TECHNOLOGY MARKET RESEARCHSURVEY RESULTS

INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEWTechnology is going to continue to impact the construction industry in a multitude of ways in 2015. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is going to have greater implementation not only from design firms but will also be utilized by more contractors during construction and by owners using the BIM for management of completed buildings. Mobile technology will have a greater presence on the jobsite. Expect to see a lot more tablets, smartphones and laptops being used on the construction site to better manage projects, increase productivity and keep workers safe with mobile applications and software-as-a-service (SaaS) using cloud technology. Thanks to the “internet of things” expect to see more in the way of building system integration.

The goal of the 2014 Technology Market Research Survey was to gauge the importance and prevalence of technology in the lives of construction professionals. The survey questions focused on the type of hardware devices and software applications that construction professionals are using on a daily basis. The survey also looked at where construction professionals are accessing the internet, internet usage for business vs. personal as well as location and device preferences.

SURVEY RESULTS & ANALYSIS

Our first question asked respondents to indicate all the devices they use to connect to the internet. A majority of respondents are using more than one type of device to access the internet. Desktop computers and laptops were each used by 68% of all respondents. This was followed by smartphones at 66% and tablets at 40%.

When asked to indicate which device they most preferred to access the internet our respondents were evenly split with 39% indicating they prefer a desktop computer and 39% preferring a laptop. This was followed by smartphones at 12% and tablets at 10%.

Desktop/Laptop

Smartphone

Tablet

Which of These Devices Do You Use to Connect to the Internet?

Which of These Devices Do You Most Prefer to Use to Access the Internet?

68%

66%

40%

39%

39%

12%

10%Desktop

Laptop

Smartphone

Tablet

In comparison, when asked which devices they use most often to access the internet we see a different breakdown from what our respondents’ preferences. Desktop computers were the most used at 36%, laptops came in second at 32% followed by smartphones at 25% and tablets at 7%. It’s interesting to note that a quarter of respondents are using smartphones the most to access the internet when it was only preferred by 12% of respondents. A larger percentage of respondents prefer using a tablet over the number of those who use it the most.

When asked where they are when they use the internet, an overwhelming 91% of respondents indicating they prefer to use the internet at work (47%) or home (44%). Only 9% of respondents indicated they prefer to use the internet at some other location.

Which of These Devices Do You Use Most Often to Access the Internet?

Where Do You Most Prefer to Use the Internet?

Desktop

Laptop

Smartphone

Tablet

Work

Home

Other

36%

47%

32%

44%

25%

9%

7%

Where Do You Most Often Use the Internet?

Do You Use the Internet More Often for Personal Reasons or for Work?

Work

Home

Other

Work

Personal

9%

57%34%

Similarly, 91% of respondents indicated that the place they most often use the internet was either at work (57%) or at home (34%) with 9% indicating they most often use the internet at some other location. In addition, 96% of respondents indicated that they use the internet more for work than for personal use.

Our next set of questions focused on the types of software applications construction professionals have installed on their digital devices, which types they use most often and which types are most useful to them. When asked about the types of software applications installed on devices, the most revealing response was the 69% of respondents who have some type of business app on their device that they use for managing and operating their business.

96%

4%

INSIDE ADVANTAGE. SUPERIOR INFORMATION, DELIVERY AND SUPPORT

Not surprising, business apps were the type of apps most used by our respondents (35%). This was followed by weather apps at 14%, search tool apps at 13%, and social networking apps and productivity apps at 11% each.

When asked which apps were the most useful to our respondents, business apps took the top spot at 38%. Search tool apps were next at 15% and productivity apps at 14%.

The top six most used and most useful apps were business apps, weather apps, search tool apps, productivity apps, utility apps and weather apps. The four types of apps used the least and that our respondents found the least useful were news, travel, entertainment and sports.

13%

11%

11%

16%

14%

What Types of Apps Do You Use Most Often?

Business Apps

Weather Apps

Search Tools Apps

Social Networking

Productivity Apps

All Other Apps

What Types of Apps are Most Useful to You?

Business Apps

Search Tool Apps

Productivity Apps

All Other Apps

38%

35%

15%14%

33%

THE SURVEY PARTICIPANTSA total of 1,074 construction professionals took our 2014 Technology Market Research Survey. A majority of participants (90%) in our survey are not current clients of Construction Data with only 11% of respondents currently subscribed to Construction Data. Of the participants not currently subscribed to Construction Data, only 30% indicated that they are currently using a competing lead service.

We asked our current clients to indicate what method they currently use to get project reports from our database. We had 61% of respondents indicate they get the information online through a laptop or desktop computer, 58% receive project information through email. Only 8% of respondents access project reports on their smartphones and/or tablets and 7% still receive a print newspaper.

An overwhelming 97% of respondents indicated that their preferred method for receiving project reports was through our online database or email with only 3% indicating they prefer to receive our print newspaper. This is proof that our clients prefer having access to the most up-to-date information as opposed to receiving a biweekly print newspaper in the mail. When asked how important it was to be able to access project lead information on their mobile devices 99% indicated it was important to some degree with 74% indicating it was very important.

What Method(s) Do You Use To Acquire Project Reports?

Laptop/Computer

Email

Smartphone/Tablet

Newspaper

61%

58%

8%

7%

Technology continues to have an increasing role in the construction industry. New apps are coming to the market every day it seems that can help you streamline your business and handle a wide range of function like estimating, project management and timecard/payroll solutions.

On the software side, look for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to be integrated with BIM to improve virtual design and construction. On the hardware front, look for wearables such as Google Glass to start making their way to the jobsite as more apps are developed to be used on the construction site.

The companies that are going to be the most successful will be those that realize how these technologies can make their business better and more efficient and are willing to implement them into their business processes.

linkedin.com/company/construction-data-company

WRAP - UP

KENDALL JONESEditor-in-Chief of Social and Interactive Media

BLOGconstructiondatacompany.com

facebook.com/cdcnews

twitter.com/cdcnews

cdcnews.com

CONSTRUCTIO

N DATA C

OMPANY ©

2014. ALL

RIGHTS RESER

VED.