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At the start of 2025, I visited Procore’s European headquarters in Dublin to educate the team on why connecting leading construction project management and procurement software is such a powerful strategy for head contractors.
In other words: why procurement and project management are better together.
This article unpacks that discussion.
While the broader construction industry gets a bad rap for being slow to adopt technology, most head contractors we speak to are deep in the process of modernising their operations using construction technology (ConTech).
RICS’ yearly digitalisation report, which shows an overall industry regression year on year since 2021:
"Most concerningly, the proportion of respondents not using digital technologies on any of their projects across the six listed functional areas showed a slight increase, from 40% in 2021, to 42% in 2022, and 43% in 2023."
We view these well-touted industry stats as blanket statements that don't always reflect reality.
Main contractors working on large-scale commercial and infrastructure projects are adopting tech at a faster rate due to necessity in order to manage significant complexity across their projects.
To highlight this, we’ve mapped the big ConTech players across key processes in construction.
These solutions help the industry operate smarter, better, faster, stronger.
Beyond the basics of email, Word, and Excel, the transformation journey typically starts with two major systems:
Comprehensive PM systems act as a hub, with the other six key areas connecting to project management like spokes on a wheel: design, programme, finance, procurement, quality, and safety. The contractors further along on their transformation journey might already employ tools in each of these areas.
Procore is one of these project management 'hubs'. A major player in global ConTech, it has gained mass adoption worldwide, with over 16,000 companies using the software (as of writing).
Now, having a powerful project management tool like Procore at the centre of the wheel is great, but that wheel rolls funny if it’s not well connected to each spoke. To account for that, Procore employs a platform strategy, integrating closely with specialist solutions so users can seamlessly work across best-in-class tools.
However, until a few years ago, one of these spokes had been historically underserved by ConTech: procurement.
In the four years since Covid went viral, construction has experienced a rollercoaster of supply chain disruptions — materials and labour shortages, escalating prices, and record insolvencies.
This has forced contractors to focus more on:
The recent turmoil, coupled with the fact that procurement and supply chain management (engaging the right subbies) are critical to setting entire projects up for success, means getting procurement right is more important than ever.
This isn’t a revelation for seasoned builders.
Ben Byrnes, Commercial Manager at Richard Crookes Constructions, sums it up neatly:
"We don’t actually build anything — everything we do is through our supply chain! That’s how important it is. Picking the right subcontractors, picking them quickly, getting their scopes right. If you get that wrong, it’s one of the few opportunities you have to improve your project position, other than finishing early and client variations. Once you get past procurement, your opportunities start to be limited — that’s why it’s so important."
The need is clear, but how does connected procurement meet that need?
Just to clarify: procurement is often misconstrued as ‘just tendering’, ‘estimating’, or ‘a subcontractor database’.
The reality is far more complex — it’s procurement schedules, scopes, tenders, comparisons, recommendations, approvals, contracts, signatures, that subcontractor database, performance tracking, workload management, compliance, and much more.
This is why the desktops of commercial staff (quantity surveyors, contract administrators) are anxiety-inducing:
Some tech might already be used for tendering or eSignatures (e.g. DocuSign), but most contractors still solve procurement with a patchwork quilt of Excel, Word, emails, and duct tape.
These old procurement habits are the root cause for ‘The 12 Problems of Procurement’.
The future of procurement unifies tools and workflows in an end-to-end solution that seamlessly integrates with the wider ConTech ecosystem — namely, that project management hub.
ProcurePro extends Procore’s project management capabilities by connecting tenders, procurement schedules, supply chains, and reporting into a single, structured workflow.
Here’s how it works:
By connecting procurement with project management, the benefits go beyond efficiency—transforming procurement from a functional necessity into a strategic advantage.
By integrating Procore and ProcurePro, contractors unlock hidden efficiencies, reduce risk, and enhance their bottom line.
Discover how connecting Procore and ProcurePro can transform your procurement.
Speak to our team for a tailored demonstration of how ProcurePro can fit into your Procore implementation.
Alastair Blenkin
