CMiC Construction Platform vs. Constellation HomeBuilder Systems

CMiC is a robust platform best suited for large companies with resources for implementation and management of the program. One analogy is CMiC is like a droid phone where the user must decide how to use all the features of the program (as opposed to an iPhone where most configuration decisions are made for the user). Smaller companies with limited resources can struggle with CMiC both with the expense and configuration.

Incentivized

NEWSTAR and its ecosystem are well-suited for any
homebuilder looking to manage end-to-end operations with software they can rely
on. It is a powerful tool supported by many modern integrations to benefit the
entire homebuilding business. It would be less applicable for businesses like trades or commercial builders

• The user interface is similar to that of other project management software applications so folks in our company that had previously used other applications have been able to switch over fairly easily.
• I really like the software and it was much less expensive than other applications.
• I like the mobile application so that our superintendents can view the documentation on their phones.
• I really like the punch list capability mobile field, however, we have a hard time getting our superintendents to use it for some reason.

Incentivized

• BuildTopia excels at contract management. Every part of the contract process is able to be managed electronically from initial signing to closing, and can even handle more special cases like contingencies.
• BuildTopia manages all of our construction efforts well. All of our floorplans are pre-build in the system, so all we have to do is go in an build out the construction schedule from a pre-made template, and make any alterations from there.
• The selections process is always a headache, but BuildTopia makes it pretty painless. Everything is loaded right in to the system while making selections with the client, and more detailed things, like non-standard options, are easy to load in and process.

Incentivized

• Entering a code of the vendor instead of the company name while recording an invoice takes time and seems counter intuitive
• Editing an invoice created through Image Management on the AP side is limited to description and address field. When changing the rest (invoice# or a date or an amount) - the whole trace of who entered/submitted/approved disappears. The way it works now is: deleting an invoice from the batch, locating it through Registry/invoice search, unsubmitting it, making changes, submitting, adding back to batch - time consuming
• In Multiple distribution pop up window, when entering a new invoice, I'd make the field "Company" to be autofilled once "Job" is entered. It takes time to memorize what job number belongs to what company.
• There is only web version available and it is limited compare to a desktop client. For instance I can only make one change at a time and save it. Multiple changes don't get saved in one click

Incentivized

• Requests for platform enhancements, while easy to submit and get approved, are slow to be turned around...often a year or more passes before they're implemented.
• BuiltTopia, while good for sales and construction, is missing one large thing...a CRM component. The system allows you to manage clients and prospects, but options for email marketing and other CRM-related efforts are lacking.

Incentivized

I can't even begin to imagine the thought of going through another software conversion so I do not think I would even consider switching at this point. It does everything we need it to do so I don't have any reason to recommend not renewing at this point in time

Incentivized

I believe it isn't easy to use and is unintuitive. Undecipherable error messages appear throughout the application without indicating what is wrong or how to correct it, in my experience. The terminology on the screens is specific to Canada, which adds to the confusion.

Incentivized

The implementations for Constellation’s products are
very well-organized and help make the learning curve as simple as can be.
NEWSTAR is an incredibly powerful platform and the integrations we are using
are modern and easy to adopt.

Sometimes since this is a cloud based product the system can become slow but we haven’t had any issues of availability without CMiC first letting us know it would be down

Incentivized

Reports are pretty shown to run but general pages typically load pretty quick.

Incentivized

The support team [has] been in touch with our deployment team and has given them effective guidance up to completion. It has helped us in [the] best methods of resource allocation and secure record-keeping process. We have tracked all our billing information and made the right payments with documentation and avoided [unnecessary losses]. [The] support team has [to] lead our teams to the right channels and empowering our team with the right skills for maximum production.

Incentivized

The training was on system functions and not really how best to use it for our business. It would have been nice to be provided recommendations for use rather than just a blank slate of functionality.

Incentivized

I felt the training was good and the trainers knew the software.

Incentivized

Lots of confusion between sales and implementation regarding what was included and not included...the security encountered a "bug" and made it extremely difficult to set up roles and individual responsibilities

Incentivized

CMiC Construction Platform is the best price point in the market. Others are revenue-based billings, and the annual fees reflect as such. CMiC Construction Platform support staff is generally amazing and offers real-time support on critical issues. The imaging and workflow functions are real-time savers. CMiC Construction Platform is generally a smaller and in touch organization that treats your team like their own and stays with you after the purchase.

Incentivized

CMiC has several key features that can either work together or independently depending on your companies needs.

Incentivized

• We've knocked days, if not weeks, off of our timeline to getting invoices paid using Image manager and workflow approvals.
• Because we have real time cost and budget information all in one place, we've knocked a day or two off of each project for their monthly forecasts, and we're much more consistent and accurate than we were before CMiC.
• Because we pull a large chunk of project information into our BI reports, we've never had better visibility into projects and their potential issues. We're able to compare current project progress with past similar projects to determine if we are going to have an issue before it actually happens.

Incentivized

• Overall, our company has saved money by being able to shut down all the various platforms we were using for different departments and transition to just BuildTopia.
• Company efforts are more efficient, with all pertinent information being in one place and able to be viewed by everyone as needed.
• Efforts of the sales team are better able to be managed and reviewed from afar whereas we only had physical paper trails before.

Incentivized