viewpoint FM meets IT
computing all of the IT systems and applications are held remotely. There is minimal data cabling and ideally all that is required is connection to wireless access points. With this system in place there are far
fewer cables, no server equipment and patching is no longer required. With IT provided this way the FM can deal with a lot more than they currently do and IT then becomes effectively a utility with the user ‘plugging in’ or connecting remotely when they arrive in the building and using the service on an as needed basis. The IT department could in effect end up having something more like a procurement role.
Network everything?
Gradually all of the electrically powered devices that we use in the workplace are becoming networked. Audio-visual equipment, CCTV, vending and digital signage are mostly on the network or soon will be. As such equipment is brought into the network it will tend to fall within the IT domain. An alternative however could be for the
facilities manager to have their own network, which could have the networked devices mentioned above
IT and FM are increasingly overlapping, whether it is CCTV being networked or move
management teams dealing with desktop PCs, both worlds are definitely coming together.
running through it and could also be linked in with the BMS and CAFM systems. Areas that are becoming increasingly important such as energy management could also be on this network with the FM able to collect data and monitor what is happening in the building in real time.
One service provider for both services?
Currently there are IT service providers and there are FM service providers with neither particularly encroaching on the other’s areas of expertise. One of the major FM companies has partially bridged the gap between IT and FM with a major PFI contract which covers both soft FM and part of the IT requirement including the AV as well as the structured cabling. Recently one of the UK’s biggest service
provider’s has through acquisition reached a point where it has divisions which could provide both IT and FM although as yet they are not offering a joint package of both IT and FM from a single source. “I have never understood why major
service organisations do not offer a combined IT and FM service,” says Ulf Muller of myfm. “The current changes in the public sector and the need to make
savings would suggest that merging these two functions would surely make sense?” Ulf continues with an example, “Primary Care Trusts are being disbanded and doctors are being allocated £60 billion to provide primary care. Suppose just one service provider could offer all of the IT and FM support, the doctor is able to concentrate on providing primary care services and one service company ensures that everything from telephony, through to databases, sharps removal and AC servicing for example is in place and functioning correctly.”
Integration
Head of infrastructure management at BGM, Jonathan Low, believes that information integration is the key. Low comments, “IT and FM are increasingly overlapping, whether it is CCTV being networked or move management teams dealing with desktop PCs, both worlds are definitely coming together.” Low also feels that, “each organisation has a complete picture of the people, workstations and IT assets. This forms the knowledge base that will help the organisation to make informed strategic decisions, but the IT and FM department’s need to both have ready access to this information.”
38 l Property Management Select l september 2010 l
www.pm-select.co.uk
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