Interview With Dustin Stephens, Vice President of Construction and Real Estate, Sage
The construction industry has experienced a high degree of impact due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Labor shortages, rising material and labor costs, increased competition, and shrinking profit margins are some of the problems construction firms are still going through.
Sage has recently announced that Sage Field Operations is now available with Sage Intacct Construction. Dustin Stephens, Vice President of Construction and Real Estate at Sage shed a light on the major challenges that the construction companies are facing and how they can benefit from the integration of Sage Field Operations and Sage Intacct Construction.
- Could you tell ERP News readers about yourself and your role at Sage?
I’m Vice President of Construction and Real Estate at Sage, responsible for go-to-market strategies and building partner and customer programs for Sage’s construction business in North America. I have more than 25 years of experience in the industry and am passionate about helping construction businesses achieve their goals through the strategic use of technology.
- Sage has recently announced Sage Field Operations integration with Sage Intacct Construction. Could you tell us about the functionalities of both the cloud accounting platform and the mobile management app?
Sage Intacct Construction is a best-in-class native cloud solution that enables proactive management of critical financial and operational metrics, increased efficiency, reduced time and cost of audits, and improved cash flow. Sage Field Operations is a mobile app that provides service contractors with real-time access to the critical information needed on the go and streamlines communication between the field and office.
- What are the biggest challenges that service-providing construction companies are facing today?
Service-providing construction companies face a number of challenges, including a qualified worker shortage, supply chain issues, and material shortages. Technology can help ease some of these problems through increased efficiency and greater business visibility, alerting service contractors of potential issues so they can take immediate action.
- How will construction companies benefit from this integration?
This new integration further extends Sage Field Operations functionality by leveraging the strength and scalability of Sage Intacct Construction, ensuring teams are connected to crucial business and financial data while on the go. It helps construction businesses to simplify field operations, improve communication, integrate workflows, optimize new business opportunities, create and manage service agreements, and reduce paperwork and administrative overhead.
- What does the future hold for ERP? How do you think the industry is evolving?
Cloud-based ERP solutions will continue to gain traction in the industry. The cloud provides a host of benefits including mobility and scalability. When a construction business invests in a cloud-based ERP system they can have peace of mind knowing that their teams will have any time, anywhere access to business-critical data and that the solution can scale with the business as needs change. Plus, solutions with an open API allow businesses to integrate their ERP with other solutions they are using, streamlining workflows, and eliminating time-consuming and error-prone double data entry.
- Could you tell us about future growth strategies of Sage?
Sage is dedicated to providing technology solutions that make our customers’ lives easier. For more than 50 years, Timberline has been leading the charge in the construction technology space and we will continue to invest in our products while working with other industry leaders to deliver seamless integrations to provide construction businesses with the power to choose the right mix of solutions that address their unique business needs.
Dustin Stephens is Vice President of Construction and Real Estate at Sage, responsible for go-to-market strategies and building partner and customer programs for Sage’s construction business in North America. Dustin is a dynamic construction software executive with more than 25 years of experience serving the industry.
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of small- and mid-sized businesses served by us, our partners, and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR, and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitizing business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks, and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology, and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality, and the climate crisis.
Learn more at www.sage.com/en-us/ and www.sageintacct.com.
