Maximize Your Productivity:

7 Ways Cloud Collaboration Helps Civil Engineers

Deliver Infrastructure Projects Faster

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Contents

Fast-paced projects and large teams demand improved productivity 3

Traditional ways of working drain productivity 4

1: Centralized all-team access to project information 7

2: Streamlined project coordination and scheduling 7

3: Reduced need for paper prints 8

4: Anytime, anywhere access 9

5: Spend less time translating and coordinating files 10

6: Capture comments more quickly and easily 10

7: Streamline file storage and sharing 11

Get started now 12

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Fast-paced projects and large teams
demand improved productivity
The pace of infrastructure projects keeps increasing.
As teams need to account for progressively complex
planning and permitting, the number of participants
and stakeholders seems to grow from one project to the
next. Multiple engineering and environmental specialists
must weigh in on even relatively small projects. This
requires a level of collaboration and coordination
that adds time and effort. But design budgets arent
necessarily growing. As a result, civil engineering firms
and other project participants find that their resources
are stretched far too thin.
A productivity boost would hugely impact the bottom
line for many infrastructure project participants. Yet, as
compared to just a few years ago, people are working
more efficiently thanks to more integrated workflows.
Take design as an example. Many civil engineers use
Building Information Modeling (BIM) processes and
tools. According to a 2017 SmartMarket Report survey
from Dodge Data and Analytics, 52% of civil engineering
firms report using BIM on more than half their projects,
with just 20% reporting that level of use in 2015. [1]
Of those survey respondents using BIM, 87% say they
receive positive value from BIM, with a majority also
reporting that they have only begun to unlock its full
potential.
The 2017 SmartMarket Report from Dodge Data and
Analytics referenced above also found that users
attributed a wide-array of benefits to BIM,
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including fewer errors, less rework, and greater cost
predictability. BIMs ability to improve cross-team
collaboration and coordination are at the root of many
of these benefits. But even as collaboration is improving
on civil projects, teams still rely heavily on traditional
ways of interacting, such as phone, email, and in-person
meetings. These ways of collaborating may be limiting
productivity, especially when project team members
are in different officesand sometimes in different
countries.
Its time to upgrade to a more efficient way of working:
cloud-based collaboration.
In this white paper, well explore some of the top
sources of inefficiency on infrastructure projects. Then,
the paper highlights seven ways that cloud-based
workflows eliminate process inefficiencies and open the
door to higher levels of productivity
of engineers
across disciplines
67% reporting BIM
implementation
in 2012.
Adapt and succeed
The American Society of Civil Engineers
published its 20-year vision for the profession
in 2006.[2] The report seemed to anticipate
many of the technologies, such as cloud,
impacting the profession today. Linking success
to adaptability, engineering leaders highlighted
the professional skills civil engineers will need
to thrive. They include:
Rapid mastery of new technology
Agile collaboration with multidisciplinary
teams, including virtual teams
Proactive project management that
advances projects within budgets,
schedules, and other constraints
Those are just three of the skills highlighted, but
cloud-based collaboration can further each one.
Traditional ways of working drain productivity
Infrastructure project teams, especially on major
projects, often require contributions from multiple
specialties and people based at different firms. So
coordination and collaboration play significant roles in
project delivery. But traditional ways of collaborating
and coordinating may be limiting productivity and
negatively impacting project profitability. Consider how
you usually collaborate and coordinate. You probably
rely on meetings, discussions with peers, and frequent
emails to keep everyone on the same page. Basically,
you communicate.
Communication isnt the problem. The problem lies in
the gaps in communication processes. Think about it.
You wait until the next in-person meeting to resolve
significant interferences. You play endless phone
tag when you need input on budget-critical value
engineering ideas. And you wade through mountains of
emails to find important project schedule information.
Everyone on your project teams do, too. You need to
bridge communication gaps and stay connected to each
other and project details. Doing so helps you collaborate
and coordinate more seamlessly. Inefficiencies fall away
and productivity increases across the project team.
The cloud provides the perfect building blocks for
a bridge over traditional communication gaps. Its
available anytime and anywhere. Cloud-based tools
designed specifically for architecture, engineering,
and construction (AEC) professionals support your
workflows, project needs, and file types.
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Industry-focused tools go well beyond simple file
storage and exchange. These tools support the specific
scheduling and collaboration processes that help
your teams develop deliverables efficiently. Just as
importantly, these tools are designed to let teams view
CAD and model-based design filesin the office and in
the field. 33%
Professionals like you are adopting cloud-based
technology, and its changing the way projects are
executed. According to a recent survey, 33% of those
responding said they see online collaboration tools as
a potential path to higher productivity.[3] The impact
of cloud computing is having a positive impact on the
industry, and its gaining global momentum. In fact, the
Construction Industry Council in the United Kingdom
expects cloud computing to be the leading way industry
participants store and share designs.[4] Cloud-based
collaborations ability to improve productivity is a key
factor driving adoption. Lets explore seven ways that it
can boost productivity on infrastructure projects. 33% of industry
professionals see
online collaboration
tools as a path to
higher productivity.
 Digitalization could save
A global vision as much as $1.2 trillion.
Consider your current workflows. You probably rely
on data and modelsas opposed to paperfar more
than you did just a few years ago. The trend is global,
and the potential cross-industry wins of a complete
digitalization of the industry are staggering, according
to the World Economic Forum. The cost-savings to
come from digitalization could be as much as $1.2
trillion.[5] Cloud-based collaboration is one of the
pivotal capabilities enabling the industry to go digital.

