Trimble launches mobile ProjectSight

Trimble targets the low-cost mobile construction project management sector in the US with a simplified version of its Prolog SaaS applications.

Trimble’s push into the SaaS construction collaboration space has gathered momentum with the launch of a low-cost mobile project management service, Trimble ProjectSight, for iPad users

Like most services in this space, it comprises two elements: a mobile app (currently only available for Apple iPads with iOS7 or later) and a web service accessed via a standard browser. It aims to eliminate delays between the field and the office; with ProjectSight, information entered or photographs taken on site are immediately available to the entire project team. A Plan View lets users “pin” issues directly on floor plans, and the platform also includes “over 18 standard forms specifically designed for construction management” (19, maybe?).

ProjectSight is priced at $20 per calendar month (billed annually) per standard user – a “standard user” is one who can create records (eg: RFIs, daily reports, and checklists) – but customers can invite unlimited free “collaborators” to their projects – “collaborators” may view and respond to records in projects to which they have been invited. The operating space for each grouping is a “ProjectSight Organization”: a collaborative workspace paid for, owned and operated by the creating company (eg: a contractor). A free 30-day trial version is also available.

Judging by the visual similarities of the interface, the US-hosted service appears to be a simplified version of the Trimble-owned (since 2006) Meridian Prolog Mobile (iOS and Windows Mobile) and Prolog Converge (web-based) applications, rather than a completely new offering. Trimble’s most recent collaboration acquisition was in September 2014 when it acquired Gehry Technologies’ GTeam platform, subsequently relaunched as Trimble Connect (October 2014), so I am guessing Trimble ProjectSight is pitched at US users not needing something as advanced as Trimble Connect or the full capabilities of the Prolog products.

With a strong industry name behind it, ProjectSight might also grab the attention of potential customers attracted to US-based mobile alternatives such as San Francisco’s PlanGrid (close to Meridian’s California base) and the well-funded NYC-based startup FieldLens (among others; eg: Aconex, Corecon, EADoc, FluidCM, Latista, Procore, etc). The US mobile construction collaboration sector is also set to get even busier when Viewpoint begins to roll-out its recently acquired Priority1 mobile toolset to support Viewpoint for Collaboration customers in its key north American market.