Construction Magazine April 2016 | Page 11

USING THE CLOUD TO IMPROVE ORGANISATIONAL EFFICIENCY
depending on their classification as field , customer ready , etc . As you conduct the assessment of how your team accesses and works with critical files , take the time to understand how they connect ( which device and from where ) when it comes to project management and discovery systems to identify information and access data .
Create an internal policy : It ’ s critical to design an internal policy that adheres to any and all compliance requirements , including OSHA and labour . This should include dynamically applying smart policies for data . For example , one that integrates rules for what can and cannot be shared , encrypt specific data sets , set up secure and encrypted projects , etc .
Cloud blueprint for success : Once you ’ ve assessed your IT infrastructure , understood the workflow of your teams ’ design , budget and construction data , and established internal policies , the next step is to sketch out your cloud architecture . Use the following outline to guarantee that your plan incorporates the infrastructure used as well as any platforms or applications :
Ensure that all of the business applications in your workflow drive adoption of IT-sanctioned services , otherwise staff just won ’ t use them . Simply put , your team needs fast , easy access to files regardless of if they are at a project site or in the office . Select solutions that enable your team to increase their productivity , specifically one that manages copies of all files and supports collaboration regardless of if they are in the office , meeting with a client or on site at a construction project . Maintain data integrity and security regardless of where the data resides . Empower your IT team to easily and effectively manage project files and users .
Your cloud is deployed : Now that your project files are in the cloud , you ’ re still responsible for ensuring that it continues to meet your business needs as well as any new industry compliance requirements . You need to continuously monitor and audit applications and data usage ( just as you do with traditional systems ) and take inventory of your data and systems periodically , review your policies and make sure that your business
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