Construction Professionals Make the Case for an Industry-Specific Cloud-Based Document Management Application

WALNUT CREEK, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 29, 2015) - ARC Document Solutions, Inc., (NYSE: ARC), the nation's leading document solutions provider for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, announced today the findings from its AEC Technology Study. ARC commissioned the study to quantify the affect document management has on the productivity, efficiency and costs of construction project management.

According to the survey of seasoned AEC professionals:

• 75% said up to one third of project cost overruns are due to project document difficulties and issues
• 33% found accessing the latest set of documents and having the most current information to be a challenge in completing an AEC project
• Nearly 40% said online access for all documents on any device platform is one of the most important factors in increasing their company's productivity or in reducing costs
• 25% said inaccurate project paperwork or too many versions of documents has contributed to a construction delay
  
  

Documents are the principal mode of communication across the various trades and disciplines in the AEC industry. Providing an application that enables a dynamic 'single source of truth' to store, collaborate, and access documents from any digital device addresses a strong demand for better project communications and collaboration, both of which help keep construction projects on time and on budget. 

The need for a specialized industry solution is illustrated by further results from the study, including:

• Nearly one in three (30.1%) AEC professionals said current cloud technology tools that are not designed for the AEC market made completing a project on schedule a challenge 
• Nearly one in four AEC professionals (22.3%) said the use of multiple technology tools without streamlined integration negatively impacted project efficiency 
• Nearly a third of AEC professionals (30.1%) said using multiple software tools during a construction or design project caused duplication of data
• Nearly a third of AEC professionals (29.1%) said multiple software programs caused redundancy and wasted staff time 
• Version control and security around current methods for managing documents were also key points of concern, with 32% of respondents expressing apprehension over the use of wrong versions of building plans, 30% worried that documents could be erased or not backed up, and 25% were concerned with document confidentiality.
  
  

More than 30% of AEC Professionals surveyed also identified the following challenges to completing their projects:

• Communicating with project members that are in the field
• Accessing the latest set of documents and having the most current information
• Using technology that isn't designed for the AEC market
• Keeping up with a high volume of paperwork 
  
  

ARC Document Solutions, a global document solutions company serving segment of the architecture, engineering, and construction industries for more than 30 years, has developed an information platform that solves these problems with the launch of SKYSITE. A cloud-based, B2B, enterprise-level document management solution for the construction industry, SKYSITE creates a compelling basis for an industry-specific cloud for architects, engineers, and construction professionals.

"SKYSITE enables seamless collaboration and communications among project users through efficient and intelligent project document management for the entire project lifecycle," said K "Suri" Suriyakumar, Chairman and CEO of ARC Document Solutions. "SKYSITE creates a single repository on the cloud for all project information, it is available 24/7, and customers can access their documents anytime from any device creating a single source of truth for the project team."

SKYSITE is a cloud-based file-sharing collaboration platform that features real-time document synchronization with security, scalability, and manageability needed to successfully complete a construction project. It also makes accessibility universal. By working over the cloud, users with tablets and other mobile devices can view, manage, and distribute documents in more than 100 different file types on devices that are small and light enough to fit into a tool bag.

For more information about ARC's SKYSITE document management solution, please visit: http://www.skysiteprojects.com/

About The AEC Technology Study
The ARC Document Solutions' AEC Technology Study was conducted by research marketing company, Newlio (www.newlio.com), among 108 architecture, engineering and construction management professionals, using an email invitation and an online survey. Forty percent of the respondents had more than 15 years' experience in the construction industry. Executives came from both large enterprises of 1,000 people or more, and small boutique firms of ten people or less. 

About ARC Document Solutions (NYSE: ARC)
ARC Document Solutions is a leading document solutions company serving businesses of all types, with an emphasis on the non-residential segment of the architecture, engineering and construction industries. The Company helps more than 90,000 customers reduce costs and increase efficiency in the use of their documents, improve document access and control, and offers a wide variety of ways to print, produce, and store documents. ARC provides its solutions onsite in more than 8,000 of its customers' offices, offsite in service centers around the world, and digitally in the form of proprietary software and web applications. For more information please visit www.e-arc.com.

SKYSITE and ARC DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ARC Document Solutions and/or its subsidiaries.