The cost-savings to come from

digitalization could be as much
as $1.2 trillion.[5] Cloud-based
collaboration is one of the
pivotal capabilities enabling the
industry to go digital.

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 CLOUD-BASED
COLLABORATION

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1: Centralized all-team access to
project information
On a typical project, you probably receive an email that
lists project participants and their contact information.
As the project team grows you get updates with new
namesall very orderly. And then you have a question
for the geotechnical engineer whos doing the analysis
for the retaining walls. Whats her name? Wheres the
latest contact list? You waste time finding project
information hidden in the 120-plus emails a typical
professional receives each day.
Its in the wiki
Cloud collaboration lets you stop using email to manage
project information that everyone needs. Instead,
you and your collaborators create a project wiki. It can
hold all the project data you want everyone to be able
to easily access. And starting the wiki takes minutes
adding a page is about as quick as writing an email.
A small wiki might contain just a few entriescontacts,
meeting notes, and some additional background
materialbut thats the kind of information that
prevents virtually every team member from losing time
to email reconnaissance. And when you get a question
that you dont have time to answer, you can just say,
Its in the wiki.
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2: Streamlined project coordination
and scheduling
Project teams manage schedules in a variety of ways.
You might keep track of everything in your personal
desktop calendar. For some projects, the project
manager might be tasked with regularly sending
the whole team updated calendars. When done this
way, participants dont have real-time access to the
project schedulethe schedule simply remains a list of
milestones rather than a dynamic contributor to cross-
team coordination.
Wouldnt it be better if you and the other project
stakeholders could access a master schedule to add
meetings and update milestones yourself? Working in
the cloud lets you make schedules more collaborative.
At the beginning of a project, you create a calendar
with major milestones. Throughout the project, you
update it with new events, such as meetings. As you
set up meetings, you can send calendar notifications to
populate team members desktop calendars. The whole
team can see the freshest version of the agenda for the
day, week, or month. They also know whos set to deliver
what when, making it more efficient to coordinate
interdependent aspects of the project.
 Its like having real-time
access to electronic prints that
maintain complete visual fidelity
3: Reduced need for paper prints with respect to pen weights,
line types, fonts, and colors.
Many infrastructure teams still rely heavily on paper
prints to get a total project view. Thats largely because
design files are too big to email efficiently. Yes, the
use of DWF and PDF files have led to reduced printing
because they allow you to share information by email
more easily. But team members still request prints and
unroll the sheet set when they want to check details.
This creates several problems. Printing is expensive.
More importantly, prints are outdated almost as soon
as they come off the printer. Also, todays BIM-powered
designs contain object data and intelligence that prints
dont convey.

Fewer prints, more information

Cloud collaboration and coordination give you easy
access to all the latest project information. You can
access your cloud-based project files and view project
information from anywhere. Plan sheets retain civil-
design model information, so you can see project plans
and underlying object data. Its like having real-time
access to electronic prints that maintain complete visual
fidelity with respect to pen weights, line types, fonts,
and colors. And you arent the only one with access to
this informationeveryone on the project team can refer
to project plans without resorting to printing. So you
get the peace of mind that comes from knowing that no
team member is working from old data.

