Top 10 construction technology challenges

A survey has discovered that out-of-date software is the biggest technical challenge for construction workers with construction businesses (on average) wasting 101 days a year due to out-of-date laptops, hardware or technology.

From out-of-date devices to historical platforms that no longer serve a purpose and processes that are not aligned across a business, software development company Propel surveyed UK office-based workers to determine their daily challenges with technology.

The research revealed that a quarter (25%) of those working in property and construction admit out-of-date software cause everyday challenges at work.

They also revealed that, on average, they waste up to 39% of working days a year due to challenges with out-of-date software and technology and an additional 85 days on system integration issues. For SMEs, in particular, this could be extremely damaging and cause an incredible potential loss of income.

The top 10 challenges those in property and construction face when it comes to technology are:

• Workload (28%)
• Out-of-date software (25%)
• Integration issues (25%)
• Software updates (22%)
• Understanding new capabilities of systems (19%)
• Processing speed (17%)
• Cybersecurity privacy (17%)
• Frustrated users (14%)
• System controls (14%)
• Technology skills gaps (14%)

The new research also indicates that a quarter (25%) of workers in property and construction admit system integration causes everyday challenges at work. Similarly, when software development or integration takes place, almost one in five (19%) workers struggle to understand the new capabilities of said software.

The survey also revealed that over one in six (17%) construction businesses hadn’t updated their software for two to three years, and 6% admitted they hadn’t implemented new software for over five years or more.

Andy Brown, managing director and co-owner of Propel, says, “As a company, we spend a large proportion of our time improving business efficiency and best practices in property and construction organisations, but it still surprised me how much time is lost due to IT issues.

“Technology is now the heartbeat of every organisation, and tracking and improving IT efficiency is an easy way to improve business performance and should give a clear return on investment.”

You can read the complete study here.