Just received an overview of Autodesk’s cloud-based productivity and collaboration platform called Bluestreak. The latest release has both a Web and desktop component, with tools that work as an adjunct to the workspace in Revit. The tool is meant to assist with collaboration between project teams with a planned informal self-organized, and self-administered flair not unlike Facebook. The intent is to tie into the common workflow, and hopefully reduce the number of open windows and tools, while creating an easily-accessible record of the chronology of work that took place in the design phase of a project.
The tools provide the means for much easier communication between cr0ss-disciplinary design teams in a more closely shared environment. The tool becomes an anchor point and start-up screen for the tools in use, with means for file sharing and versioning, and sharing of schedules.
One key aspect of the tool is that it becomes a native extension of each application, and an interface through which the work is done and files are tracked and passed among team members. There are no defined roles or permissions baked into the product, instead such work parameters are set through the desktop software applications themselves, allowing Bluestreak to remain light in the cloud, while offering robust connectivity of information and work teams.
This product launched late last year in Autodesk Labs, and continues to evolve with the flexibility of cloud-based software. The previous version was web-based only, but was joined just this week with a desktop version as well. The desktop application accesses the cloud, but eliminates the need to have a browser window open as it lives alongside other desktop apps. The login and information presented are the same though, and users have the choice of either while still seeing the same information and interface. One can see that this functionality jumps nicely across devices for use wherever the design process is taking place.
There are several ongoing pilot projects with customers, with a good deal of feedback that steers the project direction. From the outset, when Autodesk customers were approached with the tool, they expressed an interest in fewer tools to deal with rather than one more product to install and monitor. This sentiment is clearly mirrored in the product design, with a very simple and familiar interface that unobtrusively allows for all the normal file sharing through one easily customizable and configurable interface. The tool also quietly chronicles the project, and provides a means to query the file history from multiple applications, and soon a reporting functionality to help document the project’s progress.
The latest release of Autodesk Bluestreak is available now from Autodesk Labs.
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We are beta testers and are utilizing Autodesk’s cloud based solution on several project. The projects range from residential, commercial, and elder care. The teams using Bluestreak are enjoying the ease in which they can collaborate between our campuses and consultants.