Remote Data

A BEP does not live in isolation. The project it governs produces data across many tools: model coordination platforms, document systems, ERPs, custom software. Remote data is how you connect those sources to your BEP and bring that information into dotBEP directly.

Once connected, remote data serves two purposes: it can be visualized inside the platform through lenses, and it becomes available to your AI during any session, enabling richer reports and more informed answers without you having to copy and paste anything manually.

Defining a remote data source

You define remote data sources by telling your AI what external information you want to connect and where it comes from. The AI will add the source to the BEP and, once the runtime is in place, it will be fetched and kept current.

Add a remote data source to the BEP called "Open Clashes" that connects to our ACC project and returns the current list of open clashes.

Add a remote data source called "Model Status" that pulls the current status of each discipline model from our coordination platform.

Add a remote data source called "Budget Overview" that connects to our ERP and returns the current budget figures by phase.

Add a remote data source called "Deliverable Log" that reads from a Google Drive folder and returns the list of files submitted this month.

Any system that exposes data through an API or a structured format can be connected: Autodesk Construction Cloud, Google Drive, any ERP, your own application, or any custom endpoint your team maintains.

Visualizing data with lenses

Each remote data source can be assigned a lens: a visual component that renders the data inside your BEP in the platform. dotBEP includes a set of built-in lenses that cover the most common cases:

You assign a lens when defining the remote data source, or at any point afterwards:

Assign the table lens to the "Open Clashes" remote data source.

Assign the stat cards lens to the "Budget Overview" source to show total budget, spent, and remaining as key figures.

If the built-in lenses do not match your data or you need a visualization specific to your project, you can build a custom lens using the dotBEP runtime template. Custom lenses follow the same structure as built-in ones and appear alongside them in the platform once deployed.

Using remote data with your AI

Beyond visualization, remote data sources are available to your AI during any session. This means you can ask questions about the current state of your project without leaving the conversation, and the AI can include that data in reports automatically.

What does the current clash data say? How many open clashes are there and which disciplines are involved?

Based on the budget data, are we on track for the current phase?

Generate a weekly status report combining the active workflow instances with the current state of all remote data sources.

The AI reads the data at the time of the request. Like reports, the answers reflect a snapshot of that moment.

Workflows that write back

Remote data reaches its full potential when the workflows in your BEP do not just read external systems but also update them. When an automation in a workflow writes a result back to ACC, updates a record in your ERP, or logs an entry in your own application, that change is reflected the next time the remote data source is fetched.

This creates a closed loop: the BEP drives the work through workflows, and remote data brings the results back into the platform. You can see the state of your external tools evolve in real time as workflow instances advance, without leaving dotBEP.

Use automations for this, not effects. Automations wait for the operation to complete and can route the workflow based on the result. Effects are fire-and-forget and do not provide confirmation that the update succeeded.

The runtime connection

Remote data sources are defined in the BEP, but fetching the actual data requires a resolver implemented in the runtime. The resolver is the code that knows how to authenticate with the external system and return the data in the expected format.

If your team has a developer, the dotBEP runtime template provides everything needed to implement resolvers alongside effects, automations, and triggers. If you need help getting your data sources connected, reach out to the dotBEP team at juan@dotbep.com.