Talk to most any homebuilder about technology, and you're bound to get nods of understanding when you rattle off such topics as distributed video, whole house audio, or home networking. But when you start talking to a builder about B2B, B2C, ERP or even CRM challenges, the reaction you get might be akin to that of a deer in headlights. For those that need a bit of assistance here, those acronyms stand for business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer resource management (CRM). And while these terms may not mean a lot to most builders, they are very familiar ones to your information technology (IT) staff.
And therein lies a tremendous disconnect in the homebuilding industry. Builders and their information technologists often don't speak the same language. That makes it difficult for builders to identify what they would most like to be able to do with IT hardware and software products. Builders have a hard time explaining their bidding process, project lifecycles, marketing deficiencies, and communications needs.
Likewise, IT professionals aren't up on the challenges of your trade. Take heart, it's not a struggle unique to the building industry. Getting business and IT to work together seamlessly is one of the greatest challenges facing every industry.
To help you in the process of getting the best technology for your business, TecHome Builder presents its annual IT Buyer's Guide in this issue (page 34). The guide offers profile and contact information on countless leading companies in the IT space, all of whom specialize in serving the builder with IT hardware products, builder-specific software applications, technology consulting, support services and staffing.
Equally important, these companies not only want to help you solve immediate IT needs, they want to help you solve long-term business challenges and help give your company competitive advantages.
The IT Buyer's Guide is presented in two formats. First, a listing by category, of each company that specializes in specific IT related products or services, such as bid process administration or design center automation.
The category listing is followed by comprehensive profiles of each company, with full contact information, descriptions of key IT products, and details on the IT services they provide. Putting the value of IT service and product providers into perspective, author Jim Waldrop discusses the role of software integration in running a homebuilder business, and how it impacts directly on the bottom line.
Taken as a whole, the IT Buyer's Guide is an excellent resource to help you find the IT products, services and talent you need to succeed now, and to grow in the future.
David Weldon
editor
dweldon@ehpub.com