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Mark Systems IHMS
 | 6 Reviews (4.3/5) |
Mark Systems is a recognized leader in the home building software market and has won several awards from the industry magazine Construtech. Construtech named the company amongst the top “50 Hottest” software firms. Mark Systems IHMS allows home builders to manage their entire operation in one solution.
IHMS offers their applications as part of an integrated suite that includes estimating, project scheduling, service management, bid management, accounting, and customer management. The data for all of these applications is maintained in a single database. This provides a single access point for home builders to store, log-in and share their share data with other parties involved in their operations. The software incorporates functionality to manage housing quality and keep track of LEED qualified home improvements. The software also provides access to trade partners, home buyers, lenders, and home owners.
The software is ideal for construction companies that occupy the mid-market and up. We think the software works for home builders that run businesses somewhere between $10 million and $100 million and have 6 or more employees. For residential builders and developers of 10-50 units, we recommend purchasing the SaaS version of the software. For builders and developers that manage 50+ units, we suggest the they go with the on-premise version.
6 Reviews of Mark Systems IHMS
Overall rating
We are a small home builder in a small market. Prior to the recession we built an average of 20 homes per year. We wanted to grow within our market and expand into other markets. Over the years we had been running our business with a combination of different software for CRM, scheduling, accounting (Including purchase orders), selections and warranties. We looked at enterprise systems before and didn’t feel like we as a company were ready for one.
In 2010 we decided the timing was right. After a very thorough investigation and selection process we selected IHMS from Mark Systems. IHMS was designed as a single database system which we believed was beneficial. It had been around long enough to have a good track record and most importantly, it was designed as an enterprise system for home building. It was not a product for commercial construction adapted to try to fit home building.
Occasionally the decisions we make turn out to be spot on. We believe that we chose the right system and we also allocated enough resources during implementation to get the conversion done effectively. We brought in temporary help in terms of expertise and extra labor to assist our own team members. This helped keep to our project schedule while keeping the day to day business going.
The system itself is very well thought out. It is obvious that Mark Systems has incorporated feedback from the users to create a robust system. Seldom is there functionality that we need that the system doesn’t provide. Sometimes we had to adapt to a different way than we were used to, but we also learned new and better practices by having to conform.
We knew that a fully integrated enterprise system would require a disciplined approach to running our business and that turned out to be almost accurate. The discipline required far exceeded what we expected. However, far from being a bad thing, the structure and discipline required to use an integrated system like IHMS has made us a better company. We now spend much more time in planning and preparation than in correcting errors in the field. We are on track to close 71 homes this year and having a single system has helped us significantly.
Mark Systems has been a pleasure to work with. They are very helpful and responsive to issues that come up. When we call real people answer the phone. In the year that we've been operational we have created strong relationships with many of the Mark Systems team members.
All in all we believe that we made the right choice in both the timing of moving to an enterprise system and in choosing IHMS from Mark Systems. I would make the same choice today.
In 2010 we decided the timing was right. After a very thorough investigation and selection process we selected IHMS from Mark Systems. IHMS was designed as a single database system which we believed was beneficial. It had been around long enough to have a good track record and most importantly, it was designed as an enterprise system for home building. It was not a product for commercial construction adapted to try to fit home building.
Occasionally the decisions we make turn out to be spot on. We believe that we chose the right system and we also allocated enough resources during implementation to get the conversion done effectively. We brought in temporary help in terms of expertise and extra labor to assist our own team members. This helped keep to our project schedule while keeping the day to day business going.
The system itself is very well thought out. It is obvious that Mark Systems has incorporated feedback from the users to create a robust system. Seldom is there functionality that we need that the system doesn’t provide. Sometimes we had to adapt to a different way than we were used to, but we also learned new and better practices by having to conform.
We knew that a fully integrated enterprise system would require a disciplined approach to running our business and that turned out to be almost accurate. The discipline required far exceeded what we expected. However, far from being a bad thing, the structure and discipline required to use an integrated system like IHMS has made us a better company. We now spend much more time in planning and preparation than in correcting errors in the field. We are on track to close 71 homes this year and having a single system has helped us significantly.
Mark Systems has been a pleasure to work with. They are very helpful and responsive to issues that come up. When we call real people answer the phone. In the year that we've been operational we have created strong relationships with many of the Mark Systems team members.
All in all we believe that we made the right choice in both the timing of moving to an enterprise system and in choosing IHMS from Mark Systems. I would make the same choice today.
