Background

Synergy Systems company from Novosibirsk was founded in 2014 by a team of professionals in the field of building information modeling with many years of experience in implementing projects in Russia and USA. The entire work of the organization was initially based on remote interaction of permanent employees located in different countries and regions of the Russian Federation. Before specialized teleworking services, such as BIM 360 Design, the company had to use a number of non-specialized tools, file sharing systems and FTP. They did not solve all the tasks, they were rather unstable and couldn't arrange proper collaboration in a unified digital space. This hampered interaction and communication. There were particular problems with Revit files and other BIM tools that required concurrent multi-user access. In an actively developing digital market, the company saw huge potential in remote work and was constantly searching the tools for comprehensive management of design and construction processes.

Solution

With the help of Noventiq, in 2016 Synergy Systems was one of the first companies in Russia to introduce Collaboration for Revit (C4R) and BIM 360 Team (the previous version of BIM 360 Design) services. Synergy Systems not only got the software on the most favorable terms, but also received professional advice on a wide range of issues related to the product functionality. In an effort to offer its customers the best solution to any IT problem, Noventiq annually increases the pace of cooperation with Russian
and foreign vendors, constantly updates its portfolio of software and services, analyzes market trends and responds to them.

BIM 360 Team has enabled Synergy Systems to gain significant optimization in remote work processes and interaction with peers and contractors. But the real breakthrough in efficiency came in 2017 with BIM 360 Design solution. It has significantly improved the toolkit for remote work, Revit file synchronization, and the methodology for teams communication within a project. All Synergy Systems projects are currently being implemented using BIM 360 services.

BIM 360 Design Toolkit allows synchronizing model changes over the Internet without a local network and server. Other BIM 360 Design tools help control the access of various contractors and related organizations, synchronize data, track the timing and quality of the submitted information.

Updates to the information model in real time are available to every member of the workgroup with the relevant privileges. Customers, builders, supervisors and expert organizations can view models in real time or based on a certain schedule. BIM 360 Design simplifies and automates the exchange and verification of information in BIM processes.

As in the case of BIM 360 Team, Noventiq quickly provided the customer with BIM 360 Design licenses, offered technical support during the migration, and helped develop recommendations and work methodology for Synergy Systems employees. Implementing cutting edge software solutions is a creative teamwork that requires close collaboration between engineering organizations and software developers.

In the process of developing business with Autodesk, Noventiq has formed a team of highly skilled specialists in the field of software for industrial and civil construction. Noventiq experts arranged a series of meetings with the management and employees of Synergy Systems for joint testing of the new product, and offered consultations on BIM 360 functionality, taking into account the specifics of the customer's activities. When providing software licenses, Noventiq is always interested in long-term partnerships and improving the efficiency of its clients.

Results

With active involvement of BIM 360 tools, Synergy Systems successfully implements large-scale projects. For example, Synergy Systems collaborated with JMT to work on a number of administrative facilities supporting the operation of bridge in Maryland. Five contractors were simultaneously involved in the project, each of them worked on a separate model of a specific portion. Synergy Systems specialists were engaged in creating customer standards for the project, organizing BIM 360 services, accessing
IT resources, auditing models and providing general BIM management of the project.

Another project implemented using BIM 360 is related to the development of a model for the largest exhibition center in New York – Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  Synergy Systems team created a digital twin of the existing building, modeled all systems, prepared information on more than 100 K engineering system elements, provided the simultaneous work of more than 40 employees located in 11 cities
around the world.

“In addition to foreign operations, we are now active in the Russian market. For example, in St. Petersburg we are using the BIM 360 functionality to design a residential complex. Thanks to the functionality of the software supplied by Noventiq we no longer think about interaction of the distributed teams involved in a single project. Unfortunately, many engineering companies during the period of restrictions caused
by the epidemic suffered significant financial losses due to the ineffective transition
to remote work. Despite the fact that our specialists are geographically located in Washington, Kyiv, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and at least 10 other cities in Russia, we continued to work as usual during the entire lockdown period. Customers continue providing the projects information online. All models are created in the cloud. But here, in my opinion, an important reservation should be made. Although BIM 360 suite is ideal for Russian design organizations implementing the remote work, its potential has not yet been fully realized in our country. The English-language tool is now actively used in the United States, but I am sure that in the coming years it will become an indispensable design tool in our country too. Not only experts but also customers highlight the usability of the software. For example, our customers really like the service that allows comparing new versions of models with earlier ones. We love working with Noventiq. We see the company as a reliable partner capable of solving any IT problem efficiently and promptly. Now, by the way, our A360 and Autodesk AEC Collection licenses are expiring. And we have already contacted Noventiq for extension", emphasized Ilya Belenkiy, Director of Synergy Systems LLC.

Basically, BIM is information modeling, when all the project data is simultaneously available to designers, members of the working group, developers, and customers. Naturally, the highest security measures are in place. However, such a convenient and essential service is still underestimated in Russia. I think that this is due to the outdated idea of the cloud technology that is still prevalent among top managers. Often top managers of many companies who don't have the proper understanding of the virtual infrastructure veto any business ideas that need to be implemented using cloud solutions. Of course, managers have concerns about the confidential information and they have no trust to the outsourcing model. Yes, when you use BIM 360, your data is stored on Autodesk servers outside of Russia. But the vendor thoroughly tests its own products before bringing them to market. And there has never been a single case of data leakage while working with BIM 360. That's why I have no doubt that in the nearest future the situation will change for the better”, reassured Oleg Yelenskiy, Noventiq's CAD/GIS Development Manager in Siberia.