The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is witnessing a transformative shift in data management practices, as revealed in the 2024 AEC Data Insights Report by Egnyte. This comprehensive analysis underscores the industry’s rapid move from traditional local storage solutions to advanced cloud-based storage and collaboration platforms. The report, drawing on data from over 4,000 companies within the Egnyte ecosystem, showcases the AEC industry’s burgeoning reliance on cloud technologies to enhance collaborative efforts, streamline operations, and comply with stringent regulatory standards.

Key findings from the report illuminate a significant surge in cloud adoption, highlighted by a 50.3% average compound annual growth rate in data storage requirements among surveyed companies. This shift, initially spurred by the pandemic, continues to gain momentum, driven by the cloud’s ability to facilitate technology integrations, leverage artificial intelligence, enable real-time collaboration, and meet critical security mandates like the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Compliance (CMMC) in the U.S. and the Building Safety Act in the U.K.

Further insights reveal a remarkable increase in active collaboration, particularly in the construction segment, which reported a 29-fold rise in collaborative activities. This uptick in collaboration corresponds with a substantial growth in data storage demands, from an average of 3.34 terabytes in 2018 to 25.64 terabytes in 2023. Additionally, the report highlights the construction sector’s unique challenges, accounting for 60% of high-severity IT governance issues, underscoring the necessity for robust cybersecurity measures.

Ronen Vengosh, Egnyte’s Senior Vice President of Industry Solutions, emphasizes the growing dependency on digital collaboration tools within the AEC industry. The increased adoption of cloud services, coupled with the escalating cybersecurity threats, underscores the critical need for secure and efficient cloud collaboration solutions.

Egnyte’s 2024 Data Insights Report not only sheds light on current data management trends but also offers a forward-looking perspective on the evolving needs of the AEC industry. As firms increasingly turn to cloud-based solutions to navigate the complexities of modern construction projects, the importance of secure, scalable, and collaborative digital tools has never been more pronounced.

Check out more news and blogs here