Tririga and The CMMS Case Study

So we had to tackle assignments in Tririga this last week. The program is admittedly usable and provides great functionality. The HUGE drawback to an assignment like this is the lack of realism. I would never as the FM be inputting this information and populating these databases myself. The consulting team and the vendor would be paying an intern to do this work.

The CMMS case study we are doing in class is also less than stellar. I will need to make decisions on workflow software in my future career, I know that. But the objective of this assignment is not choosing a software package--it is to help us become familiar with different CMMS systems on the market right now.

This objective can be accomplished in a number of ways. The case study approach may be nice practice for case studies; however, the driving factor in having us write this comes from the University administration. It gives them warm fuzzies knowing that we are writing papers in every class as a required part of the curriculum. So in every class from framing to real estate to safety, we have to do group work and a paper.

World Workplace 2008

So I spent the 3rd week of October in Dallas, TX attending a conference for IFMA. Loved it. Such a good opportunity to tell people about our FPM studies at BYU.

Had lunch with a whole group of field office managers from Allstate insurance. They had all been insurance salespeople prior to taking over the FM position at their office. The only real qualifier for them was if they had "a propensity" for technical things. I tried to explain the value of hiring someone who actually had been trained in the care and maintenance of facilities, but they couldn't visualize that a graduate would actually know how to do their job.

I mean, they had spend the last several years doing on the job training and never attending FM classes, so how could a college-educated, technologically savvy young person do the same job, right? It is mind-boggling to think that these same people are decision makers for a large, national company like Allstate.

The future of FM is not in on the job training. It is taking current and developing technologies and practices and making them work for your business now. Put the people in place that know how to use and implement these advantages, and your business will benefit by way of better workspace and productivity and a better bottom line.

A Look At The Security Aspects Of Steganography

Wow! Hiding files between the pixels of a picture! I've only used a basic steganogaphy program provided in my technology class, but it seems to have great potential for use in the business and facilities management world -- for criminal and legitimate uses.

A facilities manager must be aware that technology like this exists and can be used to remove potentially sensitive data from the facility. On the other hand, a facility manager can utilize programs like this to their advantage.

One could take data - budget numbers, capital expenditure proposals, or passwords and security protocols - and pass it securely between departments and company officials without any concern for that data carelessly ending up places or hands that shouldn't have it.

Very interesting technology.

VEKTR Pointed In The What Direction?

VEKTR seems to be a very basic introduction to CMMS programs. The basic platform seems easy to manage and should be highly customizable for individual clients. However, in its current adaptation, VEKTR is so generic that it sacrifices a level of intuitiveness within a jumble of menus, tabs, and pull-downs.

If I were to use this system as a FM I would insist on having support from the VEKTR team to implement the software into my building(s). If it could be made to fit in customer-specific applications, it may work well for small business applications.

And The Winner Is

I have decided to do my technology project on Wireless power sources. Just imagine... no more cords and cables. We already use wireless Internet, printing, network storage, and data access. The last thing to go is those power cords. This technology seems really interesting. Charge and power everything from your iPod and cell phone to the laptop and PDAs that personnel use to carry out their work orders.

Right Off The Bat

I have been seriously thinking about what to study for a big class project in Technology for FPMs.  I think I may have narrowed it down to three.

--Solar Parking Trees that provide both shade and power

--Wireless Power Sources for all our gadgets

--Waterless Urinals

These three seem a bit unrelated, but they are interesting things.  Plus they will likely be found in applications and buildings where we will work and live in the future.