- If you care most about speed and accuracy → Prioritize takeoff performance, integrated estimating, and AI that eliminates keystrokes.
- If you manage a team → Add collaboration, version control, and onboarding efficiency to the top of your list.
- If you own the tech stack → Weight security, reliability, open API, and TCO impact heavily. Cloud‑native wins here.
Deadlines are tighter, the volume of bid invites keeps rising, and accuracy expectations haven’t budged. Contractors report too much after‑hours takeoff work, frustration with finding the right (and current) plans, and anxiety about over‑ or under‑bidding. You’re battling duplicate work, missed deadlines due to poor visibility, and painful cost calculation workflows. Cloud‑native tools address those pains directly by cutting manual work, keeping teams aligned, and making it easier to bid more of the right jobs.
Across the board, contractors value time saved, accuracy, ease of use, collaboration, and workflow integration. If you lead a precon department, add standardization, onboarding efficiency, and insight/analytics to the list, while CIOs look for layering in stack simplification, data flow, and reduced reliance on local servers.
What “Cloud‑Native” Really Means for Estimators
Cloud‑native isn’t simply “software in a browser.” It’s always‑on, always‑current access with no installs or VPN—usable from the office, home, or jobsite. It enables real‑time collaboration and version control so there’s one source of truth instead of a maze of corrupt or duplicate files. It brings elastic performance and reliability—think geo‑redundant infrastructure, disaster recovery, and transparent health monitoring on a public status page—so your estimating cadence isn’t at the mercy of a local server. And it stays open by design: an API‑enabled platform that integrates with ERP, CRM, and PM systems rather than locking data away. Layer in AI‑accelerated workflows that automate repetitive steps, and the payoff shows up quickly in faster takeoffs and proposals, fewer mistakes from outdated sheets, and smoother handoffs into build.
The Capabilities Checklist (With Weights)
Use this rubric to score vendors—tune as needed for your team.
Speed of takeoff tools (AI capabilities, auto name/number/count, assemblies) – 15%
Accuracy features (calibrations, measurement types, audit trails) – 10%
Estimate worksheet + cost data + proposals – 10%
Multi‑trade support and templates – 10%
Multi‑user, role‑based permissions, comments/markups – 10%
Version control, sheet compare/overlay, change tracking – 10%
Native integrations (ERP/CRM/PM), open API, export options – 10%
SOC 2 Type 2, encrypted backups, redundant data centers, transparent uptime – 10%
Time‑to‑value targets (<8 hours typical), training, ongoing enablement – 5%
Scoring tip: Rate each criterion 1–5, multiply by the weight, and sum for a 100‑point view you can take to the executive team.
Cloud vs. On‑Prem: Total Cost, Risk, and Resilience
The sticker price of an on‑prem license rarely tells the whole story. Infrastructure and maintenance—servers, storage, backups, patching, and the staff time to babysit them—compound quickly. Downtime hits hard: updates, crashes, and access issues for remote users create missed deadlines and overtime. Cloud vendors absorb that complexity and provide real‑time status for accountability. Version control chaos is another hidden tax; duplicate files and corrupt PDFs burn hours and create risk. A cloud platform centralizes the truth, cuts rework, and protects your brand with accurate, on‑time estimates. And when bid volume spikes or you open a new office, elastic capacity and an API‑enabled ecosystem scale without new hardware or tool sprawl.
Outcomes You Should Expect with STACK (Backed by Customer Proof)
Customer proof points are consistent: most teams are productive in under 8 hours; 89% say STACK speeds up takeoff and estimating; 73% save 1.5+ hours each week simply by finding the right project data faster. Many report four hours saved per project in takeoff alone—time you can reinvest in higher‑quality bids or more opportunities. Two‑thirds say they’re more profitable and more confident in their bids after adopting the platform.
SMB Owners/Estimators want to stop working nights, reduce printing costs, and improve accuracy.
Lead Estimators/Directors of Precon want to streamline the entire bid process, maintain a shared bid calendar, and eliminate duplicate effort.
CIOs/Change Leaders want to retire fragile on‑prem servers, kill data silos, and standardize systems for scale without disruption.
The ROI Math
Use the formulas below with your numbers. We’ve included two worked examples using outcomes reported by STACK customers. Assumptions are illustrative; adjust for your team.
