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Software choices last for years and touch every project. The temptation is to compare features. The better question is: what work must the tools do, and what must they exchange with clients and partners? Then plan the IT that makes them usable day to day.
Most firms need authoring tools (to model), coordination and checking tools (federation, clash, rules), access to a CDE (often the client's or the lead party's), and the IT to run them: workstations, storage, network or cloud, backups and access control.
The firm switches its authoring tool after an impressive demo. On the first project, the contractor's coordination tool reads its IFC exports badly: missing properties, odd geometry. The BIM coordinator spends hours each week fixing exports, and the client asks why.
The BIM lead lists the exchanges the firm makes: IFC to contractors, BCF issues, uploads to three clients' CDEs. Two tools are piloted on a live project, with the contractor's coordinator checking the exports. The choice is the one whose exports others read well, even though its demo was plainer.
What to plan
| Area | Questions |
|---|---|
| Work and exchanges | What do we model? What do we exchange, with whom, in which formats? |
| Pilot | Which real project? What will we measure? Who decides? |
| Hardware | Memory, graphics, screens for the heaviest models we work on |
| Storage and network | Where do models live? Is the network fast enough, or do we use a cloud workflow? |
| Backups and access | How often? Who can see client data? |
| Licences and versions | A register with owners and review dates; versions agreed per project |
Put the steps of a software pilot in order.
Run a software pilot
Put the steps of a software pilot in order.
- 1Shortlist tools that support them
- 2List the work and exchanges the tool must support
- 3Decide, and plan the rollout
- 4Run the pilot, with partners checking the exports
- 5Train the pilot team
- 6Choose a real pilot project and set the measures
Key takeaways
- Choose tools by the work they must do and the exchanges they must support (IFC, BCF, the clients' CDEs).
- Pilot on a real project before committing the firm.
- Plan IT for models: hardware, storage, network or cloud, backups and access rights.
- Keep a software register: versions, licences, owners, and when each is reviewed.