Architecture & Engineering in the Nordics: Key Findings from the Deltek Clarity Report

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For more than 40 years, the Deltek Clarity report has explored key trends and benchmarks in architecture and engineering (A&E) throughout the United States and Canada. This year, the report has spread its wings and taken a look at the industry across a range of geographies – one of which is the Nordics.

We surveyed 150 A&E professionals across Norway, Sweden and Denmark, to better understand the challenges they face, the technologies that are most important to their businesses, and how they perform on industry key performance indicators (KPIs). We then compared these results to those from a wider EMEA group.

Here are some of the key findings from the report.

Digital impact: a technologically diverse region

As one of the most technologically advanced areas in Europe, the Nordics is an interesting region in which to explore emerging tech trends in the A&E industry.

Our report revealed that 89% of respondents in this region have a clear understanding of their organisation’s digital transformation strategy. And Swedish firms were shown to have the highest understanding of technology trends out of all participating countries. Conversely, Norwegian respondents placed themselves last in this regard, and Danish respondents sat pretty much exactly in the middle, resulting in an interesting spread across the region.

With digitalisation in the forefront of their minds, the respondents identified Internet of Things (IoT), geolocation and big data  as the most important emerging technologies to their business.

The digital operating model: growth hinges on relationships

Our survey asked respondents about their top business development challenges in A&E.

In the Nordics, finding time to nurture client relationships was named as the biggest challenge, with 40% of Norwegian respondents and 26% in both Denmark and Sweden citing this as their primary obstacle to success.

When we looked at project management challenges specifically, collaboration and communication were mentioned as the biggest obstacles to overcome.

In fact, collaboration presented itself as a major theme throughout the survey – although not for every country in the region. Norwegian respondents indicated their firms have already made significant progress in this regard, positioning themselves as the most collaborative of all the firms surveyed.

Replacing manual processes: there’s still work to be done

The survey asked respondents about manual processes and spreadsheets, and in what parts of the business they were used most frequently. Nordic firms report still using a high degree of manual processes, with 80% of respondents using manual data entry in HR, 85% in sales and 83% in accounting and finance.

However, Norway differs from the Nordic average here, with only 74% of respondents saying they use manual processes for HR and only 78% for accounting and finance.

Benchmarking and KPIs: collaboration is key to meeting KPIs

Nordic firms and their peers across EMEA cite strong project monitoring, ample collaboration with suppliers, and cross-functional collaboration as the top three factors for success in meeting KPIs. 

And they do see their fair share of success. A full 56% of Nordic respondents say that up to 75% of projects come in on or ahead of budget. And in Sweden, 44% say up to 90% of projects come in under budget.

However, not all countries are equally matched in this area. As many as 12% of Norwegian respondents reported that less than half of their projects are completed on or under budget, while 34% of Danish respondents say up to 90% of projects come in on or under budget.

The results are different when it comes to the number of projects delivered to schedule. Danish respondents were consistent here, with 46% saying up to 75% of projects come in on or ahead of schedule. Swedish respondents however top the region, and eclipse EMEA peers with 16% of respondents reporting between 91% and 100% of projects as on or ahead of schedule. 

Explore the full survey results

These are just some of the findings from our extensive survey.

Read the full report to find out:

• How firms rate themselves on the  digital maturity spectrum
• What initiatives firms are pursuing to improve their digital maturity
• The main challenges project managers and finance leaders face – and what they’re doing to tackle them
• How firms in the Nordics measure project success
• How firms in your region are performing in comparison to their peers

To explore these insights and learn more about how your peers are navigating the challenges of modern A&E, download the Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Report for the Nordics.

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