What Construction Can Teach Us About Smart Content Management

Walking into a construction office ten years ago you’d likely see a large number of file cabinets and a lot of paper. What you wouldn’t see is data integration. Even giants in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) space like Tutor Perini — who experienced more than 80 years of success relying simply on paper documents— were confident they would never need anything else.How the ’08 Market Crash Flipped the Story An industry that already operates on razor thin margins was forced to become even more efficient. Companies had to cut costs to weather the financial storm. The ones that survived did so by evolving their business, specifically by going digital and cutting paper costs, man hours, and project delays.PCL Construction, like its fellow survivors, realized the amazing value construction firms get from becoming smarter about data. Mark Bryant, CIO at PCL, led the charge with a tech-to-transform vision. The construction industry understands the value of disruptive technology and has harnessed it.Our clients bring an array of concerns to us. They rely on coordination across many people and disciplines. The entity that does the building is liable to make it happen on time, within safety protocols, and on budget.There are surface-level applications of file sharing in construction. It’s valuable to have backups of all sensitive data. Any construction manager who’s been around for a while can recall a catastrophic theft of physical devices containing the only versions of sensitive documents.Beyond Just File Sharing Egnyte addresses key issues around mobility, application integration, and security. With tablet adoption, companies don’t just save on paper costs, they shrink the form factor of what employees carry to make every aspect of the job easier at a job site.Accessibility to information for the right people—and only the right people—is another serious concern. In any large scale project multiple contractors may win bids for different elements. These contractors may be competitors – making the need for careful permissions and access all the more important. Security, on all devices and all platforms, is a prerequisite. Smart collaboration needs to respect those competitive boundaries.Most importantly, bandwidth is a precious resource. Time is money, and burning extra hours to lay intricate pipelines for information access cuts into an already razor-thin margin. What’s needed is a hybrid solution, balancing security with user-friendly access.In an industry that embodies spending (a lot of) money to make (slightly more) money, the value of this type of solution can’t be understated. Investing in a new technology that gives you another percentage point in profit by slashing costs can make all the difference.Where Do We Go Next?Here in Silicon Valley, construction firms are building the spaces that house companies like Egnyte. A Tutor subsidiary, Rudolph & Sletten, is heading the Apple Campus 2 project. Devcon has leveraged our hybrid cloud storage solution in building campuses for Google and LinkedIn.What’s really exciting, though, is to consider what companies like Egnyte are building for construction firms. A survey of our 10 largest customers showed construction has two times the Egnyte Mobile app adoption of other industries. Diving a little deeper, we find that three times more activities are performed on tablets versus phones. Talk about moving with the times!The lesson this sector has learned is the importance of secure agility. By becoming smarter about data, construction rounded the corner. As data management grows more sophisticated, one of the world’s stalwart industries is showing us that old dogs can absolutely learn new tricks.But don’t just take our word for it! Check out the AGC webinar, sponsored by Egnyte, and hear the stories from the market leaders themselves.PCL Construction and Tutor Perini are transforming their business by implementing cutting-edge solutions to accelerate project delivery, increase company profits, and achieve amazing results.Click on this link to register for the webinar.