The construction industry is rapidly adopting new technologies like Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) to improve collaboration and increase productivity. As an educator, you want to make sure your students are learning the latest tools and workflows. However, transitioning from an existing platform like BIM 360 to ACC can seem daunting.
This guide aims to make that transition as smooth as possible for educators. We'll walk through the key steps needed to migrate your curriculum, data, and workflows from BIM 360 to Autodesk Construction Cloud. Our goal is to provide a simple, step-by-step process so you can focus on what matters most – preparing your students for their future careers.
With the transition to Autodesk Construction Cloud, you gain access to powerful new solutions like Autodesk Docs, Autodesk Build, Autodesk Takeoff, and more. Your students will graduate with hands-on experience using the same technologies as industry leaders. And you can rest easy knowing you have access to Autodesk's world-class support resources.
So, don't panic – take it one step at a time. This guide will provide the information you need to successfully move to ACC. Your students will thank you!
What we cover:
But first, you may have several key questions when considering a transition from BIM 360 to Autodesk Construction Cloud. Here are some of the top questions to think through:
Not all data necessarily needs to be migrated. Focus on the critical files, models, and data that are essential for your curriculum and classes. For many educators, this consists of standard files used across classes, rather than project-specific data. Assess what you use repeatedly versus data that is archived after each term.
Understand your motivations and end goals for migrating. Is it to maintain access to certain files? To retain folder structures or templates? Or simply to avoid manually reuploading content? Determining the "why" will help guide what and how much to migrate.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your specific use cases and goals. Migrating everything may be overkill if you only need certain assets. But migrating select data could miss important files. Focus on striking the right balance for your needs.
Carefully consider timing and aim to minimize disruption to ongoing work. You don't want students accessing projects in two systems simultaneously. Develop a transition plan to shift access from legacy to new systems without impacting productivity.
Look at migration as an opportunity to improve upon existing workflows, folder structures, permissions, and more. Make changes to set your ACC projects up for success from the start.
Thinking through questions like these will help guide your overall migration strategy and determine the right approach for your educational use cases.
Before attempting to migrate any data, there are some key prerequisites that educators should complete to ensure a smooth transition process. Here is a checklist of tasks to complete ahead of time:
Following this checklist will save you time and headaches when you begin actually migrating data over to ACC.
When transitioning from BIM 360 to ACC, you'll need to determine what types of data you want to migrate to the new platform. Here's an overview of some common data types and methods for migrating them:
As you can see, different data requires different migration techniques. Contact Autodesk support for guidance on the best approach for your specific data.
When planning your transition from BIM 360 to ACC, it's important to think through the key steps and timing to ensure a smooth process. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Take time to document how your team currently uses BIM 360. What features and workflows are most important? How are files organized? This will help you plan how to best set up projects, permissions, and folders in ACC.
Choose a timeframe when you can pause active projects in BIM 360, so no changes occur while migrating data. This might be over a weekend or school break. Avoid transitioning mid-project if possible.
Set up the new ACC projects that will receive the migrated data. Think through folder structure, permissions, and access controls.
To prevent data sync issues, limit access to legacy BIM 360 projects during transition. Make them view-only or temporarily revoke access.
When it comes time to migrate your data from BIM 360 to ACC, you have a few options available.
The recommended method for most users is to utilize the Autodesk Replication Tool (ART). ART is a free tool provided by Autodesk that allows you to easily migrate project files, folders, and folder structures from BIM 360 to ACC.
To use ART, you simply request access, get onboarded, and then select the specific BIM 360 projects you want to migrate over. ART will replicate the folder structures and naming conventions, migrate over any files, and recreate everything in your new ACC project.
ART replicates your data from BIM 360 to ACC and it does not delete or remove anything from the source system. This allows you to maintain access to your legacy data in BIM 360 if needed, while also having that data available in ACC.
Overall, ART makes migrating your files, folders, and structure to ACC quick and painless. It automates much of the process, so you can focus on your new ACC projects.
For small datasets, it may be easier to simply migrate things manually. This involves downloading the files you need from BIM 360 to your local computer, and then uploading them to the appropriate location in ACC.
You can also leverage tools like Desktop Connector to manually recreate folder structures by dragging and dropping them from your local folders into ACC.
The manual approach works best for small sets of files that don't require replicating complex folder hierarchies. It gives you precise control over what gets migrated vs. starting fresh.
Overall, look at the amount and type of data you need to migrate when deciding between using ART or a manual approach. Both options are straightforward and get the job done, just in different ways. Reach out for help if you need guidance on the best migration workflow for your specific use case.
Once the data migration process is complete, there are a few final steps to wrap up the transition from BIM 360 to ACC:
Review the migrated data in ACC and validate that all expected files, folders, and data were transferred successfully. Spot check folders to confirm the folder structure matches the original project.
Once migration is complete, archive or remove access to legacy BIM 360 projects. Users should now only access the new ACC projects going forward. Don’t forget to also archive or delete the original BIM 360 project that was migrated. This keeps the data in sync and avoids duplicate copies.
Communicate the transition plan to any users that need to start using the ACC project instead of BIM 360. Let them know how to access the new ACC project location.
Make sure your team is up to speed on ACC workflows through onboarding, training materials, and support resources. Adopting ACC fully enables the latest tools and collaboration.
Migrating your data from BIM 360 to ACC can seem daunting, but you don't have to do it alone. Autodesk provides several resources to help educators with the transition.
If you have questions about migrating your data or need assistance, the best place to start is the Autodesk Education Community. Here you can connect with other educators who have been through the process as well as Autodesk staff who can provide guidance.
You can also open a support ticket through the Autodesk Education Experiences (AEX) support portal. The AEX support team can walk you through the different data migration options and tools available. They can even do some of the migration for you if needed.
For step-by-step instructions on using the data migration tools, consult the online documentation on the Autodesk Knowledge Network. There are detailed guides that outline the process for both manual data transfers as well as using automated tools like the Autodesk Replication Tool.
If you need additional support, you can reach out to ACCSchool@autodesk.com.
With all these options, you'll get the help needed to successfully move your data to ACC. Don't hesitate to use the Autodesk education resources available.
