Companies to develop an industry cloud to enable construction organizations to harness digital construction data across the project lifecycle
Trimble and Microsoft have entered a strategic partnership to advance technology adoption and accelerate the digital transformation of the construction, agriculture and transportation industries.
By leveraging the Microsoft cloud, Trimble and Microsoft will collaborate to develop, build and deliver industry cloud platforms and solutions that connect people, technology, tasks, data, processes and industry lifecycles. The collaboration represents a significant milestone to advance Trimble’s Connect and Scale 2025 strategy, which centers on building cloud platforms.
Initially, Trimble and Microsoft will focus on building the Trimble Construction Cloud powered by Microsoft Azure.
Image: Trimble
The construction process is fragmented, which can result in lost productivity, rework and a lack of transparency. According to a McKinsey & Company article*, the construction industry is lagging with only 1 percent productivity growth over the last 20 years — significantly lower than the 2.8 percent for the total economy.
Digitization of products and processes is expected to drive change in the industry. The ability to link technologies, tasks, processes and multiple stakeholders — general contractors, subcontractors, designers, engineers and owners — across the construction project workflow can transform and significantly improve productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability, according to Trimble.
The partnership expands Trimble and Microsoft’s existing relationship to combine the Microsoft cloud with Trimble’s construction solutions and industry domain knowledge. Trimble’s construction solutions include on-machine and field technology, modeling and collaboration software, project and resource management, and all underlying analytics.
The Trimble Construction Cloud, expected in 2022, will be fully enabled for 3D constructible models that will reduce risks, drive speed and increase efficiency and accuracy across the construction project lifecycle, including designing, building and operations.
The companies will also partner on go-to-market strategies and solutions to enable continued support of infrastructure investment cycles, and be used for large-scale projects, on which multiple stakeholders work in parallel to deliver connected construction projects.
* McKinsey & Company
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