Oracle Netsuite
Netsuite is an integrated cloud-based ERP service for automating core business processes across industries, including construction.
November 6, 2024
ERP solutions
Head of ERP Center of Excellence
ERP in construction is a specialized ERP platform that enables construction companies to manage core business processes, from raw materials budgeting and subcontracts onboarding to project execution and payroll. With 10+ years in ERP services, Itransition delivers scalable and cost-effective solutions to help its clients orchestrate key workflows and minimize operational risks.
50+ completed projects of different scales across various industries
Hands-on expertise in delivering out-of-the-box, custom, and hybrid ERP solutions
Strategic partnership with Odoo, NetSuite, and Microsoft
Enterprise resource planning systems are modular solutions, so your company's needs, requirements, and goals define the choice of features. Here, we’ve outlined some capabilities commonly implemented by construction firms:
Automating general contractor and subcontractor management processes from onboarding to invoicing, to focus on project execution, profitability, and growth.
Overseeing and managing all aspects of the homebuilding project to deliver it within budget, schedule, and scope, as well as in line with quality requirements.
Obtaining real-time visibility into actual inventory levels and automating inventory management processes to meet the demand, minimize inventory shortage and loss, and optimize carrying costs.
Getting visibility into the supplier collaboration workflows and automating supplier performance tracking and assessment, document management, and other tasks to ensure reliable partnerships and procurement cost savings.
Getting complete visibility into the company’s cash inflows and outflows and the financial health of each project for accurate budget management and transparent on-budget project delivery, analytics accounting, and more.
Automating the management of construction projects’ legal documents to ensure quick access to actual information, quality control, budget accountability, and schedule compliance.
Efficiently organizing the time set for the project completion, accurate billing and payroll, and improving the scheduling of future projects.
Netsuite is an integrated cloud-based ERP service for automating core business processes across industries, including construction.
Odoo is an open-source, scalable, and flexible ERP system with a user-friendly interface for high-growth construction companies in the small and mid-market.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a flexible solution for small and medium-sized companies across multiple industries, including construction.
Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, comprising Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 SCM modules, is a comprehensive solution for midsize and large construction organizations that helps them effectively manage their finance, supply chain, and HR operations.
A major provider of ERP systems for various industries, Acumatica offers full-featured construction accounting software for mid-sized and small businesses.
A highly customizable and configurable ERP solution for companies across industries, including construction and real-estate.
End-to-end ERP solution tailored to construction workflows and designed for managing projects of all sizes end-to-end.
The success of your ERP implementation project will greatly depend on the ERP software you choose for your construction business. The ERP choice depends on a majority of factors, including your functionality requirements, preferred deployment model, and budget and time constraints. Here are more details about factors influencing your ERP software choice.
ERP software selection starts with the analysis of your business processes and your corporate IT environment. The analysis will help identify pain points to be addressed, as well as business workflows to be covered by the ERP solution. Most often, key operations that require automation for construction companies will include such activities as project management, job costing, resource planning, finance management, compliance, and many more. To implement an ERP system with well-thought-out functionality, try to engage your employees to understand their day-to-day challenges and how a new solution can help eliminate such issues.
It is also important to take into account the technology landscape you operate to map out technical requirements for your ERP solution since it needs to be seamlessly integrated with your existing corporate systems to ensure smooth data flow across the organization.
All in all, analyzing your current workflows will allow you to map your needs to the requirements for the future ERP system and outline features you would like to see in your system.
After outlining the desirable feature set, you must decide between ready-to-use software or a custom ERP solution.Â
Custom ERP solutions, fully tailored to your business workflows, suit construction companies with unconventional business requirements. However, such solutions are more expensive than off-the-shelf ones and scaling them can require adding more servers and other hardware.Â
Off-the-shelf ERP systems for construction come in two shapes – packaged and modular. Packaged ERP platforms have all modules well-integrated and packed into one system. By paying for a license, you get access to all modules. Modular solutions suit companies who don’t want to overpay for additional functionality, because the owners can pick necessary modules and pay only for them.
When choosing an ERP solution for construction, one of the most critical decisions is cloud or on-premises hosting. This decision influences the total project cost, solution scalability, hardware investments, deployment speed, and more.
is run on the company’s proprietary infrastructure, which means the organization faces high upfront investments in hardware, facilities, and an in-house IT team to manage the solution’s customization, maintenance, security, upgrades, etc.
can be deployed and scaled faster and easier, as the company doesn’t need to provide the IT infrastructure and in-house expertise. Many companies consider the subscription-based model an undeniable advantage; however, in the long run, the subscription fee and ongoing support and maintenance fees can get too high compared to on-premises ERP.
which combines on-premise and cloud ERP modules, is an alternative for companies looking to maintain the inherent scalability and flexibility of cloud solutions without losing the security of ERP modules running in-house. However, integrating and maintaining hybrid ERP requires advanced expertise and considerable investments.
Our ERP consultants provide advisory support throughout construction ERP implementation and optimization, helping you mitigate project risks and ensure high ROI.
We help construction companies implement platform-based ERP solutions, taking on the process end-to-end from business analysis and software selection to configuration, deployment, and user onboarding.
Our team builds bespoke ERP systems for construction companies from the ground up, delivering fully tailored sets of features and integrations that support unique business processes of our clients.
We help construction companies move core business functions and corporate data from existing systems to the new ERP solution, preserving data integrity and business continuity.
To ensure uninterrupted data flow across all departments and business processes, ERP solutions should be well-integrated with the company's IT environment and required construction management software. We recommend integrating construction enterprise resource planning platforms with the following systems:
Implementing an ERP system requires employees to switch to the new software for some of their daily tasks and adapt to the new workflows. A lack of understanding of ERP implementation goals, as well as insufficient training on ERP functionality, can lead to resistance from the employees side, potentially affecting the project’s outcomes.
To drive a smooth ERP adoption and mitigate resistance to change, set up a change management strategy from the ERP project’s inception. Clearly communicate the advantages of the new system to employees, emphasizing how its going to improve processes, and invest in ERP training programs to ensure a smooth transition.
An ERP implementation project comprises multiple stages, each with its nuances, so exceeding your initial budget is easier than it seems.
To keep the project budget within its initial frame, it’s essential to agree upon the project scope and interrelated costs before its kick-off. Weigh on different deployment options and shortlist ERP vendors with a comprehensive overview of product cost structure to find the most cost-efficient solution and calculate possible costs affecting your budget.
Adopting an ERP solution requires transferring a lot of corporate information from existing applications to the new system, which can be fraught with data quality or security issues. In order to safely migrate your data while preserving data consistency, it’s advised to establish robust data governance practices, clean the data before transmission, and make sure your ERP implementation partner uses secure tools or custom scripts to extract and transfer the data.
The cost of ERP implementation can vary from $50,000 to $1,000,000 for a mid-sized company. Such a price break stems from several factors that form the final price, among which are:
You can get accurate ERP implementation estimation and streamline your project planning by resorting to professional ERP consultancy.
ERP implementation project timeline depends on several factors, which include:
If speaking of rough estimations, ERP implementation for a medium-sized construction company may take anything from 6 to 12 months; more accurate calculations can only be provided after a careful business analysis and ERP solution conceptualization.
Case study
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Service
We guide you through the ERP integration process by outlining integration types and common approaches, challenges, benefits, and project steps and timeline.
Insights
Find out how to select the right ERP implementation strategy and set a suitable roadmap for successful software adoption.
Case study
Learn how Itransition delivered ERP system maintenance for LISI Aerospace to enhance productivity and reduce support costs.