Today’s market is crowded with hundreds of software solutions designed to help your team boost project delivery and get results. These software solutions are powerful, and investing in the right solution can save time and money.
As Mark A. Langley, President and CEO of the Project Management Institute, points out, “Organizations that invest in proven project management practices waste 28x less money because more of their strategic initiatives are completed successfully.”
A 28x cost savings is huge! But security integrators have a problem: Very few traditional project management software applications are well suited for the security industry.
Because of this, integrators end up using popular software products while trying to retrofit their internal processes to work with these tools. It’s the classic “square peg in a round hole” analogy.
Today, let’s take a closer look at why traditional project delivery software often fails — and what the right platform can do for your business.
Most project management software is designed for something else.
One of the biggest problems that integrators face when choosing a software to assist with integrated project delivery is finding one that fits with their scope of business.
Without a dedicated, industry-specific software solution, many integrators turn toward project delivery software designed for the construction industry. While there may be some overlap between general contractors and integrator teams, many of the modules and tools intended for construction management won’t help an integrator’s security installation project.
In some ways, this was inevitable. Aside from industry-agnostic solutions like Microsoft Project (currently used by 45% of companies using PM software), many companies in the private sector have found success by niching into a target market.
Unfortunately, when integrators try to use software built for another industry, they are automatically excluded from key features that make the software feel complete.
For example, with software for construction projects, you might need to use features meant for plumbing or electrical fixtures for camera or access control installs.
It is frustrating to work with a system that isn’t designed to help an integrator succeed. Rather than relying on software designed for someone else, a dedicated software solution that helps integrators create better floor plans, track installations, and manage teams is likely to produce far better outcomes than relying on the tools in someone else’s toolbox.
Did you know?
Standard software solutions don’t scale to large installation projects.
Integrators just starting out or currently focused on smaller projects may find the idea of using project management tools appealing.
The problem that those integrators run into farther down the line is that traditional project management systems have difficulty scaling to larger projects.
This has two main drawbacks. The first is that while PM software is linked to high-performing projects, it has the greatest impact when used on a regular basis. Companies need to stick with their software solution and endure the onboarding process for it to truly become effective.
While simple solutions like Trello, Asana, or even Basecamp might work for small team projects, they were never intended to manage the hundreds or thousands of tasks that accompany integrator projects.
Field installation delivery projects are complex. Between engineering and field installation teams, the high number of parts that need to be installed, and budgets that need to be tracked, these systems begin to fail rapidly at scale.
Modern turnkey solutions either lack the features that integrators need in order to focus on project design and cost savings, or they can’t scale in a way that integrators can track progress and deliver results in an effective way.
Traditional PM software doesn’t lend itself well to field installations.
In a survey of nearly 200 project management software users, 40% said that functionality was the most important factor when selecting their software solution. Meanwhile, 24% said that ease of use was the most important.
For integrators, both of these factors play a critical role in software selection for a simple reason: Project teams are split between the office and the installation site.
Once the conversations around design, scope, and budgets are out of the way, much of the integrator’s decision-making and installation work takes place in the field. This is a painful process for many integrators and it means that, while techs and site supervisors are in the field, the project manager is running them from a remote location.
Traditional project delivery software was never meant to run that way.
Integrators don’t need a solution where they’re constantly micromanaging projects by assigning tasks and following up on completed work. The best software solution would allow PMs to see real-time project progress and would allow technicians and subcontractors to submit visible proof of completed work that can be verified from the home office.
You won’t find those features in traditional software because project managers in other industries don’t need that functionality. But, for integrators, the ability to verify quality on the fly can help keep complex projects running on time while ensuring positive outcomes for the customer.
These strategic advantages are something that no integrator should have to live without, but most integrators find that their current project delivery solutions fall short.
Manage Security Projects More Effectively With SiteOwl!
As we’ve established, traditional project delivery software can be frustrating for integrators.
On the other hand, giving team members the software solutions they need can help them better understand a customer’s needs, as well as the bigger picture of the project when heading into the construction phase.
All of the reasons we’ve touched on here (and more) are why we designed SiteOwl to be a project management platform for security integrators. Our solution equips your team with the tools they need to navigate design-build projects more effectively and deliver an exceptional customer experience every single time.
Want to learn more? Click here to check out how SiteOwl revolutionizes every stage of the security integration process.
