Guidelines for an Effective Data Management Solution at Education Facilities

We're pleased to share the following blog from our partner Accruent.

Over decades and even centuries, academic campus facilities have accumulated huge amounts of asset data that can be challenging to access, archive, and properly manage. From record drawings to building information models, to technical reports, specifications, design standards, construction photos, and more.

You may also have challenges with user access issues, security, archive organisation, and the many related problems that occur when trying to manage large volumes of historical records alongside the continual streams of new data coming in from current projects.

As the volume of data increases, managing this information becomes truly impossible to do without an effective, flexible, powerful engineering document management software solution. This is especially true for campuses struggling with legacy data in non-digital formats, which can be cumbersome to access, or facilities dealing with multiple versions of data and documents that create uncertainty as to which version is correct.

So what are the guidelines for an effective engineering document management system? The right solution will be able to deal with extensive legacy information in many formats while providing ease of access under secure, permissioned roles for all parties.

Our experience has shown that academic campuses benefit most from having an engineering document management software solution that offers these characteristics:

• Flexible search and building navigation views
• As-built master data and document management
• Streamlined project delivery and handover
• Controlled collaboration with AEC contractors
• Fulfillment of document standards processes
• Integration with major building design and construction applications, including AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit, Bentley MicroStation, Microsoft Office applications, and Enterprise Asset Management systems
• Support for compliance for medical universities

Meridian, an asset and engineering document management software solution from Accruent, offers comprehensive means for managing data at educational facilities. Whether used as an on-premise server solution or through a secure Microsoft Azure-based cloud solution, Meridian is a powerful platform that is easy to configure, and secure, helping to provide data access, accuracy, completeness, greater ease of compliance, and better-controlled information. Meridian also offers an external-facing portal (Meridian Portal) that facilitates full collaboration for external team members without compromising access to master data. Analytics and a mobile app are also available.