Introducing Autodesk Docs: Now included in the AEC Collection!

Autodesk Docs, Autodesk’s new cloud-based document management offering now available in the AEC Collection!

Autodesk is adding a document management tool, Autodesk Docs, which helps you save time, minimize missteps, and keep projects moving seamlessly from design to construction!

This is a phased launch meaning the product will be available on February 9th (“Global Availability”), with more features and functionality that will be rolled out in the future.

Autodesk Docs will be added to the AEC Collection, and will NOT be available as a standalone offering at this time.

*Insight refers to the module that provides project analytics visibility on both, BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud platforms.

What is Autodesk Docs?

Autodesk Docs, a common data environment, is a centralized document management solution that acts as a single source of truth across the project lifecycle for all teams. With Autodesk Docs, AEC teams can simplify collaboration and data management across design to construction and streamline document review and approval workflows.

It is available in the AEC Collection, as well as is included with subscriptions to Autodesk BIM Collaborate and Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro, Autodesk Takeoff and Autodesk Build.

Learn more about Autodesk Docs here.

What is included in the Autodesk Docs subscription?

Autodesk Docs provides access to the following modules:

• Docs
• Insight
• Account Administration
• BIM 360 Document Management

How many seats of Autodesk Docs will current subscribers to the AEC Collection get?

Seats of Autodesk Docs will be added to current AEC Collection subscriptions at a 1:1 rate.

How will I know I have access to Autodesk Docs?

Single user subscribers to the AEC Collection will see Autodesk Docs added to their AEC Collection entitlement on February 9th.

Multi-user subscribers to the AEC Collection will see Autodesk Docs added to their Autodesk Account between February 15th and April 30th.

How are seats allocated? I have a subscription to both the AEC Collection and BIM 360 Docs?

Autodesk Docs subscriptions will be allocated based on the number of AEC Collection subscriptions. That corresponding number of subscriptions would also be added to your BIM 360 account; however, only the number of Autodesk Docs subscriptions allocated would have access to the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform—not the combined number of Autodesk Docs and BIM 360 Docs subscriptions.

For example, if you have 10 subscriptions of the AEC Collection and 5 subscriptions of BIM 360 Docs, you will be automatically allocated 10 subscriptions of Autodesk Docs while maintaining your current access to 5 BIM 360 Docs subscriptions. This brings your total of available BIM 360 subscriptions in their account to 15, but as the 5 BIM 360 subscriptions do not include access to the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform, you would only have 10 subscriptions available for use in Autodesk Construction Cloud projects.

What is happening to the BIM 360 platform?

We have no plans to discontinue the BIM 360 platform and will continue to provide customers with the access and support they need for existing projects.

What happens to current subscriptions of BIM 360 Docs?

Existing BIM 360 Docs users will be able to keep and renew their current subscription.

However, BIM 360 Docs subscribers will not have access to Autodesk Docs and the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform.

Does Autodesk Docs include access to projects on BIM 360?

If you have access to Autodesk Docs through a subscription of the AEC Collection, Autodesk BIM Collaborate, Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro then you can access projects on both the Autodesk Construction Cloud and the BIM 360 platforms.

If you have a subscription to only BIM 360 Docs, then you can only access projects hosted on the BIM 360 platform.

To access projects on the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform, you’ll need access to Autodesk Docs by purchasing one of the products above or Autodesk Build.

What is the difference between Autodesk Docs and BIM 360 Docs?

While each offering contains many of the same common data environment features today, Autodesk Docs supports document management for projects on the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform, while BIM 360 Docs supports document management for projects on the BIM 360 platform. With Autodesk Docs, AEC Collection subscribers can access projects on the Autodesk Construction Cloud or BIM 360 platforms.

Learn more about the Autodesk Construction Cloud: https://construction.autodesk.com.

How do I access Autodesk Docs?

