INSIGHTS
Productivity and cost optimization, risk management, compliance, business continuity and sustainability are key objectives of corporations worldwide. Anand Mecheri, CMO of Siemens Building Technologies, examines the consequences of convergence of physical systems with IT and among safety, security and building management systems.
Solutions for safety, security and energy efficiency today are still largely implemented and managed separately. Over time, these solutions are expected to converge and interact with other business systems to deliver a value that is far greater than the functions they individually deliver.
From Vision to Reality Turning Convergence Into Real Business Value
Date: 2011/05/05
Source: Submitted by Siemens Building Technologies
DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Disaster recovery strategies should encompass business continuity as much as sustainability. Disaster recovery demands ensuring integrity of configuration/master data and restoration of the defined functionality in the quickest possible time. When a site recovers from an incident, the security, fire and automation systems also need to be restored to ensure the operational parameters are restored to support operations. The systems also need to ensure that the site is not exposed to a greater risk than what existed before the incident, including risks to the sustainability processes and initiatives that were in place prior to the event.
CHALLENGES?
The industry must adapt to this environment. The opportunities to enhance customer benefits can only be achieved with the addition of required skill sets in the design and development of the solution which will now extend beyond its conventional realms. We need to gain a better understanding of the processes that we can now start influencing and building solutions that address them. We will also need to develop competencies for a consultative sales process. The IT skills required for system integration will also be higher. New services will need to be developed and productized.
VISION OF THE FUTURE
Some end customers are still relunctant to buy into “integrated and converged solutions,” due to the perceived higher costs; the value add is not fully understood. To provide complete control over all processes that affect business continuity, operational costs, productivity and sustainability, investment into building technologies must move from a cost center perspective to being a business enabler. We will continue to embrace and drive this change, including development of standards that takes convergence into account.