Company Profile
Tekta Group is a vertically integrated real estate developer that offers business and premium-class residential buildings. The company has built more than 2 mln. sq. m of housing.
Tekta initially used Autodesk BIM 360 for project management and later seamlessly switched to Pilot-ICE Enterprise.
Picture by Tekta Group
Challenge
Anton Solorev, Head of the IT Department, Tekta Group:
"As part of the project, the company looked for a replacement for Autodesk BIM 360. We needed a solution with functionality as extensive as that of the legacy document management system. We also wanted a solution customizable beyond the vendor’s roadmap to meet our requirements, as our ever-evolving business demanded flexibility as a top priority. We analyzed the market offerings and opted for Pilot-ICE Enterprise."
On-the-Job Training
The project team had to migrate the company from one solution to another while preserving the data and ensuring business continuity. First, we analyzed the data accumulated in BIM 360. Then we advised the customer and helped recreating the business processes in Pilot-ICE. This included document approval templates, user access rights, and data structures.
Together with the Tekta Group team, we proposed a solution to transfer the BIM 360 metadata as required for a complete and correct data transfer. Then we automated the data migration. In the final stage, we had to carry over all the data from BIM 360 and make them usable in the new system.
Solution
One, Two, Three: Project Complete
We divided the data migration into three phases. In Phase 1, we created a nested data structure and determined how to upload editable and non-editable files and archives. It was highly important to preserve the file/doc version control and to automatically add links between files and documents.
In Phase 2, we analyzed the comments contained in the BIM 360 metadata (title, text, document version, etc.) Then, we studied the attributes stored in Pilot’s comment cards and the information needed to populate them for generating advanced reports. For example, we discussed and determined that the “Text” field in the Pilot-ICE Enterprise comment card should include the “Title” and “Text” attributes from the metadata file, while the “Contractor” attribute should be populated from the customized “BimBackUp” field. We also figured out how to use the “Version” and “Location” attributes from the metadata file to place the comments on the right sheet of the document. Another point was mapping the statuses in BIM 360 and Pilot-ICE Enterprise and setting up access rights for changing the statuses in advance. For some comments, we had to recreate the correspondence using texts from the auxiliary file.
In Phase 3, we used a single metadata file covering all the documents. We analyzed how to inherit document statuses from the legacy solution based on the status mapping between the two systems and how to access the correct document.
Picture by Tekta Group
The final backup was as large as 70 GB. We got the backup to test our conversion module and fix bugs. With our module, we loaded the folder structure from the backup file and organized the documents into the folders. As early as that step, we could view the documents. Document/file version control and references were also available. Then we carried over the document statuses (they represent approval stages) and added comments to the documents. This was the final effort: after that, users could fully utilize all the migrated data in the new environment.
Pilot project stats
- 20,000 files
- 13,000 document statuses
- 6,000 comments
- 2,000 messages in the comment-related correspondence
Result / Business Value
The entire project, from requirements specification to data migration, took just 20 business days. The pilot project produced an actionable, field-proven, and efficient data migration strategy. Afterward, the customer was able to use the module independently for further data migration into the new system. The key to success is the clear definition of goals, objectives, and results by both Tekta Group and the project team.
Picture by Tekta Group
Anton Solorev, Head of the IT Department, Tekta Group:
"The Pilot-ICE Enterprise deployment has provided us with flexible customization options. I can mention the access rights and email notifications to project stakeholders.
In general, when migrating to new software, we must recognize that any solution involves trade-offs. Deployment efforts could be much lower than user training efforts. In our case, every stakeholder was ready to embrace the changes and was confident that our IT team, together with ASCON, would ultimately get the job done."
