The program is targeted to the government and commercial construction industry. This is a cost-estimating software package that provides unit cost estimating. Reports can be issued to include various kinds of information about an estimate and can be exported to various spreadsheets, project management systems, databases, and graphics packages. Custom labor trades and equipment codes and rates can be created, and custom crews and assemblies can be built. Full type equivalent costing is available through the use of wage tables. Software can accommodate up to six Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) per line item, each having up to 4 levels. The WBS is user-defined and is in CSI format.
The project can support multiple projects and activities, that are limited only by the size of the hard disk. Costs can be changed to reflect local conditions. A user cost data file enables users to include their own cost information. Also, cost subcategories can be created. However, additional cost categories cannot be created. The database is supplied by RS Means or can be user-defined. Database options are available to suit different project sizes. The company also plans to offer the Marshall and Swift ECHOS database as an option.
The software was initially developed by RS Means, who are now in partnership with Software Shop Systems. The system was released in 1989, with one general update each year. The Windows version 1.0 was released in June, 1995. The latest DOS version is 3.03, and was released in January, 1995.
Technical and maintenance support, including toll-free user support(8.30-8.00 Eastern time) for one year is included in the price of the program. Documentation and tutorials are also included. Demonstration disks are available. The DOS version has an interactive demo, limited he database and the line items (a maximum of 10). The Windows version does not as yet have an interactive demo. 2-3 sample estimates are included with the software. However, these serve only as tutorials and users cannot build their projects from these. On-line help is available.
The program is under General Services Administration (GSA) contract so DOE gets a discount on its purchase.
The price for private users is $3500. There is no quantity discount. The GSA price of the network version of the program is 3150 for 2 users, with $500for each additional user. The retail price for private users is $4200, with$500 for each additional user.
Software Shop Systems, Inc.
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