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4: Anytime, anywhere access
People who work on infrastructure projects are often on Fast answers Call a quick meeting
the go. You visit job sites that are under construction.
Having a list of to-dos and to-answers for when you Cloud collaboration also gives you the power to
You drive to sometimes-remote locations to get
return to your desk is business-as-usualand slows the assemble one-on-one or multiparty meetings
firsthand looks at existing conditions for projects in
pace of projects. But it doesnt have to when you use wherever you are. You simply invite others to attend
design. You attend meetings with clients, engineers, and
cloud collaboration and coordination to gain anywhere, a virtual meeting. When attendees arrive, you can
architects. You talk (and wait to talk) with local planners
anytime access to project information. Instead of putting share your view of design files with them. Everyone
in person because thats sometimes the best way to get
off questions until you return to the office, you simply sees what you see, making it faster and easier to
their full attention. Projects dont pause when youre
access project information with your mobile device. communicate with precision. The team can address
away from your deskyour phone keeps ringing and
Project filesalong with object dataare accessible and concerns quicker and with greater clarity. Markup
the emails keep coming. The answers that people need
viewable wherever you are. Not only can you address tools let you add comments to the design during the
too often have to wait until you get back to the office
pressing questions immediately, you can check more meeting. You can even share and save meeting notes
because you need project files to address questions.
minor items off your to-do list while waiting for offsite to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
meetings to start.

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5: Spend less time translating
and coordinating files
Civil projects require a variety of design tools.
The preferred tools for a structural engineer on a
highway project may differ from those used by the
roadway engineer, and the GIS specialist will use an
entirely different set of tools. The data created by
these different tools often can't be shared without a
significant amount of work going into translating the
files. This work is accompanied by the risk that some
details may get lost in translation. Some teams might
even use design software systems that dont include all
the available BIM intelligence in order to accommodate
other collaborators tool preferences.
Cloud collaboration can help you address compatibility
issues in several ways. You can view many native file
types directly through cloud-based viewing tools.
For these file types, you no longer need to translate
the files to view them. The whole team saves timeand
collaborators work more efficiently in their preferred
tools.
But what if team members use unsupported file types?
Cloud collaboration offers two options to address this.
Cloud collaboration can help
you address compatibility
issues in several ways. You can
view many native file types
directly through cloud-based
viewing tools.
Members can simply save their work as one of dozens
of supported file types and upload the file to the cloud
for easy viewing by the whole team. Chances are their
design tools can write to one or more supported formats.
Another option is to create an aggregated project model
that incorporates all of the team-generated files. Once
this aggregated model is uploaded, the teameven the
clientcan use the 3D viewer to explore the model. While
this option does necessitate maintaining the aggregated
model, it has the advantage of providing cross-team
visibility into the projects progress.
6: Capture comments more
quickly and easily
Clients and other stakeholders need to review and
comment on your work. How do you manage that
process? Create and email PDF versions? Invite them
to your office to review designs in person? The second
option lets you share detail-rich, 3D views with your
client. You know they can envision your design intent,
especially when you blend your design models with
detailed representations of existing conditions. But an
in-person meeting may not be practical for every review.
When you create an aggregated design model and
put it in the cloud, you can bring the clientand other
stakeholders who cant easily view design modelsinto
your process. Anyone granted access can go to the
cloud to view the 3D project model anywhere, anytime.
When you want to call an issue to the clients attention,
you can use the real-time meeting feature to walk
them through the model, giving you greater confidence
that they understand exactly what theyre seeing.
Additionally, the client and other stakeholders can go
online at any time and use markup tools to comment on
the aggregated model or individual design files.
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7: Streamline file storage
and sharing

Todays projects move fast, and when people need timely

project data and designs, they need it immediately, not
by the end of the day or tomorrow. Yet, without a way
to store and share files easily, people do wait. They are
forced to send and respond to near-constant requests
for filesor questions about file information that
they cant access. Internal collaborators can typically
access files stored within the organizations systems.
But information stored outside the firewall cant be
accessed easily, so project team members waste time on
cumbersome file-exchange methods.

Cloud-based project collaboration and coordination

completely transform the way files are stored and
shared. The cloud serves as the information repository
for all project-related files. When you or any other
authorized team members want a file, its there.
Information exchange across disciplines and between
different organizations is no longer limited by manual
processes. And the information within files is viewable
on your desktop or mobile device, which means you
dont have to waste time downloading and opening files
in your software just to see a detail.

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 Transform the way
people work together

Get started now

Cloud-based collaboration and coordination are

poised to transform the way people work together on
infrastructure projects. The shift to the cloud has the
potential to deliver productivity increases similar to
those enabled by BIM toolsbut without the learning
curve associated with engineering tools and processes.
Exploring cloud processes is as straightforward as
signing up for a free trial. You can get started today.

Learn More

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Index

1
Dodge Data and Analytics, SmartMarket Report: The Business Value of BIM for Infrastructure, 2017
2
The American Society of Civil Engineers, The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025, 2006
3
The Economist Intelligence Unit, Rethinking Productivity Across the Construction Industry, 2015
4
Saxon, Richard, Growth Through BIM, The Construction Industry Council, 2013
5
World Economic Forum, Shaping the Future of Construction: A Breakthrough in Mindset and Technology, 2016

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