Construction job sites are not typically thought of as communications nerve centers, but they should be. Construction site managers need instant access to real-time tool management, job costing, accounting and project management information just as urgently as their colleagues in the home office. But unlike their home-office counterparts, who enjoy instant, unlimited Internet access virtually everywhere they go, job site personnel are often left out of the communications loop because their project is located far away from WiFi, broadband or even basic dialup Internet service. Until recently, that information bottleneck was a costly fact of life in the construction industry.

But now, thanks to hosted software solutions, Smart Client technology and 21st-century mobile communications, users in the field can use the Internet to get the information they need to do their jobs, wherever they are, whenever they need it - even without a live Internet connection.

What Is a "Hosted" Solution, Anyway?
Simply stated, hosted software solutions, sometimes called on-demand computing, are Internet-based applications that reside on dedicated servers in ultra-secure data centers. The best software solutions allow construction company staff to access the hosted application over the Internet using a Smart Client application. Using a Smart Client interface gives the rich look and feel of a desktop application, but enables users to continue using the software even when they are offline. Smart Client applications store an encrypted copy of the database on the user's machine, which syncs up with the data on the company's database when back online.

The software is instantly accessible to all authorized users in a company, whether in the office on a desktop or in a job-site trailer using a mobile device. Warehouses, job sites and offices anywhere in the world are automatically synchronized to provide an enterprise-wide look at the entire operation or even drilled down to reveal detailed information about a single piece of equipment.

Rather than buying and installing software on individual computers throughout a company - a time-consuming, costly, non-secure and inefficient process - hosted solutions are sold on a subscription basis, and companies can add users and functionality to the system as their needs expand. Thus, hosted solutions afford great flexibility without the need to invest in an extensive corporate information systems infrastructure. In addition, software updates and expansions are deployed simultaneously throughout the entire system, so all users have instant access to the latest software version.