CAFM & IT
To manage any service effectively, or to develop any thinking that may improve that service, requires qualitative management information (MI) that is broad in its coverage and deep in its detail. MI is a prerequisite for any organisation to move from an “unconsciously incompetent” state, through “competency” to being “unconsciously competent” this being the progression that demonstrates a growth in maturity, capability and effectiveness. If the data held within the CAFM is 20% inaccurate or incomplete, then the ability to deliver operational or strategic oversight of services is significantly impaired. The difference between driving in fog versus no fog.
CAFM is merely a tool to assist any organisation on that journey of improving maturity and capability, but it is crushingly naive to think that CAFM in itself is the answer to the need.
In the main, CAFM systems are deployed by a prime contractor. The contractor is relied upon to implement, setup and use the CAFM deployed in manner that furnishes the required MI for the user. All too often the prime contractor fails to do this effectively resulting in a complex and expensive system with little worth to the client for which CAFM was deployed to support. More emphasis is paid to the provision of pretty graphical pictures produced by complex and expensive portals than in assuring the quality and accuracy of the data that feed those pretty pictures. Worthless!
Not only does this outcome confuse or misrepresent reality, but it also imposes significant cost, usually borne by the client, to dissect, ‘scrub’ and reposition what little data exists into some resemblance of meaningful MI. Third-party consultants are engaged, or additional headcount deployed to provision specific reports which should be easily retrieved from the CAFM and to present them in a format usable for operational debates and strategic presentations. CAFM is a capability that, if not used properly, can be valueless and in some cases, because of these additional resources, cost more than operating a simple manual process.
What a ridiculous outcome given the purchase or licence cost and ongoing charges for the provision of a CAFM system.
“CAFM is merely a tool to assist
any organisation on that journey of improving maturity and capability.”
If we accept that the CAFM system is merely to automate and report on process, then the core effort needs to be focused developing those processes, and determining what data is to be, or can be collected from those processes.
Armed with that information the CAFM to select is the one that: has all the features and characteristics to deliver that process; is the simplest and easiest to configure and
www.tomorrowsfm.com
deploy; can hold and report on the data collected from the process; and is the least costly. There are many CAFM systems to choose from and the variation in price in considerable.
Where the CAFM is being deployed by a contractor it is important to realise that the standard method of configuration used by that contractor will be orientated to their internal processes and not necessarily those of the clients.
There is an important distinction here to note: When the contractor configures the CAFM system to reflect the specific requirements or expectations of the client, the configuration of the CAFM becomes unique, or at least varies from the contractor’s norm. On the other hand where the deployment of the CAFM is solely to enable the contractor’s standard processes to function, the configuration is subtly, but significantly different (albeit there will be some common threads).
It is also important to realise that the contractor’s configuration of the CAFM is an intrinsic aspect of their DNA, and the more you move away from a contractor’s DNA the more chance you have of the outcome being less than anticipated.
“The value of CAFM is not the
system itself but how it is configured and used.”
To compensate the contractor must be made accountable for the accuracy and brevity of the data being collected. That accountability must be measured and link to significant penalties for failure.
Given the significance of MI in the development and improvement of service, it should be strongly argued that accuracy and brevity of data in the CAFM is equally, or more important than the performance of the service itself. If that is accepted then the performance management systems deployed should feature a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that drives that importance home to the contractor.
It should also be a significant criteria in the selection of the chosen supplier. Not the fact that a CAFM is available, but the method, process and capability to configure that CAFM in a manner that supports the client’s needs or wants. Do not contract with any organisation that cannot demonstrate this ability.
Overall, therefore, the value of the CAFM is not the system itself but how it is configured and used. Focus on what it is to achieve and what data and MI will achieve success. Do not focus on pretty pictures or technically intriguing features. A CAFM merely automates a process and provides information relevant to that process or from that process nothing more. If the CAFM is to be supplied by a prime contractor, then make configuration to the required process a heavily weighted criteria of contractor selection.
Otherwise CAFM is simply a diabolical waste of money!
www.opale.co.uk
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