How Hybrid Cloud File System Solves AEC Firms’ File Problems
How Hybrid Cloud File System Solves AEC Firms’ File Problems
Hybrid Cloud File System
How do hybrid cloud file systems address AEC firms’ challenges? In this blog, we expand on how the Morro Data CloudNAS, with its hybrid-cloud architecture, is ideally suited to AEC applications by offering scalability, secure collaboration, data security, support for remote work, cost efficiency, disaster recovery, compliance, and streamlined IT management.
- Familiar Drive Letter Interface: For AEC professionals accustomed to traditional file systems, CloudNAS preserves the familiar drive letter user interface for a seamless transition into the world of cloud-based storage and collaboration.
- Cloud Scalability and Resilience: AEC firms deal with many design files, CAD drawings, 3D models, and extensive project documentation. CloudNAS ensures that your data is not only accessible from anywhere but also backed by the scalability and resilience that cloud infrastructure provides. No more concerns about server or storage limitations.
- Centralized Storage with File Locking: Team collaboration is at the heart of AEC projects, often involving team members spread across different locations. Ensuring that all users are working on the latest version of a file is crucial to project success. CloudNAS offers centralized storage with file-locking capabilities.
- Centralized Web Portal: Managing multiple file servers across various locations can be a nightmare. CloudNAS simplifies this by providing a single web portal for IT management.
Support Azure Entra ID (Azure Active Directory)
And with full support for Azure Entra ID, users can use their existing Office 365 credentials to access the storage from any location; simplifying access and increasing productivity for both users and IT managers. Why is this important to AEC firms? Many AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) firms Morro engages with have architects, design engineers, and CAD users in multiple locations.
Today, business users are familiar with tools like Office 365 or Google Apps that enable them to collaborate on documents with multiple people accessing and sharing the same files. Designers would like this same capability on their CAD and Engineering tools. A challenge is that a single project file in AutoCAD is composed of many sub-files.
Remote Work File Collaboration Solution
For designers to easily work on the same file there must be a common repository, everyone must know where the master file is located, and the file must be locked in real-time across sites to prevent data corruption. As the files also have very high value, imagine the business cost of losing a major project file. The files must be securely backed up and easily recoverable. To simplify access and protect valuable IP, Engineers should be able to access using the standard office credentials. Remote access is a new business trend during the pandemic. A project team may include members from different offices or even from their homes. How to collaborate in the same environment with file locking is critical.
Morro Data CloudNAS with its attributes listed above fully satisfies these requirements. For more detailed information, please visit our AEC page.
Effective Collaboration Across Diverse Locations
Wright-Pierce stands as an acclaimed, multi-disciplinary environmental engineering firm specializing in sustainable water, wastewater, and infrastructure engineering services. Wright-Pierce made a strategic transition to Morro Data in 2019. This move was aimed at delivering comprehensive global file services that catered to all its office locations and project teams, ushering in a new era of enhanced efficiency and data management.
Robert Marsh, Director of IT at Wright-Pierce, remarked on what sets Morro Data apart, stating, “The most distinctive feature of Morro Data is its remarkable ease of use for such high-value functions. Our remote teams require seamless real-time collaboration across multiple locations, and Morro Data effectively bridges the gap, creating a centralized office experience. The deployment and management are both straightforward and intuitive. We are genuinely impressed with the collaborative capabilities and performance that Morro Data brings to our team.
The original Network World article – How Hybrid Cloud File Services solve AEC’s file problems was contributed by Paul Tien, CEO of Morro Data. The article highlighted how AEC’s companies benefit from a Hybrid Cloud Storage solution.