Inputs to gather (per estimator unless noted):
- Hourly loaded cost (wages + taxes/benefits/overhead)
- Bids per month
- Hours per project for takeoff/estimating (current)
- Team size (estimators)
- Average gross margin per project
Baseline customer‑reported deltas:
- Time saved per project: ~4 hours (conservative)
- Search/organization savings: 1.5+ hours/week → ~6 hours/month per estimator
- Ramp time: <8 hours for most teams (faster time‑to‑value)
Baseline customer‑reported deltas:
- Time saved per project: ~4 hours (conservative)
- Search/organization savings: 1.5+ hours/week → ~6 hours/month per estimator
- Ramp time: <8 hours for most teams (faster time‑to‑value)
(4 hours saved/project × bids/month × hourly cost) + (6 hours/month × hourly cost)
(Formula 1 result) × 12
Example A — Solo estimator (SMB)
Assumptions: 8 bids/month; $65/hr loaded cost.
Time savings from faster takeoffs: 4 × 8 × $65 = $2,080/month
Search/organization savings: 6 × $65 = $390/month
Total monthly time value: $2,470→ $29,640/year (Formula 2).
If improved speed/accuracy helps you win 1 more $50,000 job/month at 15% margin, that’s $7,500/month in gross margin—$90,000/year—stacked on top of the time savings.Example B — Team of 10 estimators
Assumptions: 8 bids/estimator/month; $85/hr loaded cost.
Takeoff time savings: 4 × (8×10) × $85 = 4 × 80 × $85 = $27,200/month
Search/organization savings: (6 × 10) × $85 = $5,100/month
Total monthly time value: $32,300 → $387,600/year.
What “Good” Looks Like During Evaluation
A strong vendor can open a plan and complete a takeoff with assemblies in under five minutes, showing sheet compare/overlay to surface changes. Estimate and proposal creation should live in the same flow, with an integrated worksheet and export options. Multi‑user collaboration must be clean—role‑based permissions, comments, and a clear audit trail—not a shared‑file free‑for‑all. AI should tangibly remove keystrokes through autocount, OCR search, and performed takeoffs. Security and reliability should be evidenced (SOC 2 Type 2, encrypted backups, redundant data centers, visible uptime/status). And integrations need to be real, with a documented open API so estimating data flows to ERP/CRM/PM systems and analytics dashboards. Time‑to‑value should be measured in hours, not months.
Buyer Questions to Put in Your RFP
Performance & Scale:
What’s the typical plan set size you handle without lag? Any hard limits on sheets or storage?
Collaboration:
How do you prevent version conflicts? What’s the audit trail? Can multiple estimators work a package concurrently?
AI Readiness:
Which tasks are automated today vs. on the roadmap?
Security & Uptime:
Provide SOC 2 Type 2 report summary, backup cadence, DR posture, and where uptime is publicly posted.
Integrations:
Which ERP/CRM/PM tools are natively supported? Is there an open API, and how is authentication handled?
Onboarding & Support:
What does a successful first week look like? Do you offer role‑based training for SMB vs. enterprise teams?
Data Portability:
How do we export measurements, item catalogs, and proposals if we ever need to?
Implementation: Days, Not Months
A successful rollout is measured by time‑to‑first‑value and how quickly estimators complete a real project and produce a proposal. Many teams reach productivity in under 8 hours with role‑based training and a focused pilot. Expect vendor guidance on templates and assemblies so your team isn’t starting from zero.
Leaders should lean on standard workflows, dashboards, and open API connectivity to get visibility into team activity and performance without hand‑holding. That’s how Directors of Preconstruction scale output and onboarding while improving accuracy.
What Great Looks Like Post‑Purchase
You’ll see consistent time savings project after project (think roughly four hours back per bid), less overtime, and fewer “Can someone email me the latest plan?” interruptions. Estimates become more repeatable, proposals more confident and clean, and local server headaches fade. With connected data across your stack, forecasting and analytics become part of the routine instead of an afterthought.
Next Steps with STACK
STACK is a purpose‑built, cloud‑native platform spanning bid through build and beyond, with lightning‑fast takeoff and estimating, field‑ready plan viewing, and digital as‑builts. Our platform is backed by enterprise‑grade security, open integrations, and customer‑proven ROI. Book a demo today.
