{"id":1903,"date":"2017-10-24T09:32:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T08:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2017-10-24T09:33:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T08:33:58","slug":"collaboration-across-the-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/collaboration-across-the-cloud\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaboration across the cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Carigliano describes how engineers can use the cloud to support collaborative working <\/strong><\/p>\n

Birds migrate in a V formation because, as a bird flaps its wings, it parts the air and allows another bird following in its path to receive a free lift and traverse the skies more effectively.<\/p>\n

Likewise, structural engineers must also work collaboratively to improve efficiency and productivity.<\/p>\n

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“With today\u2019s technology, there are no excuses for delays in data and information transfer. Therefore, engineers are often expected to meet strict deadlines. Cloud computing enables them to work outside of conventional working hours without having to stay in the office or delay important out-of-office work.” – Sam Carigliano is CEO and co-founder of SkyCiv<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whether it\u2019s between structural engineers and architects or consulting engineers and clients, collaboration is an important part of structural engineering.<\/p>\n

Despite its importance, collaborative working has faced a number of challenges in recent years, particularly in the form of remote working.<\/p>\n

Since e-mails first allowed engineers to communicate and share files electronically and across long distances, technology has naturally progressed to better facilitate remote working.<\/p>\n

In fact, many modern structural engineering companies offer flexible working to employees, allowing engineers to work remotely. Yet this presents a logistical issue with software and documents.<\/p>\n

Traditional structural engineering software was not set up for collaborative working.<\/p>\n

For example, each time a document was edited by a different person, a new version would be generated. This created confusion and was difficult to organise, particularly for structural engineering projects where important differences between two versions of a design can potentially go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

A very simple example is when a structural engineer is designing a beam and has to make adjustments to the location of a support, it could potentially pose a health and safety risk if the wrong version of the project is used.<\/p>\n

This would mean that the risks of remote collaborative working would outweigh the benefits, unless it was able to be implemented properly.
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