DXC Technology will take over the management of Skanska’s IT infrastructure as part of a newly announced services deal. 

The agreement comes against the backdrop of major technology shifts in the construction sector, where Skanska is among the largest multinational players. Martin Björk, the managing director of DXC Technology Sweden, gave Boardroom Insight an overview of those shifts.

Stockholm-based Skanska is one of Europe’s largest construction and engineering companies. Building sites with temporary fencing bearing the company’s logo abound in major cities worldwide. Its project repertoire includes high-profile developments such as the Øresund Bridge that spans the strait between Denmark and Sweden. The size and elaborate design of the bridge, which ends at the entrance of an underwater tunnel, earned it a title role in a Scandinavian TV series. 

Under the newly announced services deal, DXC will assume responsibility for maintaining Skanska’s IT infrastructure. Employees and services currently involved in running the construction giant’s technology systems will move to DXC. Such arrangements are not unusual in the IT sector: other major consultancies such as Accenture also hire corporate clients’ IT teams as part of some services deals. There are different ways to go about structuring such an agreement. In some cases, the consultancy and its corporate client set up a joint venture that hires the latter company’s IT professionals. In other deals, those staffers only join the consultancy or its joint venture on a temporary basis and return to their previous roles after a set number of years. 

DXC’s deal with Skanska has multiple components. First, DXC will manage the construction giant’s Azure environment and on-premises data centers. Second, it will take over the day-to-day maintenance of Skanska’s internal network. DXC added that it will also lead “solution architecture, automation and service optimization” initiatives. 

In addition to improving operational efficiency, the companies said that their partnership is designed to enhance Skanska’s cybersecurity. Keeping up with the fast-shifting cybersecurity landscape can be challenging even for well-resourced large enterprises, which is why many if not most are looping consultancies into their network protection efforts. This trend is reflected in the fast growth of the leading pure-play managed security providers: Arctic Wolf, one of the biggest names in this market, expanded its customer base from about 5,200 companies to over 7,000 last year.  

“DXC Technology is helping construction companies like SKANSKA in their digital transformation journeys,” DXC’s Björk told Boardroom Insight. “It provides end-to-end digital solutions, accelerating innovation and modernizing IT infrastructure.”

The DXC-Skanska agreement ties into a broader trend in the construction sector: market players are investing heavily in digital transformation programs to improve their core business metrics. DXC’s Martin Björk explained that the trend is driven partly by a concept known as building information modeling, or BIM. It’s an approach to representing building data that has gained significant traction over the past two decades. 

Historically, construction companies stored project information in two-dimensional blueprints. A BIM file combines blueprints with a wealth of related data. It can hold technical information about building subsystems such as elevators, the cost of those subsystems and other details. Some companies add in property measurements taken with lidar sensors, a technology also used by autonomous vehicles to navigate the road.  

One benefit of BIM software is that it helps streamline data management during construction projects. The technology enables subcontractors, architects and other stakeholders to keep key information in one place. After construction is complete, facility managers can use the information in BIM files to support day-to-day property maintenance. 

“The BIM market is growing rapidly, driven by regulatory mandates, sustainability and advances in technology,” Björk said. He explained that BIM adoption is part of a broader effort on construction companies’ part to shift from manual processes to digital ones. The goal is to enhance worker safety, operational efficiency and profitability.

Alongside BIM software, the so-called Internet of Things is another component of the sector’s digital transformation push. “Drones are redefining site inspections while robotics provide opportunities to automate repetitive tasks such as bricklaying, large-scale 3D printing and concrete pouring,” Björk detailed. 

In addition to automating certain manual tasks, new technology is streamlining activities that continue to be carried out by humans. Augmented reality has a particularly important role in this trend. Augmented reality headsets and mobile apps can enhance “project visualization by overlaying 3D models onto real-world sites, allowing architects and engineers to detect design issues early and reduce costly revisions,” Björk said. “It also improves on-site guidance by providing real-time, hands-free instructions through AR headsets or mobile apps, boosting efficiency and worker safety.”

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