A recent customer survey from small-business funding site Kabbage shows less than 35 percent of small construction companies plan to make investments at some level this year in technologies that could help their businesses, according to www.constructiondive.com.
More than 65 percent of contractors who responded to the study did not have a plan to invest in tools such as big data solutions or mobile technologies, and the same percentage was either neutral, against or not likely to spend more than 20 percent on social media advertising.
Kabbage also found that even with the threat of cyber attacks and other computer-related crimes, less than 40 percent of small construction firms plan to invest in cyber security. However, more than 50 percent of respondents said they plan to streamline their operations in 2018 by getting rid of paper and manual processes.
In general, the construction industry is moving forward with new technologies, but surveys such as the one conducted by Kabbage indicate there is a category of contractor that remains resistant to technology despite the benefits or protections it could provide.
Companies of all sizes can be victims of cyber attacks, and to better protect company data, attorney Michelle Schaap of Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, West Orange, N.J., says contractors should at least keep their firewalls and antivirus software up to date, as well as partition information so if one device is attacked, the rest of the company's devices and digital technologies will not be affected.
