How Intelligent Are Your Facilities?

By Brad Stevens

Shifting organizational priorities combined with the speed of technology innovation are setting a new standard for global IoT connectivity. Accelerated AI market adoption as well as advancements in autonomous agentic AI (from predictive and generative AI), intelligent Large Language Models (LLMs), hybrid cloud and edge computing, machine learning and the like are pushing C-suite leaders to expect more of their organization’s total technology stack. A simplified, smarter approach that addresses their immediate needs and aligns with organizational priorities is key.

For businesses with single- or multi-site campuses, the aggregation and centralization of disparate information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems and data now is a critical factor of organizational decision-making in smart facilities management.

As organizations continue to invest in their digital infrastructure leveraging the latest market technology in an expansive IoT market, they will need to assess which approach is best fit to help address their needs to deliver the intelligent facilities they desire.

Defining true IT and OT converged tech stack capabilities

All types of buildings and facilities are reliant on the digital infrastructure investments an organization makes to futureproof its business long term. As the state of IoT evolved, the overlap of available functions and end-user benefits across numerous software platforms—from integrated workplace management systems to traditional BMS/BAS applications to facility management software, and IoT platforms—became the norm. As such, organizations have greater expectations of their solution partners to help them sift through the market ‘noise’ and identify an approach that helps address their specific needs.

Support your digital infrastructure investments

One step to improved IT and facilities coordination in support of organizational digital infrastructure needs includes understanding technical platform capabilities and gaps.

Many BMS platforms today can connect smart devices and collect their data across such disciplines as access control, fire protection, HVAC, lighting, power, and security. However, limitations exist around their ability to manage building hardware that is passive or not automated, or lacks IoT sensors to collect and share operational data—a reality of many existing commercial buildings today.

A step beyond that, certain integrated facility management systems (IFMS) can better optimize building operations to monitor and predict maintenance issues before they cause downtime or increased costs. But not all have the robust IoT foundation required to centralize, analyze and act upon growing amounts of data—upwards of tens of thousands of zettabytes of data by 2050—as a result of more IoT sensors and connected devices. 

Finally, traditional IoT platforms evolved to the now industrial IoT platforms that enterprises demand to help them aggregate data from different systems, leverage advanced analytics capabilities, and optimize their full IoT technology stack to make smarter decisions that support their organization long term.

Today, the makeup of a true IoT platform essentially comes down to four to five key components of its technology stack capabilities: communication protocols, types of existing systems it can integrate, available APIs, and connectivity frameworks. Additionally, an IoT gateway is a key component to not only integrate disparate IT and OT systems, but also connect smart devices to the cloud, and collect, centralize, analyze and act on data generated across an organization’s digital infrastructure.

Enable the right foundation

Organizational priorities continue to shift to more tech-enabled business models. The simplification of the IT/OT landscape, remote connectivity and diagnostics that is secure, and data aggregation to prevent manual, siloed data pulls and inputs all contribute to their ability to drive advanced, actionable data and AI-powered decisions. An intelligent building brings all smart systems together using connected IoT devices that generate vast amounts of data.

A central intelligence manager with an IoT foundation creates the ideal framework to connect traditional IT and OT systems and applications. It consolidates into one view all building hardware, connected systems and applications to streamline multi-site facilities operations and easily identify all physical assets, collect data, and predict issues before they occur. This ultimately helps organizations make more informed, strategic business decisions—knowing they have the right interoperable digital infrastructure in place.

• Maintain or increase operational uptime
• Increase energy efficiency
• Optimize environmental health and safety
• Enhance fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) to reduce risks
• Reduce maintenance and cross-departmental costs

Conclusion

By streamlining and centralizing IT and OT operations, building owners, facilities managers and IT stakeholders can identify new operational patterns and trends based on normalized data that can best help them drive validated, predictive decisions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR