Stakeholder Alignment for Asset Management
Building asset management involves a significant number of stakeholders. Historically, Virtual Design and Construction (VDC)/Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been used as a means to accelerate schedules, reduce cost and improve quality in Design and Construction. At VueOps, we are developing solutions that expand these value propositions to other stakeholders in the organization.
Identifying Stakeholders in Facilities Asset Management
Ultimately, many different stakeholders in an organization use information created through design, construction, renovation and maintenance as part of their role. Understanding which group needs what identifies common information and unique information. For example, when developing an Asset Management Program for San Francisco International Airport (SFO), we identified 22 stakeholder groups comprising 120 individuals who create, use/view, or modify/status this common and unique information.
Stakeholders include everyone from civil engineers and project managers to local police and fire departments who need information about the building. We can group these stakeholders into four primary categories:
- Planning, design, and construction
- Facilities
- Business and finance
- Operations
Organizing Data for Successful Asset Management
The goal of asset management is to manage assets effectively. Effective asset management requires a strategy to specify, organize and QC facility data and drawings as they are created during construction or renovation so that facility operators can use this information in their systems of management and as part of their workflows.
By first identifying how models, drawings, and data will be used during operations, we can successfully work backward to determine how to set up VDC/BIM during design and construction. Involving operations in the VDC/BIM organization and design as the facility is still being built is optimal because it allows stakeholders to create a custom system that perfectly suits the needs of the facility.
A well-organized stakeholder program makes it possible to extract valuable information that can be used for facility operations even as the facility is still in the construction phase. The primary purpose of a thoroughly designed stakeholder program is to bridge the gap between the end of construction and facility operations, so that essential information is gathered, organized, and maintained throughout the project's entire lifespan.
Creating Stakeholder Alignment
Our work with SFO helped us illustrate the nuances of what might be involved in detailed stakeholder engagement. We evaluated the data needs of each of the 22 stakeholder groups and identified all the overlapping areas where multiple stakeholders needed access to the same information. A custom VDC/BIM system can facilitate data management for all of these stakeholders by keeping the information in one central location.
The right system will effectively maintain verified information on BIM and GIS platforms at the center of the stakeholder groups. This includes a base layer of information that's relevant to all stakeholders with layers of more in-depth stakeholder-specific information on top. Since there's so much overlap in the data needs of different stakeholder groups, this system serves to break down silos and make those details more readily available to all groups.
The VueOps Solution
We offer a customizable digital solution that can mindfully integrate the needs of all stakeholders. We begin by assessing the potential stakeholders and evaluating their roles. We can then evaluate those stakeholders' needs by issuing them a set of standardized questions addressing the part of their work that's related to data in buildings. These answers identify the details and patterns that will contribute to the creation of data standards supporting the facility's higher business goals.
Our custom solution can take asset management to a new level, offering powerful alignment that benefits stakeholders in every area.
