Digital Project Delivery

Cloud-based collaboration across the entire AECO lifecycle

Experience true cloud-connected collaboration with Autodesk's digital project delivery solution; unifying people, data, and workflows.

What is digital project delivery?

Digital project delivery isn't yet another tool. It's an improved, collaborative way of working for building and infrastructure projects—from plan to design to construct to operate. It connects people, data, and workflows across the project lifecycle in a secure common data environment.

Centralizing data ensures that stakeholders can access the right information, in the right format, when they need it. By integrating live, multi-discipline data, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cost, and schedule tracking in a centralized source of truth, teams can design and iterate in parallel and manage projects efficiently while protecting intellectual property, controlling versions, and resolving issues.

This connected, interoperable environment opens the door to automation, multi-discipline workflows, and global connectivity, leading to better quality, greater productivity, and on-time and on-budget delivery. 

How digital project delivery is enabled

Digital project delivery connects people, data, and processes in a shared, cloud-based common data environment (CDE), allowing teams to aggregate models and centralize data at every project stage. 

Through a CDE, stakeholders can come together to plan, design, construct, and operate projects through the integration of live, multi-discipline data. This helps remove data silos and communication barriers, and means that all team members can access the right information in the right format when they need it.

Transform your business with digital project delivery

Deliver the right data to the right people at the right time

Enhance productivity, optimize talent, and hasten project delivery by integrating all stakeholders in a cloud-based common data environment, allowing secure, timely, and effective data exchange in parallel.

Provide accurate insights for project decisions​

Enhance cost, resource, and safety optimization as well as asset performance by sharing data across the team, enabling efficient work within budget and optimal decision-making at crucial project stages.

Equip your business for the future

Centralize data in a common data environment for model-based handovers. These data-rich models become the foundation of a digital twin, providing visibility of how the asset, spaces, and systems operate together, and key learnings for future projects.

Digital project delivery for every type of project

Plan, design, construct, and operate better together with digital project delivery

Today’s building projects are faced with an increasingly disjointed array of tools, files, and suppliers, leading to silos, miscommunication, delays, and avoidable rework.

Too often, data is passed piece by piece, from one person to the next, in many different formats. Information is often lost or miscommunicated along the way.

Enter digital project delivery. Not a tool, but a cloud-based collaboration process that connects people, data, and workflows in a common data environment across the project lifecycle.

Digital project delivery solutions for the entire building project team

Illustration of two architects reviewing blueprints, one standing and one seated at a drafting table, with design elements and technical drawings visible around them.

Architects

Bring your vision to life

Digital project delivery enables architects to consolidate project data into a single source of truth, empowering them to clearly communicate their vision to clients and stakeholders—ensuring it comes to life exactly as imagined.

 

Illustration of a structural engineer analyzing a building model on a computer screen, surrounded by technical tools and structural design elements.

MEP & Structural Engineers

Work from a single source of truth

With digital project delivery, engineers can centralize all their documents, submit scopes, and manage correspondence and action items all in one place.

 

Illustration of two general contractors on a construction site, one reviewing plans on a tablet while the other observes, with cranes and building structures in the background.

General Contractors

Access centralized data throughout the project

Working in a common data environment, general contractors gain full project visibility, allowing them to actively manage risk, schedules, quality, and costs. This reduces rework and drives higher client satisfaction.

 

Illustration of two owners or operators discussing a project, one holding a clipboard and the other gesturing toward a building model, with industrial structures in the background.

Owners & operators

Stay connected with owners

Digital project delivery brings owners and operators into the fold, giving them better visibility and control throughout the project lifecycle. 

 

Digital project delivery solutions for every building project phase

Plan phase: share and plan in parallel

Collaborating within a common data environment during the plan stage enables:

  • Engineers to easily share documents and work in parallel with architects on live models
  • Architects to rapidly test and iterate concepts and share a data-rich model with the client
  • All stakeholders to benefit from the implementation of standardized workflows and data management practices, such as ISO-19650

Design phase: gain flexibility in the design process

The common data environment increases efficiency in the design stage by:

  • Streamlining collaboration between stakeholders while maintaining model quality and protecting IP
  • Enabling multiple disciplines to seamlessly work in parallel on live models
  • Allowing contractors to provide input on quality, cost, and schedule, and owners to track progress and provide early feedback

Construct phase: track projects from a
centralized location

During construction, a single source of truth allows stakeholders to:

