In the year 2000, a McKinsey & Co. consultant and a construction industry site manager realized that the emerging Internet could solve an age-old problem: how to get teams collaborating effectively on construction and engineering projects.

Rob Phillpot is the former site manager, and Aconex co-founder:

“I’d been working on large construction projects, and was frustrated by the lack of tools to manage information. Email was starting to replace faxes, but we faced problems every day with handling documents, sharing information, knowing who had what drawings. People were spread around different companies and locations too, with their own systems and processes – and in some cases, none at all.”

The McKinsey guy, and company co-founder, is Leigh Jasper:

“Many of the clients I was working with were looking at how the web could help their business, and I saw that the Internet could give us a platform for connecting people with similar challenges to Rob’s. The more we talked to people about it, the more sense it made. Here was an industry that had embraced all sorts of technology, but its management of information was like carrying a bucket of bricks up a ladder”.

Aconex grew out of the simple idea that project information and processes could be managed better online, and it’s now the most widely-used collaboration platform in the world for construction and engineering projects.

“A couple of things that we felt strongly about at the start have become articles of faith for us by now”, says Jasper. “One that really sets us apart is our commitment to neutrality in managing client information. On Aconex, no other organization can see your data, unless you allow them. It doesn’t matter if they’re the largest construction firm in the country and you’re a five-person design firm. Your information is yours and yours alone. That’s important because it gives all participants confidence in the system, more people use it, and more data is captured. That helps everyone run a better project, with reduced risk.”

Before long, Aconex clients started to use the platform on overseas projects, across all regions, helping the company to become one of the most global SaaS businesses in the world. Today, Aconex operates from almost 40 offices in North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Rob Phillpot again:

“Something else that we felt strongly about from the start was customer service. Not just that it’s important – no one would disagree with that. But that a unique customer service model could drive adoption of the Aconex platform and growth of the business. That’s why we offer unlimited training and support to all users – not just those in the organizations that pay, but every consultant, every subcontractor. It makes for satisfied users, who recommend Aconex on their next project and the one after that.”

Today, Aconex is where project information and processes are managed. Our experience in working with thousands of clients has made us the leading provider of online collaboration for commercial and residential, government and infrastructure, and energy and resources projects of all sizes.

The business has been through a number of successful capital raisings, most recently with a 2008 investment by leading private equity firm Francisco Partners.

Read more about the platform, how it helps deliver projects, and what makes us different.