5 Ways to Boost Profits with a New Generation of Construction Analytics

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1. Information Should be Timely and Accurate

Duplicate entry, human error, outdated information, and many other bad-data problems make good construction analytics impossible. In addition to the cost of entering (and looking for) information in multiple places, you can’t trust the results of bad data.

2. Connect the Dots Across the Business

Great: You’ve got the data! But you need to use it. 95.5% of all data captured goes unused. You might have rows of numbers in Excel, but it takes more sophisticated reporting to analyze and generate insights, find patterns and leading indicators that you might not know to look for.

For construction analytics to be effective, it needs to include information and context from around the organization.

“Data is siloed and only accessible to certain companies, departments or disciplines, which gives stakeholders a very limited view into the status of the project as they are making decisions.”

3. Report on What Matters by Role

One way leaders (or anyone) fail to see risks is because the information is in a format that they don't understand or don't have time to interpret. Critical information may be buried in a spreadsheet of numbers, or in a dense report that no one has time to read. 

Construction analytics helps all construction job functions

A major, if less glamorous, opportunity to impact profitable decisions can be found simply in sharing the right information in a way that makes sense to the intended audience.

For example, a president or CEO of your company probably wouldn’t care much about excessive account privilege upgrade requests in the server logs… but they would care that they were at a high risk of losing customers because of a cyber attack on their servers.

4. Make Construction Analytics Widely Available

Different people need different reports. Many opportunities are lost when information appears in a way that can’t be easily understood. To keep stakeholders engaged and informed, you need the ability to present different information in different ways.

  1. By information type: Project estimates, construction accounting numbers, employee certification status… It takes many types of information to paint a clear picture of the business.
  2. By format: Charts, graphs, dashboards...? The format of information determines how it is interpreted. A simple row of numbers on the P&L sheet, for example, might not reveal that a particular subcontractor has repeatedly exceeded their estimate, cost money on every project, and should not be rehired.
  3. By accessibility: Data and analytics need to be easily accessible for responsive decision-making. In a fast-changing business environment such as ours, it’s not practical to ask back to the front office for one-off reports, and leave the field to find a computer to access the report.


For strategic decision-making, analytics must be accessible where you are — this often means mobile accessibility.

5. Big Data Needs Big Security

Viewpoint Analytics for Construction

Viewpoint Analytics, now available as part of Trimble Construction One, is our data mobility tool for construction contractors to maximize their profit and uncover new insights.

Viewpoint Analytics
Viewpoint Analytics is now mobile and available from Trimble Construction One


Viewpoint Analytics is integrated with your construction data and accessible from anywhere—so you can access your ERP data on your mobile device. Viewpoint Analytics brings both your standard and custom Vista reports to the web so you can take reporting on the road. Dashboards bring secure, shareable insights to more users than ever before.

Viewpoint Analytics is now available on mobile

See visual insights on construction analytics like:

  • New dashboards like Job Cost Detail, where PMs and accountants can make sure everything on the budget was in the estimate
  • Quickly determine the age of outstanding commitments that you may have forgotten/overdue
  • Do the materials you received match with what you expect to pay?
  • Are suppliers or contractors over or under-billed?
  • New mobile and web reports: All Crystal Reports 700 standard reports plus custom reports on the web

Because next-gen analytics need good security, Viewpoint Analytics also has data-type security based on role by job and contract, and supports other security features like single sign-on (SSO). 

If the last two years have shown us anything, it’s that we must be prepared for change and the future state. A new generation of data and analytics—along with new requirements of that data—is helping construction companies become more data-driven and stay competitive. See how Viewpoint Analytics can help.

Posted By

Charity Heller leads the Viewpoint content team. She is passionate about engaging new audiences and creating relationships through storytelling, data, strategy, and inclusion.