  • Manage RFIs, issues, and submittals while tracking correspondence and action items in a centralized location
  • Trace issues and rework to their root cause and analyze project patterns
  • Enhance models with relevant construction data and harness 3D models to track the build's progress, cost, and schedule

 

Maintain & operate phase: ensure reliable
records and operational readiness

In the maintain and operate phase, stakeholders can:

  • Retain accurate digital records of designs, project data, and asset information that can be analyzed for patterns and trends 
  • Easily convert models into a digital handover that's contextualized and organized for the client 
  • Gain better insights to asset performance with an informative digital twin

 

Closing the data gap for AECO firms

As few as 10% of AECO firms currently operate from a single digital ecosystem, but those that do are shown to be more efficient, more adaptable, and more profitable. 

Ready to join them? Find out how a centralized common data environment can transform your workflows in our new e-book, 3 Ways Digital Project Delivery Improves Building Projects.

Move from siloed to collaborative workflows

Too often in road and highway projects, data starts in a silo and stays in a silo throughout the project, all the way from plan to design to construct to operate. Hundreds—maybe thousands—of models are generated, data is recreated, and files often don't work with each other. This results in inevitable mistakes and costly rework.

With digital project delivery, teams move from siloed to collaborative and connected workflows enabled by a common data environment, which gives every stakeholder access to aggregated models and centralized data at every stage. Watch our video to understand how it works.

Digital project delivery solutions for the entire road & highway project team

Illustration of a construction site with workers and machinery, showcasing a large building project in progress, with blueprints and safety equipment visible

Engineering Service Providers

Improve efficiency throughout the project lifecycle

With a common data environment, engineering consultants and program managers can manage documents, control access, run simulations and analysis, and track changes, improving collaboration, speeding up decision-making, and enhancing project efficiency.

 

Illustration of owners and program managers discussing a project in an office setting, one reviewing a document while the other gestures toward a digital display, with charts and plans in the background.

Owner/Operator & Program Manager

Greater collaboration with every stakeholder

Owners and program managers can share documents and access data-rich models within a common data environment to communicate and visualize design implementation with stakeholders.

 

Illustration of a prime contractor leading a team on a construction site, with one team member reviewing plans and another discussing logistics, surrounded by building materials and equipment.

General Contractors 

Add value to projects, whatever your entry point

Working within a common data environment provides general contractors with access to detailed insights, historical context, and improved collaboration with engineering teams at any point in the project.

 

Maintain & operate phase: provide reliable data
for maintenance and operations teams

Plan phase: integrate planning workflows

Working in a common data environment allows stakeholders to: 

  • View and share site analyses, feasibility studies, and alternative designs
  • Easily share design files and GIS data across teams
  • Set up file structures to maintain their own record of data and protect their IP, while receiving updates and feedback in the centralized source of truth

Design phase: stay on budget and on schedule

In the design phase, digital project delivery enables collaborators to:

  • Provide early input on constructibility, costs, and materials to maximize quality, budget, and schedule
  • Work in parallel with the latest data with secure workflows
  • Track progress, streamline iterations, provide visibility and feedback in real-time, from any location, while maintaining a complete record of versions and revisions

 

Construct phase: integrate stakeholders

Working from a single source of truth enables project collaborators to:

  • Manage RFIs, issues, and submittals in a centralized location
  • Seamlessly work with the Engineer of Record to enhance designs and plan sheets to create accurate as builts
  • Accelerate resolution and be responsive to budget considerations

 

Maintain & operate phase: provide reliable data
for maintenance and operations teams

Centralized documentation in a common data environment allows stakeholders to:

  • Easily convert data-rich models into digital handovers
  • Review data from across the project lifecycle and identify opportunities to improve processes
  • Provide the owner with an aggregated model linked to all the documentation throughout the project, which can then be used to derive valuable data insights and connect to a digital twin

 

Stay ahead of the curve with digital project delivery

The sheer size, public impact, and extensive teams involved in building roads and highways are putting increasing pressures on project owners.

To meet these new requirements, firms should use connected solutions such as digital project delivery to ensure fast, seamless collaboration between stakeholders. Read our e-book, Staying ahead of the curve, to find out why.

Put a stop to data silos with digital project delivery

Rail projects require the coordination of dozens of different disciplines and stakeholders, and are often overflowing with siloed data, incompatible files, and disconnected designs as a result. Across each project stage, the errors add up, costs overrun, delays grow longer—and the impact on the public grows.

