If you follow and use Autodesk CDE offerings, you probably know that Autodesk Construction Cloud, as we know it today, is the 3rd generation. We used to know it as BIM 360, which later became the Unified Platform. Autodesk changed platforms 3 times in 4 years, which is very short. Why did Autodesk change it? Let’s see the evolution.
BIM 360 Classic
BIM 360 Classic was the first CDE released by Autodesk in 2015. BIM 360 is a cloud platform developed by Autodesk from scratch using Autodesk Platform Services (APS), previously known as Forge. Autodesk was still trying to figure out what solution to offer and released many products at that time.
BIM 360 Classic offering was:
- BIM 360
- BIM 360 Team
- BIM 360 Glue
- BIM 360 Field
- BIM 360 Layout
- BIM 360 Plan
- BIM 360 Ops
The biggest problem with BIM 360 Classic is that each product is disconnected from the others. To perform clash detection in BIM 360 Glue, you must download the files from BIM 360 and then upload them to Glue. This restriction made BIM 360 Classic far from an ideal CDE.
BIM 360 Next Gen
BIM 360 Next Gen is an improvement from BIM 360 Classic, and the products are restructured to make it easier to find the required solution.
In this generation, the product offerings became:
- BIM 360 Docs
- BIM 360 Design
- BIM 360 Coordinate
- BIM 360 Build
BIM 360 Next Gen offered a platform for sharing files. BIM 360 Design saves files in BIM 360 Docs. For clash detection in BIM 360 Coordinate, we can use files directly from BIM 360 Docs, without downloading and uploading them first.
But it still hasn’t satisfied Autodesk. Each module can already share files, but it still can’t reference items in other modules. If there’s a Change Order, you can’t track the historical reference for why it happened.
Unified Platform
The last one is Unified Platform, which is better known as Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC). In 2018, Autodesk acquired Plangrid, and the following year, Autodesk announced Unified Platform at Autodesk University 2019.
Currently, the Unified Platform offers the following products:
- Autodesk Docs
- BIM Collaborate
- Preconstruction (Takeoff and Estimate)
- Autodesk Build
Unified Platform becomes the ideal CDE platform for Autodesk. Not only can you keep files in the same platform, but each item can also be referenced to other items. It makes a clear record of information and audit trails, even with many different stakeholders.
Let’s revisit the change order problem we discussed earlier.
- A subcontractor’s staff found work that does not comply with the specification. He created an issue for his team leader. In that regard, he also referenced specification documents, photos taken in the field, and the drawing sheet.
- The team leader acknowledged the issue and escalated it with an RFI to the main contractor. She also referenced the issue created by her staff.
- The main contractor escalated the RFI to the construction manager (CM).
- CM declares that the Main contractor may create a PCO (Potential change order) to fix the problem on-site.
- The main contractor created the PCO with that RFI as a reference.
- The main contractor then created the RFQ, OCO, and SCO to process the change order.
Information flow is not only about sharing files. The workflow can be complex. In the Unified Platform, we can see the audit trail records, and the accountability is clear.
This is what Autodesk wants to achieve.
CDE for Construction Process from End to End
Unified Platform becomes a reliable CDE for managing data and information throughout the construction process. Each process has a proper workflow, and you can refer to it in another record. Autodesk Construction Cloud has many other products, but the Unified Platform is the flagship. We can see how the later-acquired products are integrated into the Unified Platform.
It’s been 6 years since Autodesk released the Unified Platform to replace BIM 360. Seeing the investment and development, it seems that Autodesk already accepts it as the final CDE platform. Especially if you see Autodesk University 2025 keynotes on how Autodesk Docs will be connected to the other products.
It is interesting to see how it will be in 2026! Are you also interested in seeing how it will help you to collaborate better? Share your thoughts in the comments!