Following our discussion of cloud technology in May, this month we are hosting two get togethers – a complimentary breakfast on the 6th June and evening drinks the night before. The focus of conversation will be:

How to save 40% of your energy costs
using your EXISTING systems

On the 6th June breakfast will be served in the private dining room in The Royal Exchange at 8.15 am, finishing by 9.45am. On the 5th, drinks and canapés will be served from 6pm until 7.45pm in the Steed Room at the South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, London EC2M 2AF. Places at both events will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We recommend attending one or the other, although if you’d like to attend both, please let us know. To join us and senior members of the UK FM and Property sector, please complete the following form:

[contact-form-7]
 

If you missed our previous breakfast event on 15th May, you can download the slideshow here. The topic of discussion was “How can you start using Cloud TODAY to transform FM, reduce costs and improve services?”

Upcoming events this summer

In case you can’t make it this time, we will be holding FM, IT and energy events throughout the summer. To keep in touch with regard to forthcoming events, please contact us here.

How to get to The Royal Exchange

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How to get to the South Place Hotel

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About our events

We use our events to share our experiences of FM technologies and to host an open forum on best practice, do’s and don’ts, how to avoid mistakes and how to leverage the available technology immediately with minimum cost and maximum results.

Did you know?

The people at Scaled Networks are experts in Facilities Management and IT. Our consultants deliver successful, timely and fit for purpose FM and energy solutions, saving large organisations time, resources and money. We have just supported IKEA with a global cloud implementation of IBM’s Maximo CAFM software.

South Place Hotel is a recently opened boutique hotel in the heart of the city. It was developed in partnership with Frogmore, designed by Allies & Morrison, with interiors by Conran + Partners. It’s uber-trendy: Trip advisor’s excellent reviews say it all!

Thank you to everyone who attended our breakfast event on 15th May, it was a very interesting discussion and we look forward to following up with some of you soon. If you missed the event and would like to download the slideshow, you can do so here.

How to save 40% of your energy costs
using your EXISTING systems

The topic for our next event is energy. We will meet in the private dining room in The Royal Exchange at 8.15 am and finish by 9.45am. Again, places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. To join us and senior members of the UK FM and Property sector for breakfast, please complete this form:

Upcoming events this summer

Future breakfast briefings are planned through the summer and will include topics such as:

• How do I guarantee stakeholder adoption when deploying an enterprise CAFM system?
• The pitfalls of training a diverse audience in multiple languages, and how to avoid them.

To reserve a provisional place at a future event, please contact us here.

 

How to get to The Royal Exchange


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About our events

We use our events to share our experiences of cloud technologies and to host an open forum on SaaS best practice, do’s and don’ts, how to avoid mistakes and how to leverage the available technology immediately with minimum cost and maximum results.

 

Did you know?

The people at Scaled Networks are experts in Facilities Management and IT. Our consultants deliver successful, timely and fit for purpose FM and energy solutions, saving large organisations time, resources and money. We have just supported IKEA with a global cloud implementation of IBM’s Maximo CAFM software.

The Royal Exchange was founded in 1565 as a commerce centre and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange because of their rude manners, and had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity!

 

]]> http://www.scalednetworks.com/upcoming-breakfast-events-in-2013/feed/ 0 http://www.scalednetworks.com/technology-the-facility-managers-best-ally/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=technology-the-facility-managers-best-ally http://www.scalednetworks.com/technology-the-facility-managers-best-ally/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 01:50:26 +0000 Pedro Garcia http://www.scalednetworks.com/?p=652 …
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]]> Read this post in Spanish

Personally, I believe that facility managers’ (FMs) adaptation to current and forthcoming technologies will determine the professional development of the sector. These technologies will enable us to be more efficient, optimise costs and give more for less. I am certain of this. And any FM not capable of understanding them and getting the most out of them on a daily basis is going to be left behind. And it’s not a question of making a one-time effort to bring oneself up to date – it requires an attitude of constant innovation. And innovation in FM doesn’t come from inventing and creating, but from maximising advantages to be implemented on a daily basis.

But when we talk about technology, what are we referring to? Well, if we had to categorise it clearly, I would wager on the usual: hardware and software. From a new cooling technology (hardware) to a new business intelligence software application (for reporting).

The credo of facility management is simple. To manage property assets and the services related to them in support of the company strategy; by making optimum use of the budget and maximising customer satisfaction. With all of it measured objectively. What differentiated facility managers in the past? Their ability to get the most out of suppliers. What do I believe will differentiate facility managers from now on? Their ability to draw upon technology in order to boost results, because the results that can be achieved are substantial. The management indicators of a traditional FM will be worse than those of an FM who harnesses the most out of all available technology.

