COMPUTER GUIDANCE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE OVERVIEW


Computer Guidance Corp. was founded in 1981 as a developer of commercial construction management software. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Computer Guidance has since made software for general contractors as well as heavy and highway, electrical, mechanical and specialty contractors. Through a partnership with IBM, the company uses the IBM iSeries and xSeries servers to host its application.

Computer Guidance's Web-based project management software, known as eCMS, provides real-time information along with financial applications and productivity tools. Te productivity feature monitors various aspects of a project such as job costing; personnel; operations, equipment and construction project management, and a variety of specialty applications, according to the vendor. eCMS allows a client to view information online for payroll, billing, service request, purchasing, inventory and more, the vendor said. eCMS may be further customized through the vendor's Computer Guidance Modification division.

Computer Guidance uses technology from Cisco and Microsoft to help its customers establish firewall security settings and Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs. In addition, a Hot Site Recovery Service that maintains system backups and re-installs eCMS applications to protect against data loss, the vendor said.

Project Collaborator, meanwhile, is an application designed to link project information, images and documents. This construction management software is integrated with eCMS, which ensures accurate information for contractor accounting functions, according to the vendor. Information is tracked by submittals, meeting minutes, RFIs, Issues Management, punch lists, and drawing logs, the vendor said. This application also manages change orders and controls security functions.

Computer Guidance's Document Imaging/Workflow application is a browser-based program that scans, stores, organizes and processes documents. Capable of being integrated with eCMS, the document imaging function electronically stores scanned information and allows project members to access that data anytime over the Internet, the vendor said. The workflow feature, meanwhile, eliminates the paperwork involved with tracking documents by sending an electronic document to individuals and/or departments, the vendor said.

 submit review