Case Study: Trimble achieves rapid 3D model conversion and major cost savings with Amazon Web Services

Trimble - Customer Case Study

Trimble, a global provider of advanced positioning and mobile solutions, acquired SketchUp and its 3D Warehouse in 2012 and faced the challenge of moving the site and more than 2.5 million 3D models into its environment. The team needed scalable compute and storage, predictable performance under a heavy workload, and a way to convert models to a compatible format without knowing upfront how much capacity would be required.

Trimble migrated the 3D Warehouse to AWS, using Amazon EC2 (with optimized instance types and Elastic Load Balancing), Amazon S3 for storage, CloudFront for global delivery, and Spot and Reserved Instances for cost-effective rendering and steady-state capacity. The move reduced CPU load dramatically, converted all 2.5 million models in under a month using about 200 Spot Instances, cut storage costs by roughly $20,000/month, enabled continuous deployment with no release downtime, and delivered the scalability and flexibility Trimble needed.

Trimble

Clay Parker

Systems Engineering Manager