Worldwide, construction is already one of the largest industry sectors, accounting for more than 11 percent of global GDP and expected to grow to 13.2 percent by 2020, according to a 2014 PwC report. However, underlying challenges related to productivity, profitability, performance, labor, and sustainability could derail the industry’s growth. More so, the lack of on-time and on-budget project deliveries leads to operational inefficiencies. According to an Accenture study, only 30 percent of large construction projects for the energy industry are delivered on budget, and only 15 percent of those projects are completed on time. These are but a few of the challenges players in the construction industry have experienced throughout. CIPO Cloud (CIPO) has worked with stakeholders to develop a product that helps them overcome problems frequently encountered when managing Capital Improvement Programs (CIP) and projects respectively.

CIPO is an end-to-end Cloud-platform that allows for real-time tracking, managing, and visualizing of both single and multiple programs and projects. This level of transparency allows for greater accuracy, efficiency, and accountability between all members of a project, which in turn benefits the entire program. “We focus on delivering measurable value to construction project owners, while others cater to the general contractors,” says Alex Ivascu, founder and president, CIPO Cloud Software.

As construction companies largely rely on contractor-based software programs, these platforms generally lack a core knowledge and flexibility needed during the phases of capital improvement programs. There is simply no way for them to look back and reference how certain tasks could have been executed better and with greater efficiency. The current lack of insight into the construction process and knowledge of existing trends have been major factors leading to CIPO’s inception.

CIPO focuses on owners’ specific needs and helps them make faster and better decisions. The company’s end-to-end solution eliminates the usage of multiple software systems, thereby reducing complexities for project supervisors and simplifying CIP management. “We are working directly with CIP owners and introducing them to new ways of doing things, while helping them optimize processes along the way,” says Tim Henigman, CTO, CIPO Cloud Software.

CIPO offers an entirely customizable platform that integrates existing business or IT systems to provide a complete solution. Although CIPO offers an out-of-the-box solution, every firm is different, and so the company has created a fully customizable product. “Not all agencies are the same; by offering a completely customizable platform, CIPO takes care of that gap in the market where our competitors make adjustments cumbersome, expensive, or not an option at all,” adds Ivascu. CIPO has made an exceptional standpoint in the market by facilitating features such as digital signatures, customizable workflow processes, personalization, and real-time visibility across projects. With a plethora of dashboards and advanced reporting that allow for all levels of an organization to gauge the success of their project or program, CIPO stands out where others lag.

“We truly believe our product has been made available at the right time, at the right place, and serving the right industry,” says Ivascu. “In an era where the motto is ‘do more with less’, we are leading by example. We understand the pressure on owners to do more with less staff these days, and have built CIPO to not only continue existing agency efficiencies, but to help them increase tenfold.”

CIPO Cloud will continue to evolve its product to meet the digitalization needs of owners in construction by introducing relevant, timely features. CIPO Cloud’s objective is to anonymize and use project data for advanced analytics, which will then become vertical-wide KPIs for benchmarking. With this set of information, Ivascu believes that building on this partnership between owners and software providers is the key to CIPO’s future in the industry.