In today’s construction landscape, managing projects across multiple platforms is becoming the norm rather than the exception. However, when a project mandates the use of a specific stakeholder-owned platform for contractual deliverables and official correspondence, design teams often face significant challenges. These challenges range from data management inefficiencies to the risk of losing control over critical project information. To navigate these complexities effectively, a robust integration strategy is not just an option—it’s a necessity.
The Problem: Mandated Platform Usage
When a project mandates the use of another stakeholder’s platform, your team’s collaborative processes can be severely impacted. You may find yourself unable to use your platform’s native collaboration features, forcing you to manually double-handle data across systems. This includes everything from sharing information for review and approval to managing document revisions and metadata across platforms. The burden of these manual processes not only increases the risk of errors but also puts undue stress on your team.
Moreover, the use of a third-party platform introduces significant risks concerning data control and access. For instance, if the platform-owning organisation faces financial difficulties or goes into liquidation, you could lose access to your own data. This was highlighted in the Trent Engineering vs. MottMacDonald case, where an expensive and lengthy process was required to regain data access. Additionally, the administering user of the platform could potentially compromise your private information, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
The Solution: Implementing a Robust Integration Strategy
To overcome these challenges, it’s essential to develop a robust integration strategy that not only meets the project’s needs but also aligns with your team’s operations and your organisation’s long-term objectives. Here are the key principles of such a strategy:
Teams Operate in Their Own Platform: Your team should continue working within your preferred platform without the need to directly engage with the mandated platform. Automated integrations should handle the task of ensuring that the other stakeholder’s system is kept up to date with the information they need, when they need it. This approach minimises disruptions to your workflow and reduces the risk of errors, as your team remains within a familiar environment.
Data Neutrality and Control: It’s crucial that your data remains under your control at all times. A well-implemented integration strategy ensures that data sharing happens on your terms, eliminating the risk of data loss or access being revoked by another party. By maintaining autonomy over your data, you mitigate the risks associated with third-party platform failures or administrative control mechanisms.
Real-World Implementation by BIMLauncher Customers
At BIMLauncher, we have helped numerous customers successfully implement these strategies, ensuring seamless integration across platforms. Our technology and professional services have enabled our clients to automate critical workflows, streamlining processes that would otherwise be manual and error-prone.
Sharing Workflows: When information is ready for review or approval, it needs to be shared with other stakeholders, sometimes within their systems. BIMLauncher automates this process, ensuring that information is correctly placed in the intended platform, providing access to the right people at the right time.
Capturing Review Information: Reviews conducted on other platforms generate feedback that needs to be communicated back to your team. BIMLauncher ensures that once a review is completed, the review information is captured and integrated into your platform, keeping your team informed and ready to take the next steps.
Using the Best Tool for the Job: Different platforms excel in different areas. For example, Autodesk’s cloud-based tools are superior for model-based reviews, while Aconex is often preferred for document management and maintaining contractual records. BIMLauncher allows both platforms to be used to their full potential without sacrificing efficiency. Once documents are ready to be published, BIMLauncher pushes the review information into Aconex, ensuring that contractual documentation remains intact.
Fig. 1 Flowchart depicting BIMLauncher's automation across multiple platforms in construction project workflows
Fig. 2 Diagram of a Multi-Platform Integration Workflow
Organisational Benefits: Preparing for the AI-Driven Future
While the immediate benefits of a robust integration strategy are clear, the long-term organisational advantages are equally important. AI’s effectiveness depends on clean, consistent, and accessible data—something that current data silos severely limit. By standardising on platforms, data formats, and processes, and using integration solutions to ensure seamless data sharing, organisations can create the data environments AI needs to thrive.
Fig. 3 BIMLauncher system architecture ensuring clean, standardised data flows for AI-driven application
In the future, as the construction industry increasingly adopts AI-driven tools, those organisations that have invested in proper integration strategies will be best positioned to leverage AI’s full potential. This not only enhances current project outcomes but also ensures that your organisation remains competitive in an AI-centric industry.