The hidden cost of innovation in digital construction

Innovation is sold as a quick win in digital construction - but the real cost sits in testing, training and sustained support, long before a tool goes live, and long after the rollout email lands. Donatella Fiorella, Digital Construction Manager at Skanska, explains.

Donatella Fiorella, Digital Construction Manager, Skanska

All images © Skanska
Cover: Details of the Mindenhurst village project, Surrey, completed for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation

1: Skanska had to overcome complex technical challenges at the Clifton Bridge project for Network Rail, due for completion in 2026

Innovation is one of the most praised ideas in digital construction. Tools and new workflows are routinely positioned as the route to better project delivery. But there is a gap between the excitement and the reality on site and in project teams. The uncomfortable truth is simple: innovation does not begin when a tool is deployed. It begins months earlier, during the work of testing, planning, and preparing people for change.

When organisations underestimate that investment, the outcome is predictable. Adoption slows. Users become frustrated. Confidence in the tools intended to drive progress erodes. If the sector wants digital change that sticks, it needs to get honest about what innovation really costs.

The enthusiasm-reality gap

The industry broadly agrees that digital innovation matters for efficiency, productivity, and long-term competitiveness. Yet many teams still treat innovation as a quick fix: buy a licence, add a tool, and assume processes will improve. In practice, every new tool introduces friction before it delivers value.

A rollout can disrupt routines, take time for teams to learn new behaviours, create a temporary drop in productivity, and increase support demand, while carrying the risk that the tool may not meet expectations. Too often, organisations focus on the upside but overlook the short and medium term costs of adoption. Those costs determine whether a tool becomes embedded or quietly abandoned.

The testing phase: innovation’s first hidden cost

A robust innovation process starts with structured testing. It is the first real investment, and it is frequently underestimated.

Testing can span six months and typically requires dedicated testers, engagement with external consultants where needed, experimentation with workflows and integrations, assessment of configuration needs, and documentation of findings. That is real time and resource before a single project benefits from the tool. There is also a possibility that is not discussed enough: testing may reveal the tool does not deliver the expected value. Reaching that conclusion still has a cost, and it is rarely budgeted for. This is why testing matters: it is an investment in making an informed decision based on evidence, not hype.

Implementation: where many rollouts fail

Once a tool is approved by senior management, the real work begins. Successful rollout is not about switching on access. It requires a strategy that matches the scale of the project, the user types involved, and the reality of delivery environments.

Core components include a structured training programme, clear user guides, a communication and onboarding plan, trained champions on each project, responsive technical support, and accountability for maintaining adoption momentum.

Many organisations fall short. They deploy quickly and assume teams will “pick it up as they go”. If users feel confused, unsupported, or forced into a tool without preparation, the tool becomes associated with friction, and rebuilding confidence is hard.

The human factor: the largest hidden expense

Most digital adoption challenges are not technological. They are behavioural. People need support to change routines and build competence. When training is inconsistent or delivered too late, users struggle. When support is insufficient, frustration grows.

These impacts carry cost, particularly in the first six to nine months after deployment, when mistakes, slow adoption, and recurring support needs are most likely. It is a predictable learning curve, and one that too many organisations fail to plan for.

2: Details from Skanska’s YY London, 30 South Colonnade project in Canary Wharf, London

Case study: deploying Autodesk Construction Cloud across 30 projects in 12 months

A practical example shows what this looks like at scale. Drawing on a large rollout I worked on before joining Skanska, Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) was deployed across 30 projects over a 12-month period at major UK contractor ISG, reaching around 850 users including subcontractors.

The internal digital implementation team consisted of two dedicated people. There were nine digital specialists working across the 30 projects. Project champions were not trained before rollout. Training materials were developed reactively rather than proactively.

Users highlighted insufficient knowledge of the software, limited guidance before being expected to use it, and inadequate support for the volume of users. In some cases, frustration led users to stop using the tool entirely.

Innovation succeeds only when people are supported through that learning curve. If the rollout strategy is built around technology rather than users, the organisation pays twice: once for the tool, and again in lost time, rework, and damaged trust.

Actions taken to improve user feedback scores by 20% focused on fundamentals: producing more user manuals, offering drop-in training sessions every two weeks, increasing dedicated technical support, and capturing lessons learnt and best practices for future implementations.

The message is not that digital platforms “don’t work”. The message is that the adoption environment determines the outcome. Without investment in preparation, training, and sustained support, deployment turns into disruption, and users conclude the tool is the problem.

What “full-cost” innovation looks like

For organisations serious about digital progress, the takeaway is practical. Success requires thorough testing that includes end users, rollout strategies aligned to project scale and user types, accessible training, champions in place before rollout, and responsive technical support. Technology alone does not create improvement. The investment in people, process, and support determines whether innovation delivers value or becomes an obstacle.

Find out more at www.skanska.co.uk

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