There are more than 100 buildings around that world that reach heights of 150 meters or more. With the growing need for higher buildings, two sub-categories have been added, namely “supertall” or buildings that are 300 meters or more and “megatall” or buildings that are 600 meters or taller, according to information provided by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
With this growing demand for skyscrapers, high-rise buildings and multi-level malls, construction projects have become increasingly hi-tech, allowing for these structures to be designed to perfection.
While these structures need to be built with the highest standards, the complexity of these megaprojects come with two main challenges. First is that of scheduling and monitoring work, as contractors continue to face the tightest project completion deadlines. The second challenge is that of cost management, which needs to be rigorous at every stage so that the total cost is within the allocated budget.
Cloud Advantages are Not Murky
The Cloud came with several advantages to ease the challenges in the construction industry. With the right solution in place, companies can manage construction progress, shift reports, tunnel boring machine data, pre-construction reports, contract documents and more.
Software and data hosting solutions facilitate the rapid movement of information, bringing relevant data from the field right to the fingertips of engineers to facilitate faster and more informed decision making, say experts at Specto Technology.
This ability creates several benefits including:
Flexibility: With cloud-based solutions, construction contractors can simultaneously manage work at different sites. Such solutions are typically compatible with different devices, allowing the construction office personnel to access real-time updates on the process of work on their smartphones.
Data Security: Project data is usually sensitive information. Keeping all the project details on a local machine in the office increases vulnerability caused by system failure and data theft, which has a massive cost impact. Cloud-based solutions use data encryption and firewalls to keep data secure and provide a safe way to backup the complete project details in one location. Different levels of authorization can provide access to various stakeholders.
File-Sharing: As many as 86% of employees cited poor collaboration as the reason for failures in the workplace, according to a survey by Salesforce. Collaboration is complex in the construction industry since teams are distributed and every project has a large number of stakeholders needing regular updates. With data hosting solutions, workflows can be better streamlined, and project updates can be shared real-time with different stakeholders at no additional time or cost investment.
Cost Savings: In the absence of cloud-based solutions, construction companies needed to spend millions of dollars on more powerful computers with high storage capacity and maintaining a larger IT support team. Cloud hosting requires no additional IT infrastructure and causes no drain on a company’s IT resources.
Some Other Benefits of the Cloud for Construction Companies
Depending on the cloud solution chosen, there are other benefits for construction companies. Among these are:
- No management of desktop software
- Customizable reporting features
- Instant email alerts
- Geo-referenced maps allowing spatial data representation
- Manage instrumentation data from a number of acquisition source, like seismographs, survey total stations, geotechnical and Structural sensors, environmental sensors
By offering a cost-effective way to increase productivity, make faster decisions and share updates easily, cloud hosting has reshaped operations in the construction industry.
Marcelo Fincher is a blogger & writer on technology related topics with years of experience in studying technological advancements. In his spare time, Marcelo likes to read books and take a walk on the beach.
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Kerry F
November 8, 2021 at 3:37 am
For project estimation, I am using the Moon Invoice app and it is very easy to use and you can create estimate invoices without wasting time.