But when we talk about technology, it abstractedly feels as though we are talking at the ethereal level of a futuristic film. So let’s come back down to day-to-day business, which is what I like.

Many of our buildings have a BMS installed, a Building Management System or Scada, etc. It’s technology dating many years already. We have it right before us. But are we getting real performance out of it? Is the maintenance provider? Whenever I ask this question, I get the same reply. No. It turns out that this system can improve the working environment for the company’s staff, it can optimise the use of our systems, it can reduce our energy consumption, and it can help us monitor the indicators that we want to measure. Almost no response. But who designs this equipment in new buildings? The architects? No. The engineers? Well not the mechanical engineer, nor the electrical engineer … In most cases, they get a system manufacturer to do the project for them. And what is the manufacturer’s aim? For the system installed to be as complex and large as possible. This costs a fortune. And who thinks about the future operation of this property asset? No one. Therefore what happens? One sees ridiculous BMS installations, which have cost a fortune but are of no use to the facility manager. This is unacceptable. Now that we are all aware of energy optimisation, can you measure consumption through the BMS? If you can’t, someone ought to be eliminated… Over the years, I have encountered completely senselessly designed systems. Systems that were measuring 3500 points and yet were not measuring energy consumption. FMs must be familiar with the design of these systems – they should be one’s right hand. Telling one absolutely everything that occurs!!!! These are the most helpful for setting up good SLAs with indicators for a complete maintenance contract.

Perfect, we already have a system that is capable of obtaining the most out of our systems. But now, who is it that is getting the most out of it? In theory, it’s the maintenance provider. Are our providers’ technicians prepared to do so? In my experience, no. But it’s about time they were. They should know how to use a BMS as if it were a multi-meter or any other tool. And now the providers will say that this is what they have the engineers from the head office for. I’m sorry, but I don’t agree. Decisions have to be taken in situ, on a day to day basis, not while visiting. And I shouldn’t have to pay for this knowledge; it’s like showing bravery in the military, it’s assumed. The maintenance providers need to be of more worth. And that is a proposal that I am making. In most cases, I have felt as though they were temporary employment agencies of professional profiles. The use of these systems can increase the satisfaction of our customers, enable us to save a lot of money, and help us foresee problems in order to act before they occur. More than enough reasons for us to pay more attention to them.

When it comes to this topic, I could go on writing and writing… the BMS is key.

But all in all there is a lot of technology on the market. In terms of hardware, for example, there are LEDs, electricity meters, security systems, etc. And software includes facility management systems (e.g. IWMS, CAFM), software exclusively for energy management, programs for producing employee surveys, reporting systems, business intelligence…

Another technology that I am already testing is NFC, which without a doubt will be revolutionary in the next few years. Let’s talk about that technology another day, if you like.

An analysis of all these technologies and their capacity for integration in terms of FM can achieve spectacular results. And this is a determining factor for our professional development, in terms of our level of responsibility, salary and, why not, our ability to emerge triumphant from a job interview.

I am not a guru, nor a visionary, I simply like sharing what I do, what I instil in my team and what gives us cause to celebrate.

As for the next topic, I would like it if you chose it for me… any suggestions? I have a few, so if you don’t have any, I’ll choose one. What do you think?

]]> http://www.scalednetworks.com/technology-the-facility-managers-best-ally/feed/ 0 http://www.scalednetworks.com/breakfast-event-15th-may/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=breakfast-event-15th-may http://www.scalednetworks.com/breakfast-event-15th-may/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 07:31:27 +0000 Jim Green http://www.scalednetworks.com/?p=634 …
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]]> At 8.15am on Wednesday 15th May, we are hosting our first FM and Property business breakfast at London’s Royal Exchange.

How can you start using Cloud TODAY to transform FM, reduce costs and improve services?

If you would like to join senior members of the UK Facilities Management and Property sector, we will be sharing our experiences of cloud technologies and hosting an open forum on SaaS best practice, do’s and don’ts, how to avoid mistakes and how to leverage the available technology immediately with minimum cost and maximum results.

TO ATTEND PLEASE REGISTER HERE

The event will finish by 9.45am and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

The people at Scaled Networks are experts in Facilities Management and IT. Our consultants deliver successful, timely and fit for purpose FM and energy solutions, saving large organisations time, resources and money. We have just supported IKEA with a global cloud implementation of IBM’s Maximo CAFM software.

The Royal Exchange was founded in 1565 as a commerce centre and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange because of their rude manners, and had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity!


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