Digital project delivery breaks through these barriers with a common data environment (CDE), coordinating multi-disciplinary teams, improving risk management, and ensuring projects stay on budget and on schedule. Watch our explainer video to find out how you can move from isolated to collaborative and connected workflows with digital project delivery. 

Digital project delivery solutions for the entire rail project team

Engineer looking at a computer.

Engineering Service Providers

Improve collaboration with project teams

Engineers can start and stay in a common data environment for improved project visibility, which leads to more informed decision-making and better collaboration with owners and general contractors.

 

Illustration of engineers of record discussing a project, with one reviewing a digital model on a tablet while the other examines plans, set in a design office environment.

Owners & Program Managers

Gain time to focus on the bigger challenges

Centralized document management saves owners and project managers time before, during, and after each project. It allows them time to focus on improving the project’s sustainability and environmental impact.

 

Image featuring MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) engineering elements, showcasing diagrams, schematics, and a construction site background, highlighting the integration of engineering disciplines.

General Contractors

Access projects and add value sooner

With digital project delivery, general contractors can access centralized documentation and detailed insights so that they can evaluate and provide valuable feedback at any stage of the project.  

Digital project delivery solutions for every rail project phase

Plan phase: streamline collaboration

Integrating workflows in a single source of truth enables stakeholders to: 

  • Accelerate collaboration by simplifying document sharing in a centralized and connected source with controllable permissions and access
  • Provide clarity for rail owners and program managers with an accurate and data-rich as-builts and its history to inform decision-making 
  • Access detailed insights at any point of entry into a project, ensuring a detailed view of design concepts, engineering analyses, and site considerations

 

Design phase: Better visibility and fewer errors

Working in a common data environment allows stakeholders to: 

  • Track progress, share models, streamline iterations, and provide feedback in real-time, from any location, while maintaining a complete record of versions and revisions 
  • Reduce file conversions, static spreadsheets, and data re-entry, speeding collaboration and preventing errors
  • Provide early input on constructibility, cost and materials, and timelines, so that projects stay on schedule

 

Construct phase: integrate stakeholders

During construction, a single source of truth allows stakeholders to:

  • Manage RFIs, issues, and submittals while tracking correspondence and action items in a centralized location
  • Trace issues and rework to their root cause and analyze project patterns
  • Enhance models with relevant construction data and harness 3D models to track the build's progress, cost, and schedule

 

Maintain & operate phase: aggregate models
and retain accurate digital records

In the maintain and operate phase, digital project delivery enables: 

  • Aggregated models to provide the owner, linked to documentation from every stage of the project and easily converted into a well-organized digital handover
  • Accurate as-built documentation, meaning that data can be applied to future rail projects, or used as the foundation for a digital twin 
  • Access to centralized documentation from across the project lifecycle to review, inform asset operations and identify potential improvements

 

The civil engineer's guide to digital project delivery

Gone are the days of data siloes, fragmented processes, and communication barriers. Digital project delivery brings data, teams, and processes together across the project lifecycle, integrating live multi-discipline data and providing real-time collaboration.

From Building Information Modeling (BIM) to live links with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), every piece of information finds its place in a centralized source of truth. Explore how in our e-book, The civil engineer's guide to digital project delivery. 

Products for digital project delivery

BIM Collaborate Pro

Cloud-based design co-authoring, collaboration, and coordination software for architecture, engineering, and construction teams. “Pro” enables anytime, anywhere collaboration in Revit, Civil 3D, and AutoCAD Plant 3D.

Product details
Autodesk Docs

Manage project information in a cloud-based, common data environment

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Architecture Engineering & Construction collection

Powerful BIM and CAD tools for designers, engineers, and contractors, including Revit, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Autodesk Forma, and more

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Autodesk Build

Comprehensive field and project management software that delivers a broad, deep, and connected set of tools for builders.

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Autodesk Takeoff

Perform accurate 2D takeoffs and generate automated quantities from 3D models in a single online solution.

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Tandem

Hand over a digital twin that helps building owners achieve greater ROI from their built assets.

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Digital project delivery methods in action

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is digital project delivery?

Digital Project Delivery is a way of working in which projects are conceived, planned, designed, built, and operated in an interactive, shared space in the cloud. The method integrates multi-disciplinary data, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) data, from multiple applications in a cloud-based common data environment so that all stakeholders can access, including owners, architects, general contractors, engineers, tradespeople, and owners. By unifying teams, workflows, and information, digital project delivery can help you increase efficiency, automate busy work, and improve deliverable quality.