Overall rating
We have been users of IHMS since 2002 and remain happy that we made the move.
We were using a program that had strengths in general contracting but was difficult to use for homebuilding. We identified 3 potential products after our first phase of due diligence.
We chose Mark Systems for many reasons. First, it truly is integrated under one roof and supported by one organization that stands by the product. Secondly, the overall cost control functionality was impressive. Controls and safeguards going from budgets to contracts to work orders to approval using the Internet tool kit works wonders.
Having vast control over the options is very important to us -- from having only options available to the particular plan to adjusting selling pricing in group ranges to ensuring all options chosen are paid for and paid to the subcontractor.
All newly acquired software requires a learning curve. The support staff at Mark Systems are always pleasant, available and knowledgeable. They have low turnover, if any, and we have been able to continue relationships as we make progress, adding software features to our operations.
We were using a program that had strengths in general contracting but was difficult to use for homebuilding. We identified 3 potential products after our first phase of due diligence.
We chose Mark Systems for many reasons. First, it truly is integrated under one roof and supported by one organization that stands by the product. Secondly, the overall cost control functionality was impressive. Controls and safeguards going from budgets to contracts to work orders to approval using the Internet tool kit works wonders.
Having vast control over the options is very important to us -- from having only options available to the particular plan to adjusting selling pricing in group ranges to ensuring all options chosen are paid for and paid to the subcontractor.
All newly acquired software requires a learning curve. The support staff at Mark Systems are always pleasant, available and knowledgeable. They have low turnover, if any, and we have been able to continue relationships as we make progress, adding software features to our operations.
Overall rating
Provident Homes Corp is a regional residential builder providing both luxury single family homes and townhomes in conservation communities. Working with our customers is everything and handling multiple customers accurately and efficiently is always the challenge of a residential builder.
Because Provident Homes Corp builds in both larger developments and on custom single lots, Provident Homes Corp requires a central system to manage not only the accounting of our company but all the other critical pieces such as Sales, Scheduling, Warranty, Costing, Budgets and more.... In the past we were learning multiple programs and having to maintain those multiple programs, access those multiple programs remotely, have those programs properly talk to one another and then manage the inevitable discrepancies between all the different programs.
Mark Systems really makes the residential construction process and sales process smoother by centralizing all the critical information into a place where Sales Agents, Customers, Employees, Administrative staff and even subcontractors can go for up-to-date and accurate information that can be accessed at their computer or smart phone.
Mark Systems is very well thought out and constantly improving. The program is robust, so you cannot learn it overnight but it is intuitive and easy to learn. Most importantly, if you do have questions, all of the staff at Mark Systems knows the product and there are specialists and support if needed.
The reporting is amazing and easy to understand. Users have the ability to easily extract large amounts of data into spreadsheets or other databases if needed, or you can just select from the numerous reports already built into Mark Systems. The program is stable and easy to deploy remotely and can be easily accessed from smart phones or other PDA-like devices.
Provident Homes Corp has been overall very pleased with the system, especially since the introduction of the new multiple price-out option. Once you've built the information / database into Mark Systems it is an amazing program, and it continues to impress our users as the information is a great tool for analyzing efficiencies and weaknesses as a company, while keeping your customers informed, on budget, on schedule and happy they chose to work with such an organized and professional company.
When choosing an all in one Residential builder software, Provident Homes Corp would not consider anyone but Mark Systems.
Because Provident Homes Corp builds in both larger developments and on custom single lots, Provident Homes Corp requires a central system to manage not only the accounting of our company but all the other critical pieces such as Sales, Scheduling, Warranty, Costing, Budgets and more.... In the past we were learning multiple programs and having to maintain those multiple programs, access those multiple programs remotely, have those programs properly talk to one another and then manage the inevitable discrepancies between all the different programs.
Mark Systems really makes the residential construction process and sales process smoother by centralizing all the critical information into a place where Sales Agents, Customers, Employees, Administrative staff and even subcontractors can go for up-to-date and accurate information that can be accessed at their computer or smart phone.
Mark Systems is very well thought out and constantly improving. The program is robust, so you cannot learn it overnight but it is intuitive and easy to learn. Most importantly, if you do have questions, all of the staff at Mark Systems knows the product and there are specialists and support if needed.