Once you see Autodesk Docs added to the AEC Collection in Autodesk Account, have the contract manager click on “Access Now” next to Autodesk Docs. This will bring them to a page where they’ll be prompted to create an Autodesk Construction Cloud account which will have access to both the Autodesk Construction Cloud and BIM 360 platforms.

For contract managers of single-user subscriptions of the AEC Collection, Autodesk Docs will show up as a product under the AEC Collection. For contract managers of multi-user subscriptions of the AEC Collection, Autodesk Docs will show up as a separate line item in Autodesk Account.

Once your Autodesk Construction Cloud Account is created, your account admin will need to invite users who will be project administrators. From there, the project administrators can begin creating projects and inviting users. Users can also log into acc.autodesk.com to access their project list.

If you have an existing BIM 360 account, hitting “Access Now” will enable access to the Autodesk Construction Cloud on the US data centre.

Note: If you want access to the Autodesk Construction Cloud on the Europe data centre, you’ll need to wait until the Europe data centre supports new Autodesk Construction Cloud accounts. This includes new subscriptions of Autodesk Build, BIM Collaborate, and BIM Collaborate Pro.

Is Autodesk Docs available on Europe data centre?

New accounts on the Europe data centre will not be available at launch but is targeted for availability later.

Current BIM 360 accounts on the Europe data centre will continue to be fully supported.

Is Autodesk Docs ISO 19650 compliant?

Not currently, but both Autodesk Docs and BIM 360 Docs are targeted to become ISO 19650 compliant in the future.

Does Autodesk Docs have unlimited cloud storage like BIM 360?

Yes, Autodesk Docs subscribers through the AEC Collection, Autodesk Collaborate, and Autodesk Collaborate Pro will have unlimited storage on the Autodesk Construction Cloud.

What are the differences between Autodesk Insight and Insight for Autodesk Construction Cloud products?

Autodesk Insight empowers architects and engineers to design more energy-efficient buildings with advanced simulation engines and building performance analysis data integrated in Revit.

Insight for In Autodesk Construction Cloud is an ecosystem that delivers Autodesk Construction Cloud project-level data, analytics, and predictive insights. It can help get you up to speed with what’s going on in a project, assess trends and patterns in project data, identify any gaps and problems, and use predictive risk data to improve project efficiency.

The Insights module in BIM 360 offers similar functionality as Insight for Autodesk Construction Cloud.

How will customers be notified of these changes?

These changes were announced at AU 2020 in Autodesk News, as well as the General Session Keynote, AEC Keynote, and in the on-demand content, available Nov 17 from 9 AM Pacific Time onwards.

Other direct email communications to customers followed closer to when the offerings became commercially available.

How do I see projects if I have them on both platforms?

You can log into acc.autodesk.com and see and access projects on both Autodesk Construction Cloud and BIM 360 in a combined list. The icon next to the project name denotes the platform it’s hosted on.

How will I know which platform my project is on?

In the UI of the tools like Desktop Connector there will be no indication whether it is a BIM 360 or Autodesk Construction Cloud project.

In the web UI, the BIM 360 environment will have a dark banner, while the Autodesk Construction Cloud will have a light banner.

BIM 360

Autodesk Construction Cloud

How are licenses and entitlements managed?

For single-user subscribers of the AEC Collection, the entitlement to Autodesk Docs will be automatically provided when Autodesk Docs is added to their AEC Collection entitlement. The entitlement to Autodesk Docs cannot be decoupled from the rest of the AEC Collection, so if a user needs access to Autodesk Docs, they will need to be entitled to the AEC Collection.

For multi-user subscribers of the AEC Collection, the Autodesk Docs entitlement will need to be provisioned in Autodesk Accounts as a separate line item. This means that the Autodesk Docs entitlement can be assigned to anyone regardless of their AEC Collection entitlement status.

Licenses can also be assigned when the user is invited to a project in the Autodesk Construction Cloud. This matches the process in Autodesk Accounts.