What is the difference between integrated project delivery and digital project delivery?

Integrated project delivery (IPD) is a contractual method between the owner, general contractor, and designer in which all project stakeholders manage and accept design and construction risk as a team. IPD integrates the team responsible for delivering the project.

Digital Project Delivery (DPD) is a way of working together. It unifies data across the entire project lifecycle in a shared, cloud-based common data environment where all stakeholders can collaborate in real time. Digital Project Delivery can be used in support of IPD, but DPD methodology is broader than the contractual nature of IPD.

Can digital project delivery be used for different project delivery methods?

Digital project delivery can be implemented on practically any design, engineering, or construction project using different project delivery methods. When a project is delivered, the 3D models and documentation can be used to help improve asset maintenance and operations.

Digital project delivery tools are not prescriptive, they provide flexibility. You can define your own workflows, data integrations, processes, and documentation to fit the needs of the individual project and contract.

What is the difference between integrated project delivery and design-build?

Integrated project delivery (IPD) and design-build are both contractual agreements that define responsibility for delivering a project and managing risks. In design-build, the owner executes a single contract with a single design-build entity. The design-builder assumes responsibility for meeting the contract requirements, including spotting inconsistencies between prescriptive requirements and performance standards and reporting those to the owner and other stakeholders.

In IPD the owner, architect, and general contractor all come together in a single agreement that shares responsibility across all stakeholders. By defining the contract before the project begins, all contractors, subcontractors, and trades are in communication with the owner from the outset. Many integrated project delivery contracts include incentives for design and construction teams to foster collaboration, align on goals, and encourage lean construction management.

Digital project delivery can flexibly support integrated project delivery, design-build, and other project delivery methods.

What are the benefits of integrated project delivery vs traditional contracting methods?

Traditional project delivery usually keeps disciplines and tasks in separate lanes and data silos. Architects work in their applications; engineers work in theirs. Information flows in a series of waterfalls to the builders and tradespeople who turn plans in to reality. Errors missed in planning show up on site and bring work to a halt, causing a cascade of change orders and redesigns. Reviews, approvals, and document management also live in their own separate silos.

Compared to traditional project deliver, integrated project delivery is far more collaborative and efficient. The method provides a common definition of project success for all stakeholders, creates a shared outlook on risks and rewards, and enables project teams to work in parallel vs sequentially.

Which Autodesk products and software support digital project delivery?

Our primary digital project delivery tool is Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro, which runs in the Autodesk Construction Cloud. Together, they connect the full range of Autodesk architecture, engineering, modeling, and construction applications into an integrated, interactive environment.

Here are some, but not all, of the Autodesk tools that can be used for digital project delivery:

Which project delivery solution is right for my organization?

There are many ways to manage AEC projects. From spreadsheets, email, and shared drives to cloud-based services, like Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro that integrates data from AEC applications, document-management systems, and schedules into a single cloud environment. For help measuring the pros and cons, read Which AEC collaboration solution is right for you?

What is the difference between Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro and Autodesk Construction Cloud?

Autodesk Construction Cloud is a comprehensive digital project delivery platform that brings together multiple design and construction modules into an integrated solution. It provides a centralized source of truth for all project data and streamlines workflows, enabling collaboration across the entire project lifecycle. The platform includes solutions for project management, design management, construction scheduling, field management, cost management, and more.

Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro is a cloud-based offering that specifically focuses on collaboration and coordination for building information modeling (BIM) workflows. BIM Collaborate Pro is a bundle of modules accessible in the Autodesk Construction Cloud. These modules include Docs, Design Collaboration and Model Coordination.  BIM Collaborate Pro enables project stakeholders the ability to share project information in real-time in a centralized source of truth, reducing errors and rework and ensuring that everyone is working from the latest data. BIM Collaborate Pro, a digital project delivery solution, helps improve collaboration, ensuring the timely delivery of projects.

In summary, Autodesk Construction Cloud provides a comprehensive solution for design and construction across the project lifecycle, while BIM Collaborate Pro focuses specifically on BIM collaboration and coordination.

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Get started with digital project delivery

Digital project delivery is a solution enabled by multiple Autodesk products. Get in touch with your account team today to start future-proofing your enterprise today.