OverrunShield VS SmartPM

OverrunShield's answer

It was started by a project controls manager with more than 20 years on infrastructure and engineering projects. Again and again, delay claims were submitted late or built by hand on weak evidence, and a simple schedule health check meant hours in P6 or an expensive consultant. OverrunShield turns those routine checks into browser tools that any planner can run.

SmartPM's answer:

SmartPM was founded by Mike Pink, a forensic delay analyst who spent 20+ years manually analyzing hundreds of complex construction schedules for disputes and claims work on projects like nuclear power plants and wastewater treatment facilities. That manual process was slow and painstaking, so he built software to automate the analysis he'd been doing by hand for weeks or months at a time. Because the underlying problem was complex, SmartPM's earliest customers were the most sophisticated project controls teams in the industry, and the platform grew from there. Today SmartPM serves both those advanced teams through SmartPM Controls and mid-market GCs newer to schedule analytics through SmartPM Essentials, with the goal of letting a smaller contractor operate with the same rigor as an ENR Top 50 company.

OverrunShield's answer

It is built for project controls work, not general project management. You upload a Primavera P6 XML or XER file and get a DCMA 14-point and earned value check, a baseline-versus-update comparison, or a side-by-side rating of two to five schedules, in the browser, without P6. Contract tools sit alongside: a FIDIC, NEC or JCT time-bar register, delay notices, prolongation cost and extension of time submissions.

SmartPM's answer:

SmartPM is built on a proprietary CPM engine rather than a visualization layer, which means it independently recalculates and analyzes the schedule logic instead of just displaying data pulled from Primavera P6 or MS Project. That engine powers 35+ schedule quality metrics, including the DCMA 14-point check, and produces forensic-grade delay analysis that can hold up in claims and litigation. SmartPM was founded by a delay analyst with 20+ years of forensic experience, so the platform reflects patterns learned from analyzing thousands of real construction schedules rather than a generic data science approach applied to construction after the fact. It also holds FedRAMP High authorization, a rare distinction in construction technology that matters for government and federal agency work. SmartPM sits on top of existing scheduling tools like P6, MS Project, and Phoenix; it doesn't replace them, it makes the schedules already being built more useful.

OverrunShield's answer

The free tools need no card and no account, and paid exports and reports are one-time payments from $19 rather than a subscription. It is aimed at the quick health check a planner needs before a monthly report or a claim, without buying a full enterprise licence. The checks are automated: a first pass, not a certified expert review.

SmartPM's answer:

SmartPM is chosen because its analysis comes from a real forensic delay analyst's methodology, not a generic algorithm retrofitted for construction. More than half of the ENR Top 50 and a large share of the ENR Top 100 already use the platform, which makes it a low-risk, credible choice for project controls teams. The proprietary CPM engine independently analyzes schedule logic rather than just visualizing existing data, which is what makes SmartPM's output defensible enough to use in delay claims and disputes. SmartPM also offers two tiers: Essentials for teams new to schedule analytics who want a simple, portfolio-wide view, and Controls for teams that need deep forensic drill-down. That range means a mid-market GC can get started without being locked out of the more advanced capabilities an ENR Top 100 project controls team relies on.

OverrunShield's answer

Project controls managers, senior schedulers, planning engineers and project directors on medium to large construction and infrastructure projects. That covers contractors preparing extension of time claims and owners, PMCs and consultants who need an objective check of a contractor's schedule.

SmartPM's answer:

SmartPM's primary audience is general contractors, particularly ENR Top 400 firms and mid-market GCs running $50M+ in annual construction volume across commercial, healthcare, education, multifamily, data center, and industrial projects. Within these firms, the platform is used by VPs of Operations, project controls managers and teams, scheduling teams, project executives, and CFOs who need visibility into schedule health and margin risk. A growing second audience is owners and developers, including real estate developers, school and hospital systems, universities, and government agencies, who use SmartPM to verify contractor schedules and get visibility they wouldn't otherwise have. A smaller audience is forensic consultants and owner's representatives at large firms who need defensible, court-ready delay analysis without doing it manually.

OverrunShield's answer

WordPress for the site; JavaScript tools that read P6 XML and XER files in the browser; a Python analysis service for the heavier reports; n8n for email and report delivery.

SmartPM's answer:

SmartPM is built around a proprietary CPM (Critical Path Method) engine that independently processes and recalculates schedule logic rather than simply rendering data from source files. The platform integrates with the scheduling and project management tools contractors already use, including Primavera P6, MS Project, Phoenix, Procore, Autodesk, Power Project, CMiC, and Power BI. It holds FedRAMP High authorization, which reflects a security and compliance architecture built to federal standards.