Business Intelligence & Predictive Analytics

Business intelligence (BI) and analytics for construction contractors has to solve hard problems in real-time. Traditional BI and analytics are rear-facing. They tell you what happened in the past. Construction unfolds unpredictably in real-time, so at a minimum, construction BI and analytics just capture real-time data and present it in a way that owners, executives, and project managers can do things like:

• Course correct a project going over budget
• Spot resource constraints and deal with them before they affect the budget or timeline
• Ensure cash outlays to not run too far ahead of billables

Many construction software products will often have pre-populated tools for common construction metrics including:

• Earned Value Management (EVM)—milestone-based project management important for complex projects and those for government customers
• Estimate to Complete (ETC) and Estimate at Complete (EAC)—tools to project the financial position at the end of a project and the amount of cost yet to be realized given what scope elements are completed
• Excess Cost Tracking and Costs in Excess of Billing—Sometimes, a contractor will bill for work that has not yet been delivered, or realize costs before that cost can be liquidated on an invoice

Most construction software products will have analytics screens, functionality or modules built in. There are standalone construction BI and analytics tools too. Larger construction organizations may more frequently standardize on a data warehouse to better support high-volume querying and a data governance plan. Packaged, commercial-off-the-shelf construction business analytics and software will be more within reach of smaller to middle-market construction contractors.