Trimble Connect cloud uses Amazon servers, divided over different pods (North America,Europe, Asia and Oceania) These pods are distributed over several server locations as well.
All cloud solutions provide ‘Nuke’ proof concepts of encryption, backups etc. in order to keep the data safe.
Ironically, all of these pods are actually real buildings on the mainland and connected through large physical data cables that can transport huge amount of data per second to get the data across the oceans that divide them.
One could say Trimble Connect is Google/One/dropbox ‘on steroids’ because it can easily view (multiple!) 3D models, .dwg’s and construction specific data in real time in a browser, instead of downloading/syncing first in order to view the data in your local runned software package (Quadri, Revit, Tekla, SketchUp, etc)
Originally developed by the Gteam of Gehry technology (Frank Gehry), Trimble acknowledged the possibilities it would have for the construction industry.
It’s specifically designed to work with different types of users and data, a subcontractor may only have rights to a certain folder, files can be ‘locked’ and assigned to someone specifically or be part of a ‘Release’ for bidding, so everyone is calculating on the same version.
For coordination purposes, it provides a great way of tracking activities inside the project (what has happened with this file, who did what when, etc)
It could provide clarity on certain tasks for specific members by adjusting the notification settings for the project, reducing email traffic (Did you receive the latest version?) and use of wetransers or wrongly set permissions for shared Google files, etc.
As said, the Business plan comes with a subscription to SketchUp, so it’s already there for you to explore.
connect.trimble.com