Control baby, be the master of your universe!
It’s easier than you might think. You need an Operations network. A network designed for the needs of facilities. In other words, the OT network of tomorrow.
Access is creativity on steroids – you can do so much more!
The idea of one giant network to meet the needs of an entire company came about because broadband connections were very expensive. It worked because companies were doing email, hosting a website and maybe doing ecommerce. Access is creativity on steroids and it has launched a million ways to run facilities (and every other aspect of business) more efficiently. All of a sudden you can have your trash compactors send out a message when they are full and have just in time garbage pick-up. You can get an alert telling you your generators have kicked in due to an overnight power outage or your solar is down. You can put your lights on a schedule to eliminate paying for lights when the store is closed. Now companies are getting serious about analytics and telemetry. To do this right, you will need to collect data not for one vendor or system but for all vendors and systems.
The corporate network has not been able to keep up with the needs of OT and facilities.
In many cases, the corporate network has not been able to keep up with the needs of OT and facilities. In fact the situation is getting worse not better. We are in a cycle of big technological advancements and it is going to continue. First, many companies and organizations are under enormous pressure to cut costs because of current economic conditions and unfortunately this situation is going to take time to dig out of so the pressure is going to continue. Second, all businesses are under pressure to reduce their carbon foot print. You need infrastructure to take advantages of those technological advancements.
To go further and to continue to do more with less, you are going to need technology.
I see every day how hard OT professionals work and the intense pressure you are under. I know you are stretched to the limit. I also know you have wrung every possible penny of savings out of the system. To go further and to continue to do more with less, you are going to need technology and you are going to need to control that technology instead of being held hostage by it.
Have you had enough yet?
You might be thinking “yes, Sam, I am working my butt off but being held hostage – that’s a bit extreme…” Actually, it’s not. Each time you can’t get access to a device you need access to, each time you can’t use an EMS software effectively because you don’t have the bandwidth or the server capacity you need, each time you make a decision about a vendor based on which vendor is on the network instead of for business reasons, each time you delay a project waiting on IT, each time you pay for a report on your own equipment or go without data you are being held hostage by your network or lack thereof and its adding up fiscally and mentally.
Facilities doesn’t have an IT budget
You might be thinking “yeah I know Sam, but how am I going to pay for it?” I suggest you start keeping a list of all these problems so you can start to have an idea of what it is costing you. If you wanted to share that list with me confidentially, I would love it AND it would make this blog better. Think about it 😊 It is less expensive than you think. It will absolutely pay for itself.
Building a network is more achievable and cost effective than you think.
I will be writing blogs on how to build an OT network but if you don’t want to wait hit reply, I am happy to answer questions.
- Why build a network? Control baby, be the master of your universe!
- OT Professionals are under intense pressure to cut cost and reduce their carbon foot print.
- To save more, you will need technology and to control your technology.
- Lack of a network or infrastructure under your control is adding up fiscally and mentally.