Now, that we are more than seven months into the pandemic, many businesses are trying to determine what step to take next. Looking out to the next 12 months, it seems 90% of AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) businesses say COVID-19 will impact overall business development activities.
The survey on the Impacts of COVID-19 on the AEC Industry from Zweig Group asked AEC managers to rate on a scale of one to five—with one being little to no impact and five being highly negative impact—how much COVID-19 has impacted certain aspects of their business.
Very-low impact scores of 2.5 or less included the ability to finish current projects on time, the ability to finish current projects within budget, and the ability to provide high quality service and response to clients. The most heavily impacted areas were the ability to obtain new work and the ability to train staff.
Here is what I found most interesting about the survey. It uncovered that AEC firms are currently investing less in traditional business development activities, partly due to the lack of ability to travel, but also due to budget cutting.
When taking a closer look at what is happening with most companies budgets, in a different survey, Zweig Group found 54% of respondents had altered the 2020 budget due to COVID-19, while 25% are still considering changes to the 2020 budget. Looking even further out, to 2021, roughly 61% of businesses plan to change the 2021 budget, while 20% of firms have already altered the 2021 budget due to COVID-19.
The biggest budget decreases look to come from bonuses, business development, discretionary spending, and travel—no surprise there. But this begs the question: where are AEC companies looking to put those dollars to work?
Technology. Roughly 44% of companies plan to slightly increase computers and equipment, while another 14% plan to significantly increase computers and equipment. Also, about 43% plan to slightly increase software and IT systems, while 13% plan to really ramp up this area. Another area of planned increase is healthcare, obviously.
So here is my question: If you are planning to ramp up technology, where—specifically—is the money going? Is it to future-facing applications like AI (artificial intelligence)? Is it tapping into things like AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) for training? There are many opportunities and it can be difficult to determine where to narrow in.
This is where the National Constructech Technology Days Conference, November 12-13, can help. This year, Technology Days 2020 is something old and new—but for the first time, we are creating a hybrid event for attendees. Some keynotes and other sessions will provide Q&A discussions and live presentations. This will allow more individuals to participate creating a global opportunity to hear from our first-class speakers (on your own time), research technology solutions, and access additional content on-the-go anytime.
Constructech Technology Days seeks to help companies find the right partners to create greater transparency on the carbon impact of services and products. Through the use of the IoT (Internet of Things), cloud, AI, 5G, big data, BIM (building information modeling), PM (project management), machine learning, and other tools to triumph in 2020, the most successful companies will be those that apply these technologies and solutions, alongside of the people and processes to achieve sustainability to help mankind for years to come.
Original Article: https://constructech.com/covid-in-construction-seven-months-in/
