Why?
- It’s simple
- It’s secure
- It’s cost-effective
- It’s mobile
- It’s future-proof
Cloud computing is the future of everything digital; Most everyone with a modern IT operation uses it. Construction can clearly benefit from the tech, and its rate of adoption is soaring. In 2012, a Sage survey found 16% of contractors felt cloud computing was important to their business. Five years later, Sage ran a similar survey and found that 85% of contractors had already implemented or were planning on implementing cloud solutions.
Why the rapid growth?
Construction is notorious for being one of the least digitized industries in the world. But, to be fair, the technology needed to truly take advantage of the industry's complex workflows and challenging environments hadn’t become mainstream until recently. Not until recently have developers made SaaS solutions to exploit the power and potential of cloud computing, mobile devices, and wireless internet for the construction industry. Hence, the explosion of contractors in the cloud. Cloud computing is the foundation of construction’s digital revolution. It underpins all the most powerful software solutions and truly enables the industry to take advantage of the latest tech. If you haven’t moved to the cloud, now is the best time to figure out how and why you should.
What is cloud computing?
Before the internet was insanely fast and everywhere, processing happened locally on your computer and the data was stored on your hard drive, meaning you were constantly limited by your hardware. If the computing power to run a program was not available, you had to upgrade your computer. If you ran out of space on your hard drive, you had to delete files or buy an external drive. Once broadband internet came into the picture, everything changed. The large bandwidth of high-speed internet meant data could be transferred hundreds of times faster; it also meant that your devices were always online. These two features created enormous opportunity. With machines connected 24/7 and time constraints for transferring data minimized, you could now use servers to store and process data over the internet, eliminating the dependence on your physical hardware. Cloud computing is essentially outsourcing your data processing and storage to more powerful machines. Not only can you do more with less resources, you can do it from anywhere you have an internet connection. The cloud removes hardware limitations, prevents data loss, and improves accessibility.
What are the benefits of cloud computing for construction?
There are numerous construction-specific benefits to cloud computing, some of the most popular are:
Powerful Data Processing
Processing data in the cloud is the only practical way to get the most powerful insights available to construction. For instance, when mixers enter a construction site they are entering a geofence with detailed GPS coordinates and metadata. To make use of these geofences they have to be stitched into an orthograph, something beyond the capabilities of a typical computer.
Connected Jobsites
Before the cloud, the only way to check on the status of a project was to go visit it in person and see for yourself, a task that takes hours out of the day. SaaS platforms can offer you a real-time view of your jobsite from anywhere in the world.
Data Storage
Documenting projects is critical to meeting contractual obligations and covering your ass. With physical storage, your data is easily subject to loss, damage, or theft. It's also inaccessible without the hardware. With cloud storage, your data is secure, unlimited, and accessible from anywhere.
Easy Sharing
Every construction project has a large number of stakeholders, and sharing data across all these parties is often exceedingly time-consuming. Construction SaaS solutions make sharing simple by providing real-time communication and collaboration capabilities.
Are there drawbacks to cloud computing for construction?
The advantages of cloud computing far outweigh any of the drawbacks, most of which are misconceptions:
Security
It’s understandable to feel like relinquishing physical control of your data makes it less secure, especially given some of the high-profile data breaches that have happened. However, these hacks typically stem from human errors, not system failures. Storing data in the cloud increases security by eliminating physical theft, loss, or destruction of your data.
Downtime
It's rare, but even the best servers go down. Fortunately, it’s temporary, and the outages typically do not last very long. Given the huge upsides to cloud computing, most business are fine with taking this minor inconvenience.
Migrating Your Data
SaaS companies are aware that migrating your data can be a major headache. If this is one of your hesitations, you should also realize that eventually, everyone in construction will be in the cloud. The sooner you do so, the better off you will be.
Cost
You can’t call cloud solutions inexpensive, but they're certainly much cheaper than maintaining the equivalent physical hardware. With Sysdyne, it will more than pay for itself in increased revenue and productivity.
Lack of Internet Access
One of construction's biggest concerns about moving to a SaaS platform is what to do when you don’t have an internet connection. With mobile solutions, Sysdyne has an answer to this problem with an offline mode that automatically uploads your data once you have internet. Additionally, as mobile networks continue expanding, areas without internet coverage are diminishing rapidly.
What’s the one reason you should adopt a cloud platform?
Cloud computing with Sysdyne offers numerous benefits, but if there's one resounding reason to adopt a cloud platform, it's that it covers your ass. Disputes are one of the biggest financial drains in the industry, and most of them arise because there isn’t enough evidence for a clear conclusion. When you adopt a SaaS platform that automatically stores and organizes your activity, disputes can become a thing of the past.