The reporting is amazing and easy to understand. Users have the ability to easily extract large amounts of data into spreadsheets or other databases if needed, or you can just select from the numerous reports already built into Mark Systems. The program is stable and easy to deploy remotely and can be easily accessed from smart phones or other PDA-like devices.
Provident Homes Corp has been overall very pleased with the system, especially since the introduction of the new multiple price-out option. Once you've built the information / database into Mark Systems it is an amazing program, and it continues to impress our users as the information is a great tool for analyzing efficiencies and weaknesses as a company, while keeping your customers informed, on budget, on schedule and happy they chose to work with such an organized and professional company.
When choosing an all in one Residential builder software, Provident Homes Corp would not consider anyone but Mark Systems.
Overall rating
We have been using Mark Systems IHMS for over 10 years. The strength of Mark Systems IHMS has been their one integrated database that works seamlessly with each of their home building modules. Each module works flawlessly with the other because it's all integrated in one place. When trade partners go to the vendor portal website, they are looking at live payment information. When a salesperson is selling options to a customer the pricing is right because it comes from the one main database. When my executives want to do a price or margin analysis, the data is accurate without the need to jump through a lot of hoops. Having our company all look at the same "picture" of the data makes us more efficient and productive.
Overall rating
version 3.1001.3
We build just over 100 homes a year and are anxious to do more. We transitioned to Mark Systems from Quickbooks and spreadsheets. As a growing company, those tools were weak and were a serious burden to our company, so we looked at home building software and decided on Mark Systems. It's an understatement to say that we needed a new software system (we weren't even using purchase orders at the time).
The implementation was difficult but that was due in large part the the fact that we were unorganized. Basically, it would have been very difficult no matter what software we chose. It's taken about 12 months from when we started using the software to utilize the majority of the programs/functions available to us.
Customer support is excellent and this is really important to us, especially since we are new customers with new software. You can imagine that at first there are many questions that come up.
This software will give us the tools to grow beyond our market and still have the control we want.
The biggest issue I have with the software is the ease of use and visual interface. I've used a lot of operating systems and programs and Mark Systems has their work cut out for them. In general, there is a lot of work to do in this department but in particular the sales system (including tracking contacts) and reports. Yes, they work, but it's not intuitive.
One feature I loved and miss in Quickbooks was the widget showing bank account balances on the home screen rather than pulling reports.
We build just over 100 homes a year and are anxious to do more. We transitioned to Mark Systems from Quickbooks and spreadsheets. As a growing company, those tools were weak and were a serious burden to our company, so we looked at home building software and decided on Mark Systems. It's an understatement to say that we needed a new software system (we weren't even using purchase orders at the time).
The implementation was difficult but that was due in large part the the fact that we were unorganized. Basically, it would have been very difficult no matter what software we chose. It's taken about 12 months from when we started using the software to utilize the majority of the programs/functions available to us.
Customer support is excellent and this is really important to us, especially since we are new customers with new software. You can imagine that at first there are many questions that come up.
This software will give us the tools to grow beyond our market and still have the control we want.
The biggest issue I have with the software is the ease of use and visual interface. I've used a lot of operating systems and programs and Mark Systems has their work cut out for them. In general, there is a lot of work to do in this department but in particular the sales system (including tracking contacts) and reports. Yes, they work, but it's not intuitive.
One feature I loved and miss in Quickbooks was the widget showing bank account balances on the home screen rather than pulling reports.
Overall rating
I have used Mark Systems IHMS since 2002. Working as a Controller for three separate Developer/Home Builders, I used Masterbuilder and Timberline software prior to Mark Systems. I am so thoroughly sold on IHMS that I started my own business as a consultant to Home Builders who use Mark Systems.
It is the only construction software I found that integrates all departments in the business and reduces overhead costs while at the same time improving reporting. With a current builder I consult, we have gone from a stressed working group to a team that wants to expand operations into new markets. I worked with them on their conversion to Mark Systems when they were closing thirteen homes in a month. Now a year later they are managing without the stress and looking to grow.
Mark Systems continues to improve their product with the latest version IHMS3, a Java-based system.
It is the only construction software I found that integrates all departments in the business and reduces overhead costs while at the same time improving reporting. With a current builder I consult, we have gone from a stressed working group to a team that wants to expand operations into new markets. I worked with them on their conversion to Mark Systems when they were closing thirteen homes in a month. Now a year later they are managing without the stress and looking to grow.
Mark Systems continues to improve their product with the latest version IHMS3, a Java-based system.
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