2022 Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Data Insights Report from Egnyte

On average, AEC customers increased storage by 31.2% CAGR from 2017 to 2021

The study is based on an analysis of data trends among more than 3,000 customers in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, which has experienced exploding growth in data volume and usage. On average, firm’s AEC customers increased storage by 31.2% CAGR from 2017 to 2021.

While the company serves a diverse range of industries that require varying amounts of storage, the average AEC firm stores more data in the platform than customers in other industries like real estate, retail, manufacturing, and life sciences. According to the report, the typical AEC firm manages 149% (2.49x) more files than the cross-industry average. In addition, AEC firms interact with these files on a more frequent basis than other sectors, which can lead to several usability and management issues.

“The flood of AEC data that is collected, shared, and managed throughout the design and build process – coupled with the high level of engagement in terms of link and document sharing – can make it difficult for firms to secure their content effectively without disrupting productivity,” said Ronen Vengosh, VP, AEC. “The findings of our study, in line with other industry reports, indicate that AEC firms are coming to rely on data storage at a rapid rate. The industry will need to address the challenges associated with this pace of growth by leveraging data management tools like workflow automation and internal/external risk management.”

AEC Data Insights Report also identifies following key trends:

• Data sprawl is a growing challenge. The number of individual files stored by AEC firms grew by 23.4% CAGR from 2017 to 2021 as they rely on larger file types from various sources, such as drone footage and 3D imagery.
• Usage patterns vary widely across disciplines. General contractors share files at a higher rate than any other discipline (architecture, engineering, owners, and specialty contractors).
• Data security issues vary by company size and discipline. Egnyte flagged a staggering growth of ‘high-severity’ data issues from 4Q20 to 4Q21, a 325% increase across all AEC domains