The Short Version First
On March 24, 2026, Autodesk closed a circle: Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) was renamed Autodesk Forma, and all of Autodesk's construction cloud products moved under one brand. The most significant change for anyone managing project files: Autodesk Docs, the document management platform, is now called Forma Data Management.
This article focuses on exactly that part - the Data Management module: where project files live, how versions, approval rounds, transmittals and issue tracking work, and how all of it talks to Revit.
And the most important thing to say up front: this is a rename, not a replacement. Projects, files, permissions, URLs and licenses stayed exactly where they were. If you worked in ACC yesterday, you are working in Forma today, just with a different logo in the corner.
Wait, isn't Forma the site planning tool?
Correct, and that is exactly the source of the confusion. In 2023 Autodesk launched a product called Forma - a cloud tool for early-stage site and massing studies, the successor of Spacemaker. That tool is alive and well, and it is now called Forma Site Design. The name "Forma" on its own now belongs to the whole platform - Autodesk's industry cloud for architecture, engineering, construction and operations (AECO). So when someone at the office says "upload it to Forma", they almost certainly mean the thing you have been calling ACC or Docs.
How We Got Here: From Buzzsaw Through BIM 360 to ACC
Autodesk's cloud story spans more than two decades, and every generation tried to solve the same problem: project information should live in one shared place, not on someone's local drive.
Buzzsaw (early 2000s) - a web service for sharing construction documents between project teams. Ahead of its time, long retired, but the idea stuck.
BIM 360 (2012-2021) - Autodesk acquired startups and assembled a product family: BIM 360 Glue for model coordination, BIM 360 Field for site management, and in 2015 BIM 360 Docs for document management, alongside Collaboration for Revit (C4R) for cloud worksharing. In 2018 everything was rebuilt as one connected platform - a true common data environment (CDE) with one project, unified users and unified permissions.
Autodesk Construction Cloud (2021-2026) - after more acquisitions (PlanGrid, BuildingConnected, Assemble) the portfolio relaunched as ACC, with Autodesk Docs for documents, Autodesk Build for field management, Autodesk Takeoff for quantities and BIM Collaborate Pro for Revit collaboration. New BIM 360 subscriptions ended in early 2023.
Meanwhile, September 2022 - Autodesk announced three "industry clouds": Forma for the built environment, Fusion for manufacturing and Flow for media. The March 2026 announcement is really the completion of that move: ACC officially joined the Forma cloud and took its name.
What Changed in the Names (and What Did Not Change at All)
| Old name | New name |
|---|---|
| Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) | Autodesk Forma |
| Autodesk Docs | Forma Data Management |
| BIM Collaborate Pro | Forma Design Collaboration |
| Autodesk Build | Forma Build |
| Autodesk Takeoff | Forma Takeoff |
| Account Admin | Hub Admin |
| ACC mobile app | Forma |
| Forma (the site planning tool) | Forma Site Design |
And what did not change, according to Autodesk and field reports:
- Your data - all projects, files and history stay as they are, with no migration
- Sign-in - same URLs, same Autodesk account, same login flow
- Integrations - API endpoints did not change, so add-ins and scripts keep working
- Licenses - existing ACC subscriptions rolled automatically into the Forma-branded equivalents, with no change in price or seat counts
A Tour of Data Management: Six Modules
Open Forma, pick Data Management in the top menu, and six modules are waiting in the sidebar. These are exactly the six tools that turn the platform from "another cloud folder" into a real common data environment.
Files - the foundation of everything
This is the heart: a folder tree per project holding the drawings, models and documents.
- Folder-level permissions - for every folder you decide who can view, download, mark up or upload, by user, role or company. The consultant sees what is relevant to them, and the client sees only what was approved for viewing
- Automatic versioning - every upload of a file with the same name creates a new version. You can always compare with or roll back to an earlier version, and nobody overwrites anyone's work
- Viewing in the browser - dozens of formats open directly in the browser, including RVT, DWG, IFC, PDF and point clouds, with nothing to install
- Markups - add comments on sheets and models right in the browser, and the markups stay linked to the version
Specifications - the spec book in one place
Upload the specification book as a PDF and the system automatically splits it into sections. When a new edition arrives, upload it again and the team always works against the current version of each section - instead of digging through an 800-page file.
Reviews - approval rounds without email
Instead of "please find attached for your approval", you build a structured approval workflow: pick files, define steps and approvers (one step or several), and every file gets a status - approved, approved with comments or rejected. Everything is recorded: who approved, when and what they wrote. When someone asks "who approved this version?", the answer is one click away.
Transmittals - a formal record of what was issued
A transmittal is the formal way to issue a document set: choose files at specific versions, recipients (including people who are not project members) and a cover message. Recipients get an email with access to the files, and the system keeps a permanent record: what was sent, to whom, when and at which version. The day a dispute shows up, this record is what saves you.
Issues - tracking problems where the drawings live
Open an issue directly on a sheet, model or location: what the problem is, who owns it, by when, with photos and a status. Issues do not live in a separate Excel file - they are pinned to the exact spot in the drawing, and through Autodesk's add-ins you can see and close them straight from Revit or Navisworks.
Boards - the newest of the bunch
Forma Board launched together with the rebrand in March 2026: a collaborative visual workspace, Miro-style but BIM-connected. Put live Revit sheets and design options on a board, mark up and comment in threads that stay anchored to the design, work with multiple users in real time, and even generate AI renderings from sketches. It is aimed mainly at design reviews in early phases, and it is available to everyone with Data Management access - including Revit and AEC Collection subscribers.
How All of This Talks to Revit
For Revit users this is the part that matters, and the connection works on several layers:
- Desktop Connector - a free add-in that maps your Forma projects like a regular drive in Windows Explorer. Save a DWG or link a reference file and it syncs to the cloud automatically
- Cloud Worksharing - with a Forma Design Collaboration license (formerly BIM Collaborate Pro), the Revit central model lives in the cloud and several firms work on it together, each from their own office, with a regular Sync
- Publishing sheets - from the cloud model you publish sheets and views straight into Files, and anyone with a browser sees the current set - no Revit license, no model to open
- Issues inside Revit - issues opened in the cloud show up inside Revit through the dedicated add-in, so modelers handle them without leaving the model
What Do You Get Free with Revit? Essentials vs. the Full Version
More 2026 news: every standalone subscription of Revit, AutoCAD or Civil 3D now includes Forma Data Management Essentials at no extra cost. So what is the difference?
Essentials (included with the subscription): folders and permissions, versioning, 2D and 3D viewing in the browser (including point clouds), markups and issues.
The full version (a Forma Data Management license, also included in the AEC Collection): everything above, plus Transmittals, Reviews workflows, Specifications management, custom naming standards and metadata, reporting and API access.
In other words: a small office that just needs an organized place for files with versions and markups is already covered by its Revit subscription. An office running formal approval processes with clients and consultants needs the full license.
Bottom Line
- Forma is the new name of ACC since March 2026 - same system, same data, one brand for Autodesk's entire cloud
- Forma Data Management is the successor of Autodesk Docs (and BIM 360 Docs before it) - the common data environment where project files live
- Six modules cover the document lifecycle: Files for storage and permissions, Specifications for spec books, Reviews for approvals, Transmittals for formal issuing, Issues for tracking and Boards for visual reviews
- Revit is connected at every layer - from Desktop Connector, through cloud worksharing, to publishing sheets and handling issues inside the model
- And if you have a Revit subscription, Essentials is already included - sign in at the same address you used for ACC and look around; it is called Forma now