Hats off to construction IT managers—managing the communication and information flow to and from multiple remote construction sites without reliable connectivity is not easy. As an IT manager in the information-intensive construction sector, you may have hundreds, or even thousands of individuals involved in multiple projects and multiple sites where connectivity is difficult and erratic.

Your IT should be able to drive efficiencies, improve service delivery and heighten productivity, but historically paper-thin margins and physical conditions mean that achieving a fully connected workforce that is physically distanced from Head Office is not easy.

Are your construction sites reliably connected, in real time?

Seamless experiences around project planning, status tracking, risk mitigation, reporting, progress and safety monitoring, keeping tabs on materials inventories, ensuring permits are in place, team coordination, and managing budgets are heavily dependent on getting the right information to the right people, at the right time.

Of course, for remote sites, you don’t have the luxury of instantly delivered information, especially before even breaking ground and the establishment of any kind of power and connection. With WiFi erratic at best in a metal-rich environment, it’s not always possible to deliver the right reports swiftly to the right people. Real-time information at your fingertips mitigates against unplanned and costly delays.

Digital transformation has paved the way for the sector to mitigate these risks, overcome the communication hurdles and become significantly more efficient. A connected data hub on site provides a reliable remote-management system, improves planning and control, and reduces delays with effortless communication between remote teams.

Connectivity, compute and storage in a box on site, from Telefónica Tech

Telefónica Tech offers energy-efficient compute and storage, with connectivity, IoT and security—all in a box deployed on site. Telefónica Tech technicians install the infrastructure and complete the configuration within a day or two, depending on your specific needs. It can be delivered as-a-service, purchased, rented or leased. And after installation, we’re here to look after maintenance and repair.

There is a choice of platform sizes, from single CPU to multiple scale-out servers, with these features:

• Small form factors with multiple installation options
• Designed to run in harsh environments, >55C, dusty
• Enterprise remote management via LAN, WiFi‚ and LTE
• High levels of security using TPM and silicon root of trust
• Racking options that include UPS, monitoring and security
• Innovative network solutions allow for instant-on services.
  
  You’ll get access to data from the construction site to Head Office, to cloud, and between sites and third parties, enabling:
  
  
• Better collaboration onsite
• Security and safety monitoring
• Digital work orders and access to permits to work
• Asset tracking
• Augmented reality: Guided assembly, training, quality assurance, GIS overlays and robotics.
  
  Perhaps that dream of Visual Remote Guidance isn’t so far away after all?

Alastair McEwan

Strategic Architect

You can read here about how Telefónica Tech helped Morgan Sindall, a leading UK construction and regeneration group, achieve IT resilience.