Choosing Your Enterprise Scaffolding Software: All-in-One vs. Best-in-Breed

If you’ve been scouting around for software to solve various pain points in your scaffolding company, you’ve probably encountered a confusing array of solutions. But they boil down to two categories: all-in-one solutions and best-in-breed solutions.

All-in-one solutions are software products that attempt to serve many different functions of a company. Think Swiss Army knife, but for scaffolding applications—a toolset that does many jobs, but none of them completely. On the other hand, best-in-breed solutions are specialized and deliver the best possible solution but for one function or a small group of functions.

Often, it’s fair to say that all-in-one solutions are generic, while best-in-breed programs are specialized for specific industries and needs.

Choosing the wrong software can be detrimental to your business; it’s an expensive mistake not just in paying the purchase price, but in recovering from the resulting disruption and inefficiencies.

One major risk is cost. All-in-one solutions are usually on the pricier end of the spectrum, whether in direct licensing cost or in customization, implementation, and training services. Best-in-breed solutions are less costly individually, but require careful consideration of all the software that you’ll implement to completely meet your needs.

If an all-in-one or best-in-breed software doesn’t serve the right purpose and is eventually abandoned, replacing it with another solution could end up doubling the budget.

Another risk is demotivating your employees. It often takes a significant amount of time and effort for staff to adapt to new software, especially if it isn’t designed specifically with scaffolding companies, or if it isn’t supported by a vendor who intimately understands your industry.

If your employees don’t find it useful or easy to use, or can’t get expert help while they’re learning, it could lead to a lack of confidence and reluctance to adopt new software in the future.

So how do you make the right decision for your company’s needs? Find out as we explain how to choose between all-in-one and best-in-breed scaffolding software.

All-in-one vs best-in-breed

A best-in-breed strategy means choosing the best product in its niche to meet the specific requirements of a business. For example, a scaffolding company may choose a best-in-breed solution for managing inventory, and another for communicating with employees in the field.

All-in-one, or best-in-suite software, comes with a host of capabilities that are integrated into one platform, providing solutions for multiple aspects of an organization, from billing to human resources to inventory management.

What would be the best option for scaffolding companies? We recommend a best-in-breed approach for four reasons:

• Best-in-breed solutions tend to be easier and quicker to implement compared to more complex all-in-one solutions. This allows companies to realize positive results sooner rather than later.
• Scaffolding companies also have niche pain points, such as tracking and monitoring of scaffold inventory made up of thousands of non-serialized pieces that are constantly on the move in shipments large and small. A solution that’s hyper-focused on these particular pain points will make processes more efficient.
• One of the cornerstones of best-in-breed solutions is the user experience. These applications tend to be better designed with the needs of end users at their core. This reduces the risk of rejection and maximizes productive value from the software. Scaffold teams usually don’t have time or interest in toying around with software—they want tools built to purpose that they can put to work immediately with as little fuss as possible.
• Finally, best-in-breed software for the scaffolding industry leverages deep industry knowledge to provide an ideal solution that delivers results more effectively than all-in-one products, backed up by support and training teams that better understand the needs of scaffolding companies and thus can more quickly help users with their questions.

Avontus Software: Best-in-breed for scaffolding companies

Avontus provides two best-in-breed solutions for scaffolding companies — Avontus Designer® and Avontus Quantify® — that address both the scaffold planning and the scaffold management aspects of the business.

• Designer and Quantify are both built with ease of use in mind. Designer has an intuitive interface that allows users to automatically create 3D models and a bill of materials in minutes. Quantify provides a process that mirrors the day-to-day activities of scaffold teams, along with instant reporting that helps managers stay in full control while freeing up countless hours.
• As best-in-breed products, Designer and Quantify offer features unheard of in all-in-one CAD and project management applications. Designer creates facade, tank, boiler, and stair scaffolds in seconds, and Quantify tracks every piece of equipment, from purchase to job to write-off, while automatically creating rental invoices based on the standard practices of the scaffold industry.
• User-friendliness is another of the key differentiators of both Designer and Quantify. Both products have an exceptional level of implementation success — once deployed, they have a near-100% customer retention rate, in no small part due to the in-depth training and support each user receives from Avontus.
• Avontus developers are well-aware of the ins-and-outs of the scaffolding industry. Designer and Quantify provide unique features only scaffolding insiders would think of — and that scaffolding businesses require for operational excellence every day. They make winning bids and maximizing productivity easier than ever.

Case Study #1: SMS Group Services

Avontus Software offers sophisticated industry-specific solutions to businesses like SMS Group Services, a company in Western Australia that provides end-to-end access management solutions for industrial projects.

Before deploying Avontus software, projects kept getting delayed due to inaccurate inventory management and manual data entry processes.

SMS is now using Quantify to manage stock, track consumables, and monitor vehicles, which has improved accuracy. Information is centralized and accessible across the company. This enables the company to modify designs based on where equipment is, prevent materials from being left behind, and ensure accurate invoicing.

Read more about this case study here.

Case Study #2: Total Access Ltd

Avontus Designer’s features also enable users to cut down on costs. Total Access Ltd, one of New Zealand’s largest scaffolding suppliers, estimated that the monthly cost of Designer is equivalent to just a few hours of an engineer’s time.

A draftsman can create a computer model in a fraction of the time it usually took to construct a sample structure in the yard. Engineers sign off or make changes by simply viewing the visual representation instead of making site visits.

Sending detailed 3D visualizations also impresses customers and inspires confidence in the company, leading to more sales. With Avontus Viewer, an augmented reality tool, customers receive an even more accurate view of a scaffold design.Read the full story here.

Best-in-breed software for your scaffolding management needs

By selecting best-in-breed tools such as Avontus Designer and Avontus Quantify, you ensure that your scaffolding company is getting the most out of your investment.

With industry-specific features that closely align to solving your team’s challenges and dedicated, knowledgeable support, you’ll be able to benefit from the software in short order.

Find out more about what Designer and Quantify can do for you by clicking the link below.