At the 2023 Newforma World, the company’s conference held this year in Arizona, AEC project CDE (common data environment) software maker Newforma unveiled its new branding and the benefits of its newly launched cloud-hosted and web-based Newforma Konekt platform.
Konekt Platform
“Newforma Konekt is an interconnected ecosystem – an environment, really — that encapsulates Newforma’s very essence, ideals, and commitment to the AECO industry,” says Carl Veillette, Chief Product Officer, Newforma. “Time is always of the essence in construction, but Newforma Konekt gives users more than just hours; it gives them clarity, efficiency, and above all, peace of mind by uniting every element of their project.”
Newforma executives announcing Newforma Konekt platform at Newforma World User Conference.
Newforma’s new cloud CDE platform combines information management, project management, and simple BIM coordination for those using BIM in their process. Konekt integrates complex AEC industry collaboration and issue management—essential aspects of success during both the design and construction phases of the building industry.
Konekt handles RFIs, submittals, email coordination, and other project completion tasks, keeping project stakeholders like architects, engineers, contractors, and owners (AEC/O) fully up-to-date while creating a fully searchable, auditable, cohesive project record.
At Newforma World 2023, the company announced its rebranding meant to underscore the company’s commitment to product innovation and its mission to deliver the industry’s best-connected project delivery for AEC/O teams.
Boston-based / New Owners
Earlier this year, New England-based Newforma was acquired by Ethos Capital LP (“Ethos”). At the time, Erik Brooks, Co-CEO of Ethos Capital LP, said: “Brock and the Newforma team have done an exceptional job building a market-leading technology platform to meet the rapidly evolving needs of the AECO industry. Our team of Executive Partners is uniquely positioned to support Newforma in accelerating product development, cloud migration, and the delivery of incremental value to clients.”
For more information about Newforma Konekt and Newforma World, visit the all-new http:/
Architosh Analysis and Commentary
Newforma has been a pioneer in project information management (PIM) in the AEC/O industry, but its solution originated back in the era of desktop and LAN servers. As such, its technology stack moved in sync with dominant US-based AEC companies such as Autodesk with both AutoCAD and Revit. With the advent of SaaS web-based software systems competing to do similar or equal things, Newforma’s tools have discovered new competition that is more agile and democratized.
The new fully cloud-based Konekt platform appears to position the company to fully be on equal footing with an array of cloud-native solutions that are largely trying to do many of the same things—project information management (PIM) and document management via CDEs (common data environments).
Konekt has different subscription plans for different AEC/O user needs. A COMMS track focuses on BIM track features plus email management. It includes BIM coordination and a 2D+3D Viewer. A CA track includes the BIM track features plus the ability to file an email as a submittal or RFI directly from Outlook. The Enterprise track combines all the features from the BIM, COMMS, and CA tracks into a comprehensive suite of capabilities.
One of Newforma’s unique abilities has been its integration of email into PIM in AEC. However, the bulk of its users seem to be larger firms with legacy Microsoft Outlook email systems. Smaller and younger firms with Google-based email systems don’t have an integration. Also, Data Connectors are also very Microsoft and Autodesk-based, focused on Autodesk Docs and Microsoft SharePoint.
