PMIS BUYER'S GUIDE

How to evaluate a PMIS
built for the owner side.

Most construction and project platforms were designed for contractor workflows, maintenance management, or generic project coordination. This guide helps public infrastructure owners evaluate a PMIS built for capital governance, board accountability, and delivery method complexity.

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Owner-Side Evaluation

The owner-side PMIS evaluation framework

Eight criteria for evaluating whether a PMIS was genuinely built for the owner's perspective — or retrofitted from a contractor tool.

1
Owner-Side Controls
Does it capture RFIs, submittals, change orders, cost events, and risk from the owner's perspective — or the contractor's?
2
Delivery Method Support
Does it have purpose-built workflows for GC/CM, progressive design-build, design-bid-build, and owner-force account?
3
Executive Reporting
Can it produce board briefings, council presentations, and federal reimbursement documentation from live data — without manual assembly?
4
Risk and Compliance
Does it have a structured risk register with escalation, and compliance tracking for permits, regulatory requirements, and federal funding conditions?
5
CMMS Handoff Quality
Does it structure closeout to produce CMMS-ready asset data — or just a box of PDFs?
6
Deployment Fit
Does it run in your Microsoft 365 environment, or require new infrastructure? Does it integrate with your GIS, ERP, and asset systems?
7
Procurement Pathway
Can your agency procure it through direct award, MBE cooperative purchasing, pilot SOW, or competitive RFP?
8
Vendor Track Record
Has it been deployed by practitioners who have managed real utility capital programs — not just software engineers building for a generic market?
Defining the Category

What owner-side PMIS is not

The market is full of tools marketed as PMIS that were designed for entirely different use cases. Recognizing what owner-side PMIS is not is the first step to evaluating what it actually requires.

Not a contractor project management tool repurposed for owners
Not a generic task management platform with custom fields
Not a document storage system called a PMIS
Not a dashboard layer on top of existing spreadsheets
Not a maintenance management system extended to capital projects
What it actually is
Owner-side PMIS is a governance layer — structured around accountability, auditability, capital decisions, and board reporting.
Evaluation Scorecard

Evaluation scorecard

Use this scorecard when evaluating any PMIS. The third column identifies red flags that frequently appear in tools marketed to public agencies but designed for other use cases.

Criteria What to look for Red flag
RFI Management Owner-controlled register, aging alerts, contractor accountability Contractor-submitted, owner reviews only
Change Orders Real-time exposure, contingency tracking, GMP reconciliation Manual approval chains, no portfolio rollup
Risk Register Structured capture, probability/impact, escalation logic Free-text notes, no scoring
Board Reporting Generated from live data, no manual assembly Requires export to Excel and reformatting
Delivery Methods Purpose-built for GC/CM, PDB, DBB Generic milestone templates
CMMS Handoff Asset data from submittals, warranty tracking Final document dump at project close
Federal Funding Per-project attribution, Davis-Bacon support Manual filing, no documentation structure
Deployment M365-native or Azure SaaS, no new infrastructure On-premises only, proprietary stack
Procurement

Common procurement pathways for public agencies

Public agencies have more procurement flexibility than many assume. The right pathway depends on your agency's timeline, risk tolerance, and authorization level.

Direct Award / Sole Source
For specialized owner-side PMIS with demonstrated unique capability. MBE/ESB credentials support direct award processes.
Pilot Program
Start with one program or delivery method. Defined scope, fixed term, structured evaluation criteria.
Competitive RFP
Use the evaluation criteria above as RFP requirements. AMP's team can provide sample RFP language on request.
Cooperative Purchasing
Washington and Oregon MBE cooperative pathways available. Reduces procurement timeline significantly.
Due Diligence

Questions to ask any PMIS vendor

These questions will surface the difference between a tool designed for owner governance and one adapted from a different use case.

Owner Controls
Governance and workflow questions
Is the RFI register controlled by the owner or submitted by the contractor?
Does the system have purpose-built workflows for our delivery methods?
Can it produce board-ready reports from live data?
How does it handle project closeout and CMMS handoff?
Security + Procurement
Infrastructure and pathway questions
Where is data hosted, and who owns it?
Does it integrate with Microsoft 365 and Entra ID SSO?
What procurement pathways are available for public agencies?
Has it been deployed by practitioners who have managed real public capital programs?
Free Assessment

Take the PMIS Readiness Assessment — free, 12 questions, instant score.

Understand your current program maturity, identify your top three gaps, and get a recommended AMP pathway — in 4 minutes.

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