NOTE: When Autodesk Docs seats are added to multi-user subscriptions of the AEC Collection, the contract manager will receive an automatically-generated email informing them that the seats have been added.

How does Bring Your Own Subscription (BYOS) work?

BYOS will work in a similar way to how it has worked for BIM 360 Design. For more information, please refer to this page on AKN.

Can I provide Autodesk Docs licenses to my consultants?

Yes, you can still provide licenses to your consultants, either when they are invited to the project, or through Autodesk Accounts.

However, be aware that the consultant could use that license to access any project to which they’ve been invited.

At this time, there is no way to prevent the consultant from accessing other projects with the license.

What happens if I invite someone to a project who doesn’t have a subscription to Autodesk Docs?

On the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform, all users will need a valid subscription to Autodesk Docs through the AEC Collection, Autodesk Build, Autodesk BIM Collaborate, Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro or Autodesk Takeoff, so invited users without a subscription will be prompted to either start a trial of an offering listed above or purchase a subscription to one of the offerings.

However, for projects on the BIM 360 platform, unentitled users can be invited and added to projects. The account admins for the account hosting the project are still responsible to have enough licenses to cover everyone in their account as Autodesk reserves the right to audit usage and potentially force users to purchase enough subscriptions to cover all users in their account(s).

Documents can be shared with users without subscriptions by generating a public link that can be shared.

Is a user counted twice if they are invited to a project on BIM 360 and a project on the Autodesk Construction Cloud platform?

No, users will only be counted once even if they are in both BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud projects.

The total licenses used will have to be equal to or less than the number of subscriptions purchased.

How do users see project analytics data for my projects in Autodesk Construction Cloud & BIM 360?

Project analytics can be viewed in the Insight module in BIM 360 or Insight for Autodesk Construction Cloud, depending on the platform where the project is hosted. There are no combined analytics at this time.

Can I have two Autodesk Construction Cloud accounts? One for different regions or business units?

Yes, but you will need a contract with a different contract manager for each account. The additional contracts need at least 1 seat of any of the AEC Collection, BIM Collaborate, BIM Collaborate Pro, or Autodesk Build to set up the account, and then anyone in your company can access those accounts/tenants as covered under BYOS.

For example, if you have an existing BIM 360 or Autodesk Construction Cloud account on the US data centre and would like an Autodesk Construction Cloud account on the Europe data centre, (when it becomes available) or a separate account for a business unit or subsidiary, someone other than the contract manager of the existing subscription will need to purchase at least one new subscription to the above offerings and create the new account. The reason is that if the existing contract manager purchases the new subscription, those new seats would be automatically added to the existing Autodesk Construction Cloud account.

Once the new Autodesk Construction Cloud account is created, the contract manager for the new subscription can be updated in Autodesk Accounts, if desired.

Does Autodesk Docs have the same security certifications as BIM 360 Docs?

Yes, the existing security certifications still apply to the services.

The existing certifications can be found on the Autodesk Trust Center.

Is there a way to try Autodesk Docs?

The best way to try Autodesk Docs is to sign up for a BIM Collaborate, or BIM Collaborate Pro trial.

Does Autodesk have a plan to migrate BIM 360 data to Autodesk Construction Cloud projects?

Autodesk is working on a migration tool. Availability TBD.

Can I migrate my existing projects on BIM 360 to Autodesk Construction Cloud projects?

Until the migration tool is available, we recommend that existing projects remain on BIM 360, while new projects can be created on the Autodesk Construction Cloud or BIM 360 platforms.

Data can also be downloaded from BIM 360 and uploaded to an Autodesk Construction Cloud project manually if so desired.

How do I get support?

Technical product support for Autodesk Docs can be reached by hitting the “Contact Support” button in the Docs product within your project. You will then be guided to create a support request, to which a specialist should reply.

If you need technical support for a BIM 360 project, please go to the Contact Support page and select “BIM 360” as the product.