that can and will impact personal and corporate bottom lines and whose value far outweighs the minimal capital investment required to employ them. Most are cloud-based, some are free, some are $1.99 in the app store and some are business suites with annual subscriptions well worth the price tag, but all of them can transform your work day.

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BIM: What are your options?

The technology hot topic throughout the AEC industry these days is Building Information Modeling (BIM). Why? Because it's transforming construction projects from piecemail contributions of architects, engineers, and construction crews to an integrated process that takes place on one platform, from planning to completion. As a software company, we don't use BIM, but as big fans of technology, we highly recommend it. So we'll focus on the software part and provide you with a list of BIM options we've compiled through our network. If you're not already using BIM it will help you get your feet wet and at least allow you to see what you could be missing. You can also refer to the previous blog post from Barton Malow if you want a testimony of its capabilities. In no particular order:

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Guest Post - BIM: Wringing It Out

The SmartBidNet Blog welcomes guest contributor Jason McFadden, LEED AP, Project Manager...

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The Estimator's Technology Toolkit

In traveling around our great country and visiting the majority of ASPE chapters I have had the opportunity to speak with many of you regarding the technology used in our industry. With each chapter, I’ve discussed a lot of different technologies, a few of which I will outline below. These are all tools that I think any estimator would want to use to improve their efficiency, reduce the cost of estimating and achieve a higher degree of accuracy with their bids.

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