Sage Estimating...the Granddaddy of General Contracting Estimation Creation Software. It can be trusted but getting long in the tooth.
Rating: 7 out of 10
IncentivizedUse Cases and Deployment Scope
Sage Estimating is the main estimating creation package currently being used in our firm. It is primarily used within our preconstruction department though our operations employees will sometimes access and have some light use of the software. It may make the software sound lesser but the main reason we use it is to avoid preconstruction managers using plain Excel to build their estimates. In addition to be a much more refined way of creating an estimate the software works in conjunction with Sage 300 CRE Accounting and Project Management in allowing us to transfer estimates from precon phase to construction phase without having to recreate them again.
Pros
- Sage Estimating is very good at providing the users (and eventually clients) with a clean, well broken down estimate of how we have come up with a specific bid amount. It allows consistency among our different precon managers in how they present the final numbers of a bid.
- The way Sage Estimating presents itself to a precon manager/user allows ease of use from the very start such that someone can build a bid with very little training.
Cons
- The program has a fairly antiquated user interface such that someone working in it may not feel like they are working with advanced software.
- Sage Estimating has absolutely no remote access capability outside running it in a Citrix/RDP environment so users have to be using a fat/full client vs. any hopes of access on a mobile device.
Likelihood to Recommend
Sage Estimating is a decent product for companies that have a more mature audience when it comes to their Preconstruction group. People who are familiar with Excel will easily adapt to using this program. One could say it is Excel Plus in some manner as it relates to Construction bidding. Companies that are staffed by more progressive employees will probably find the interface clunky and lack of mobility very limiting.
