Do you have reliable data?
Not long ago, maintenance and engineering managers heard that question in just a handful of conversations. Some reliable data was nice to have when making decisions on renovations, upgrades or equipment purchases. But if the answer was no, building owners made decisions based largely on experience and instinct.
No more.
Few such decisions now happen without first asking if data is available, as well as how much of it, how to access it and — most importantly — whether it is clean.
Clean data has become the standard in facilities. Not some data, and not mostly reliable data. Clean data and lots of it.
As a result, a CMMS no longer just helps technicians manage work orders more effectively, and building automation systems go far beyond facility operations and occupant comfort. Both have become invaluable sources of critical data that organizations demand to feed the latest technology affecting facilities — artificial intelligence (AI).
Here’s the challenge for managers: AI can only deliver its potential benefits if managers provide large amounts of accurate facility data. Without clean data, AI will deliver on the age-old warning about computing systems — garbage in, garbage out.
Cleaning up facilities data is rising fast as a priority for managers. Many managers know their data isn’t clean, so the issue they face is deciding how to clean it up in a way that is structured, manageable and delivers measurable results.
Managers understandably have concerns about the rise of AI, but the technology is here to stay, and owners have fully embraced its benefits. Savvy managers will figure out the best way to deliver clean, reliable data by taking out the garbage.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
