Royal HaskoningDHV
Box revolutionized the global engineering firm’s collaboration with clients—and sharpened its competitive edge
A flexible, evolving solution
Royal HaskoningDHV is a major global player in the engineering, construction and project management field. With over 7,000 employees and projects that span 35+ countries, project collaboration—both internally and with business and government partners—is essential.
In their Netherlands headquarters, Royal HaskoningDHV initially worked with on-premise servers to store and manage their files. When business expanded and globalized, they tried to move to the cloud. Royal HaskoningDHV piloted other cloud solutions, but they quickly found them far too rigid and expensive.
Both IT and management at Royal HaskoningDHV agreed that their firm needed enterprise-level features like permission controls and security, along with collaborative features. They also needed a flexible solution that could evolve with the needs of both colossal, one-of-a-kind projects and short-term projects. Box met their needs in every area.
Enabling instant access and mobility
Initially, Box was implemented as a suitable solution for a New Orleans project in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Box enabled Royal HaskoningDHV to give clients secure access to both active projects and archived files round-the-clock, speeding up work in an urgent situation.
Box also boosted collaboration and improved productivity. Because Box supports AutoCAD (including xRefs), the team at Royal HaskoningDHV can draft in one part of the world, review in another and complete approval and publishing to the client in a third location.
Box has also been the perfect tool for Royal HaskoningDHV’s mobile workforce, allowing them to work in a local desktop environment while the sync technology automatically syncs their files to the cloud.
“Box has gone way beyond where we thought it would,” says Roland Daane, Corporate Information Manager at Royal HaskoningDHV. “It has opened up possibilities and business opportunities that we were not anticipating.”
A respected collaboration tool
Royal HaskoningDHV has also received positive feedback from clients, proving they found the right solution that matched their cutting-edge needs. Box has not only made it easier to collaborate with clients, but it also shows Royal HaskoningDHV is the type of company that utilizes innovative technology that lets their employees and clients work the way they want to work.
“Box gives us a competitive edge,” says Daane. “We’re hearing that our clients respect us more because we understand collaboration. Whereas our competitors who use other platforms require their clients to work in a very specific way.”
Reducing overhead and beyond
With Box, Royal HaskoningDHV was able to transition away from internal servers, resulting in significant savings—hundreds of thousands of dollars. More importantly, operating in the cloud enables flexible and swift collaboration, which meets clients’ needs and wishes.
So what began as a single project with Box has now exploded to viral use throughout the company. And Royal HaskoningDHV knows they've only just begun to explore what Box can do.
“Box doesn’t just come up with solutions,” Daane says. “They ask us to let them know what tools we need.”