Turning 15 years of project data into one governed archive
A global construction and engineering firm unified years of project records across 10 business units, making every record provable, findable and audit-ready, wherever it came from, while reducing storage costs and creating a trusted foundation for AI.
A data estate built up over decades
Over 15 years, project records had accumulated across SharePoint, cloud archives, file shares and business applications. Administrative files defaulted to SharePoint; legacy engineering data stayed on file shares. With 10 business units operating at 80% decentralization, there was no standard for when data should move or where it should go.
Three problems compounding over time
Storage growth impacting SharePoint adoption
Unchecked data growth and the retaining of long-term content was impacting the widespread adoption of SharePoint, undermining the business case for using it as a collaboration platform.
No single view of a project's records
Data split across SharePoint, cloud storage, file shares, and other systems meant users had to individually query multiple systems. There was no way to find, and be able to use records, related to a project in one search.
No lifecycle triggers across 10 business units
Shadow IT and decentralized working meant long-term data simply accumulated. No defined event, such as project closure, triggered archival transfers.
Preservica as one governed archive for all long-term project records
Dramatic cost reduction at petabyte scale
Preservica delivers significant savings at scale. Long-term data held in cloud storage was moved quickly to Preservica, eliminating duplicate copies held in SharePoint, cloud storage and system backups, with every record integrity checked and unchanged since approval.
One search across active, archived, and legacy content
Preservica enables teams to surface all records from SharePoint, storage and migrated legacy systems in a single query. Security and governance controls enforce how each business unit accesses information.
Centralized governance, decentralized operations
Policy-based triggers configured around project closure and other lifecycle events can automate data movement for each of the 10 units, keeping retention and legal hold on the record. Each business retains autonomy; central guardrails apply consistently.
Historical data made AI-queryable
With records searchable and preserved in formats kept usable for decades, the firm is building AI integration to query past projects by geography, specs and precedents, using Preservica's open API capabilities.
Measurable outcomes across cost, access and governance
Key Takeaways
Single query
Replaces multi-system search across SharePoint, cloud storage and backups
10 Business units
Governed under one lifecycle framework, retaining operational autonomy
AI-ready
Historical project data structured and accessible for LLM integration