AI and cloud computing are fueling demand for data center capacity, bringing new attention to the infrastructure behind the digital economy. For owners and project leaders, that attention comes with pressure to deliver complex facilities faster while maintaining control over costs, quality and operational readiness.
The opportunity is significant, but so is the execution challenge. McKinsey estimates that improving data center construction could reduce the time between a request for services and construction start by 10% to 20%, with potential capital spending savings of 10% to 20% per facility. Those figures reflect broader delivery improvements, rather than results from any single technology. They underscore the value of rethinking how projects are planned and delivered.
Autodesk Forma supports that shift by connecting project information and workflows, helping teams make informed decisions throughout data center delivery.
Give Teams a Reliable Foundation for Decisions
On a fast-moving project, an outdated drawing or delayed approval can affect multiple disciplines. Owners need confidence that project partners are working from current, approved information.
Forma Data Management provides a cloud-based common data environment where teams can organize documents, manage access, track versions and coordinate reviews. Browser-based drawing and model viewing makes information easier to access, while approval workflows capture decisions and clarify document status.
For project leaders, the practical value is greater visibility: Which information has changed? Who needs to review it? Which decisions remain outstanding? Establishing those answers in a shared environment helps teams spend less time reconciling files and more time moving work forward.
Coordinate Complex Systems Before Installation
Data centers bring electrical, cooling, structural and other building systems together under demanding schedules. Coordination issues that reach the field can disrupt installation sequences and create expensive rework.
Autodesk positions Forma for Model Management to help teams coordinate these disciplines, detect clashes earlier and work from the latest project information. Forma for Construction Operations connects project, cost, quality, field and turnover workflows, helping maintain continuity as work progresses toward closeout.
Consider a cooling-system revision that affects equipment clearances and electrical routing. A connected workflow gives the teams involved a clearer basis for reviewing the change, resolving conflicts and communicating the approved direction before installation proceeds.
Plan for Operations from the Beginning
Construction completion is only one milestone. Operations teams also need accurate, usable information to commission, maintain and expand the facility.
Autodesk’s The Owner’s Playbook for Predictable, Scalable Data Center Delivery recommends defining digital handover requirements early, including what information must be delivered, how it should be structured and how it will be validated. It also describes how connected project data can support digital twin workflows using solutions such as Autodesk Tandem.
For owners, this means involving operations stakeholders while delivery requirements are being established. Equipment records, commissioning information and model attributes should be planned deliverables with clear responsibilities. Waiting until closeout to define them leaves less time to address gaps.
Build a Delivery Approach That Can Scale
As portfolios grow, owners need consistency across sites. The playbook emphasizes standardized workflows and reusable project data as foundations for comparing performance, carrying lessons forward and improving future delivery.
A practical starting point is to identify where information routinely stalls: design reviews, approvals, field updates or turnover. Standardizing those workflows creates an opportunity to improve one project while establishing practices that can support the next.
Connect with IMAGINiT’s Experts
Getting more value from Autodesk Forma starts with aligning the technology to your delivery requirements, project partners and business goals.
Reach out to IMAGINiT’s experts to discuss your data center projects and explore how Autodesk Forma can help connect teams, improve project visibility and support a more consistent approach to delivery.
For additional insights, explore The Owner’s Playbook for Predictable, Scalable Data Center Delivery.
