09 October 2018 | Karl Redmond
Karl Redmond, associate FM consultant at Rider Levett Bucknall UK, explains the importance of integrated data between client-side departments.
The lack of integrated data from digital and physical assets, as well as operational and business data, stems from poor connectivity between various client-side departments and their respective silos.
This is exacerbated by a misunderstanding of the property asset/facilities and how it meets and fits the business needs, usually as a result of transactional thinking and a 'command and control' approach from some industry professionals.
The technical competence and know-how is available to bring together all supporting business information systems and physical asset data sets to help meet clients' requirements.
I sometimes hear clients described as difficult, but I don't believe they deliberately set out to be. It's surely more about what drives behaviours. I have met clients living in fear, surrounded by uncertainty or drifting along in ignorant bliss, as well as those who are more assured and in control.
Anyone who feels they do not have access to relevant, accurate and up-to-date data to run their business better is bound to feel vulnerable.
Clients are becoming more certain about what it is they want and are no longer drifting along wondering what the 'art of the possible' could look like. Real estate, property and FM clients are now understanding and are piecing together data themselves.
I read a 2016 report from the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction stating that in the UK, "we add less than 0.5 per cent to the value of our existing asset base each year" so the greatest efficiency gains can be found in asset management by combining physical and digital systems to create truly smart infrastructure.
It is time for traditionalists to learn new skills. We know they're capable of doing so and we need them to so as not to lose the vital FM experience they possess.
Karl Redmond is associate facilities management consultant at Rider Levett Bucknall UK