The way we work today has changed. The workforce is becoming mobile and companies rent temporary space depending on needs.
At the same time, facilities management professionals have a number of mandates, says Nancy Berce, chief information officer at Johnson Controls. They need to control costs while still delivering personalized experiences. They need to regulate access so only authorized personnel can enter key areas of buildings. They need to conform to wider regulations imposed by the pressing concerns of climate change.
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The Internet of Things (IoT) helps deliver such efficiencies by helping facilities management professionals harvest and analyze big data — smarter and at scale.
The parallel evolution of big data and IoT
Facilities management professionals have monitored heating and cooling systems and fire and security systems for decades. But IoT has delivered a fundamental shift in how that monitoring occurs. IoT-embedded devices can relay health of the equipment in real time and the big data from such equipment help professionals manage facilities on a much more granular level.
No more blindly replacing all the light bulbs every six months. A digital-enabled platform can alert professionals to systems that are in danger of failing so the appropriate actions kick into action only as and when needed — with minimum cost to the facility and minimum disruption to the worker. “We now have a level of intelligence and insight from smart algorithms where we can be proactive about preventative maintenance and predict efficiency opportunities a lot sooner,” Berce says.
How to leverage big data and IoT
Johnson Controls’ Bee’ah green building project, illustrates just how smart IoT-driven buildings can drive efficiencies at scale to deliver a nearly fully automated workplace of the future, with temperature and lighting controls just a few of the parameters that adjust depending on workforce distribution.
IoT increases the number of data sets that facilities can play with and allows them to pinpoint trouble before it brings down the entire system. How does one leverage the benefits of big data and IoT to deliver intelligence?
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First, connecting all the big data points together is key to see the larger picture, Berce says. Companies might already have the information they need for smarter operations, but they might be in silos. IoT data related to security, for example, can be connected to an active employee directory, to automate entry to more sensitive areas of buildings (think operating rooms in hospitals). Companies can even marry IoT systems with external weather data to manage their cooling systems.
Second, understand the insights you are looking for and use IoT accordingly, Berce says.
Third, retrofit legacy systems with IoT devices as needed.
Finally, make the data analysis easy to visualize, advises Berce. A digital platform where professionals can easily detect anomalies makes it better to find the needle in the haystack and act on the intelligence that big data and IoT are delivering.
IoT and big data allow professionals to do all things at once — to both zoom in and zoom out as needed. Such flexibility allows facilities management to meet the growing demands for efficiency while customizing personalized experiences for each and every worker.
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