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In a large Portland office overlooking the Willamette River, business as usual for was a hubbub of activity.

Dressed casually in polo shirts, shorts and sandals on 鈥渟horts Wednesday,鈥� more than 200 developers, product managers and customer support staffers milled about open cubicles awash in natural light. Small teams brainstormed around central computers. In a second-floor conference room, a presentation drew a crowd.

Amid tough times for the construction industry in general, business is booming for Viewpoint and other software providers such as in Beaverton. It’s a sign, perhaps, that contractors are increasingly interested in technology.

鈥淚 think the last two to three years is just the start of us seizing a very sizable opportunity in providing the construction marketplace as it transforms itself with the kind of technology that contractors really need,鈥� said Jay Haladay, Viewpoint’s CEO, from Sydney, Australia, where a team recently reached a deal with a large company.

Last year, Viewpoint increased its revenues by nearly 50 percent, to $40 million. And in the first quarter of 2012, it saw 78 percent growth from the same period in 2011. Earlier this month, Viewpoint acquired a North Carolina company called Construction Imaging Systems, and was named Oregon’s best software company by industry trade group .

鈥淚’ll take the 鈥業’m lucky’ piece but I define luck as the intersection of preparation and opportunity,鈥� Haladay said.

Viewpoint began as an estimating software company called Bidtech, in 1976. Haladay formed a parent company called Coaxis to purchase it outright in 1990 and then changed the name to Viewpoint.

For the next 10 years, Haladay took more of a strategic role in the company and spent the majority of his time at home with his wife raising their four children, leaving day-to-day operations to a team of trusted managers. In 2004, he decided to become more active.

鈥淚 had an opportunity to create a legacy, if you will, and so there was a purpose to what I was doing,鈥� he said.

In 2005, Viewpoint moved into its offices at 1515 S.E. Water Ave. and renovated the building to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards. The company also invested 100,000 man-hours to revamp its software 鈥� and make it more user-friendly, intuitive and cohesive. It also rolled out a new product in 2007.

鈥淭he big deal is: Can I use it? How simple is it for someone to pick it up and just use it?鈥� said Rob Humphreys, Viewpoint’s vice president of development. 鈥淵ou know, because again with the tablet or a phone app, who reads instructions for these things, right? You just go into them and start using them. That’s the expectation people have for software and so it’s raised the bar for us.鈥�

But Viewpoint has competition. One of the nation’s largest construction management software providers is Sage CRE. It also took root in the 1970s, as Timberline Software Corp., but was purchased by Sage about eight years ago.

Globally, Sage generates approximately $2 billion in revenue, including $600 million from its North America arm. The Beaverton business, with 40,000 customers, is one of the top 10 earners in that market.

Jon Witty, vice president and general manager for Sage CRE, said the company is responding to the recession by catering to a new generation of project managers and superintendents who are increasingly comfortable with new technology, and who are stretched thin over greater geographic areas.

鈥淥n any building there’s a lot of change on the project, and so trying to keep everyone coordinated on what is the latest version of the truth 鈥� the adjusted plan 鈥� really offers some unique challenges,鈥� Witty said.

To that end, Sage this week plans to roll out a new cloud-based management system that will let contractors give their subcontractors access to management systems (updated plans, specifications, RFPs, change orders) via the Internet 鈥� even if they’re not Sage customers.

Both Viewpoint and Sage, along with a handful of other providers around the U.S., regularly butt heads for market share. Sage has a bit of a head start, supplying about 65 percent of the companies on the Engineering News-Record’s top 400 contractors list. Viewpoint supplies about 20 percent of the firms on the list.

But both Witty and Haladay see huge potential for the industry.

Haladay said construction contractors spend $82 billion a year on technology. Witty said the nation’s pool of ideal customers is several hundred thousand contractors deep. And both believe that when push comes to shove, service will be king.

Haladay likened it to a trip to an In-N-Out Burger restaurant.

鈥淚t’s more than a hamburger; it’s kind of an experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd they’ve created a company culture that, even though it’s a drive-in and everything else, it’s kind of neat. Oh and by the way, you get a great hamburger.

鈥淲e created not only a product, but a culture that really resonated with our market and that I have to say is probably the key to our success.鈥