Why Contribute to IRONPROS?

Case Studies (Appropriate for software/hardware vendors and systems integrators/consultants)

• Word count = minimum of 600 words
• Naming the customer is preferred but not required as it is often difficult to secure customer approval.

• Mandatory sections include:

o Customer Demographics

Size (SMB, Middle Market or Enterprise)
NAICS
Annual Cost: Hundreds, Thousands, Tens of Thousands, Hundreds of Thousands, Millions ▪
Geographic Location: (Can be a city, multiple cities, MSA, global region, depending on need to anonymize the customer)

o Baseline:

Give us the rest of the details on the customer—project delivery systems, fleet size, number of offices/regions. Tell the story of what problems they were trying to solve when you started working with them, other products/vendors they considered if possible, and why they selected your solution. If there are baseline metrics they wanted to improve (projects completed on time, number of bids submitted, margin, time to fill vacancies, etc.), content will be prioritized accordingly. o Implementation/Rollout: What was the timeline and project scale required for them to realize value from the solution? What factors expedited or slowed down time to value? What other technologies does the primary solution integrate with, and how bidirectional and robust are those connections?

o Life On the Other Side:

What capabilities, process improvements or meaningful business improvements has the customer realized since going live on the solution? Metrics that compare to baseline metrics are preferable, but any post-implementation metrics are helpful.

o ROI:

How are you determining ROI for this project, and what are rough cut numbers that suggest this was a good investment for the customer?

o What’s Next?

What additional functionality is the customer considering or planning to implement, or what are their plans to further the use of the solution?

How-To (Appropriate for Systems Integrators/Consultants)

This is aimed at consultants, systems integrators or software services organizations serving a large install base. The goal is to help readers already using a given solution understand how to get more value out of their current investment through a services engagement. Sometimes, these may be generic enough to be applicable to multiple products, but should carry specific insights for customers on a given construction technology application or solution. Oftentimes, a contractor or other business will implement a solution and then lose the team that was trained to turnover or retirement. In other situations, the implementation itself may have been suboptimal. Or sometimes, the needs of the business change and the technology must be reconfigured, upgraded, re-implemented or modified. Here is a chance to be the expert helping these companies understand how to realize value from what they have, perhaps through a professional services engagement.

• Word count = minimum of 600 words
• Mandatory sections include:

o Technology: What construction software/device solution does this apply to, including version
o Problem: What problems are users experiencing that suggest they need to pay attention to this solution?
o Why It’s Important: When a company experiences this problem, how does it hurt their business? Be specific and measurable as possible, and perhaps relay anecdotes you have seen in the market. Include screenshots of error messages, which should be embedded in the Word document of the material as well as attached as a separate file.
o The Solution: Is there something the user organization can do to rectify the problem? What type of skill set is required to address it? Under what conditions should the company look to an outside consultancy or to the vendor as opposed to DIY? What services are helpful in this situation—additional training, upgrade, regression testing, cloud provisioning, etc.

Guidelines for submitting content for Software & Technology:

· Guest posts on IRONPROS.com are free.

· Editorial staff reserves the right to edit and fact check according to style. Any statistics, facts and/or research must be supported with adequate sourcing.

· IRONPROS follows Associated Press style with some exceptions, including usage of symbols to replace some words like percent, feet, inches, and using abbreviations for other units of measure where possible.

· Articles are published online on a first-come, first-serve basis, therefore, there is no specific deadline, unless otherwise specified. For those columns not assigned in accordance with IRONPROS’ editorial calendar, please allow 2-3 weeks for scheduling.

· Topic must pertain to construction software and technology.

· Q&A format will not be accepted, as brands within the Construction Network do not publish Q&As not conducted by editorial staff.

· Word count = minimum of 600 words

· Must include author’s full name and title, as well as company name. (Author emails will not publish.) This information is mentioned at the end of the article.

· Author should be a subject matter expert from the industry and/or company/manufacturer. Columns with an author byline from a marketing/PR agency will not publish.

· Content that does not pertain to the construction industry will not publish.

· Editorial submissions must be exclusive to IRONMARKETS and its brands. Columns cannot be repurposed with a competitor.

· Submitting AI-generated content is prohibited. Editors will not knowingly publish any contributed content created by artificial intelligence software.

· You are encouraged to share the link on your website and through your social media channels. The IRONPROS logo is available upon request to post an excerpt on your website or in your e-newsletters. Posting the article on your website or in your e-newsletters without linking back to the article on our site is strictly prohibited and will be subject to copyright infringement.

· Copy must be non-promotional, non-commercial in nature.

· Per company policy, IRONPROS does not insert hyperlinks back to company’s websites, products or services.

· Please submit expert columns related to construction/heavy equipment and workwear to Marina Mayer, Content Director at mmayer@iron.markets.