Building the first cloud computing FM/RP platform in China

With the help of its technology partners, Siveco China has built the first cloud computing Facility Management / Risk Prevention (FM/RP) platform available on the Chinese market. This article provides an overview of this solution, already in use or being implemented by large property owners/operators.

As multi-site facility owners operating in China face more and more pressure, both from government regulators (fire safety laws, environment compliance, etc.) and from the market (competition, quick changes, etc.), increasing focus is being put on Risk Prevention as a key component of the Facility Management “value chain”.

Our views of risk prevention vs. FM in China were detailed in a series of articles (Risk prevention, Of maintenance as risk management, In Case of Fire) previously published in our newsletter.

At the same time, our experience performing maintenance audits for multi-site companies has shown that large facilities operators struggle to implement computerized tools to meet their FM needs: most projects fail to reach their objectives and systems end-up being underutilized.

Based on a strong experience delivering large-scale FM solutions worldwide and in China, Siveco China has since the end of 2009 teamed up with various technology partners to deliver a comprehensive platform, extending its existing Facility Management system to cover Risk Prevention: this platform is known as bluebee^® cloud.

bluebee^® cloud is a standard off-the-shelf software platform offering an entirely web-based user interface, a “portal” similar to Yahoo or iGoogle, enabling easy access to all necessary data from the central database and external systems. The portal is accessible from any browser on large-screen display, desktop or tablet PC, using a secure login.

bluebee^® cloud provides built-in RP/FM functionality and is designed to integrate with other sub-systems (alarms, help desk) and web services (weather reports, live video surveillance streams). It can accommodate future extensions and custom-made plug-ins, thanks to the use of open technologies.

For example, bluebee^® cloud can be coupled with a crisis management platform designed by one of our partners (based on a GIS – a geographical information system, maps to display nearby roads, hospitals, etc.) and integrate back into the full Facility Management system.

Finally, Siveco’s bluebee^® mobile application will provide access to the central system for field personnel using rugged Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

A critical component of Risk Management is the ability to capture data from the field and to push relevant information to field personnel using either Tablet PCs (for management personnel and other office-types) or rugged PDAs (a more convenient form-factor for technican personnel, e.g. for inspections of fire safety equipment or safety checks of electrical cabinets). Equipments and inspection points are tagged (1/2D barcodes or RFID tags), for quicker and more accurate input and control (“is this the right inspection point?”, “has the technician actually been there?”). Follow-up actions (job request, preventive job) are automatically created and updated into the central server database.

The integrated solution is designed to provide strong support for improvement in the facility management practice, by building up a central knowledge-base based on accurate information from the field and simplifying the technical team’s daily work. By enforcing systematic recording of non-compliances and events, a historical database will be built up, thus enabling decision support system for the central property or risk prevention team.

When it comes to risk prevention, especially technical risk prevention for large facility owners, the field in which we specialize, the Chinese market is still largely immature. Our solutions reflect the real needs of large property owners in China, with a focus on:

* IT as a structuring factor in China: the system support methodologies and best practices that would take years to implement through traditional “training, handbook & auditing“ approach. Training is forgotten after a while or deemed “not applicable to real life”. Such an approach is over-reliant on people (who may soon leave the company to go work for competitors). Instead, systems are well accepted and cover all aspects of the training, handbook and auditing loop.

* Indirect costs vs. direct costs (administration vs. risk management): while most IT companies focus on managing direct costs or the administration aspects of the business (approvals, who does what, overtime, etc.) in line with Western practices (markets where labor cost is high) and local habits (paperwork), we recognize that indirect costs, i.e. risk in terms of the impact on the company’s profitability, revenue, on public and personnel’s safety, etc. is far more important.

* How to truly implement Preventive actions in a market where the prevalent mindset is set on Corrective actions or even “quick fixes”. The concept of prevention may be understood in theory; it is almost never implemented in practice. How to ensure the Fire Fighting System was checked as per regulatory guidelines? “We know it is working well, so I signed the acceptance report” is a common, sincere answer obtained after an in-depth enquiry. “My friend at the Fire Bureau will help us” is another. Our solutions are designed to overcome most of these shortcomings, for example with mandatory scanning of asset tags in order to confirm the inspection has been finished (i.e. the technician cannot confirm the job before actually going on site to the specific inspection point).

* Ease-of-use: most users from a professional trade background may not be accustomed to complex business applications. This is even truer for field technicians, who most likely have never used a computer in their work environment before. Siveco solutions are designed “for technicians, by technicians” and are based on very graphical, simplified and intuitive user interfaces.

* Reducing reliance on IT: knowing that IT skills are often a problem (especially during operations), Siveco strives to eliminate the need for IT support as much as possible, in order to focus on business improvement.

Standard products: the entire solution proposed is based on standard COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) products, used all over the world by thousands of customers. This is not a software development project, with all the issues brought by custom programming (bugs).

The choice of Open Source technology is a major strategic decision, eliminating dependence on giant IT vendors who tend to become “corporate bullies” but also eliminating the risk of software piracy (most large companies in China, including multinationals, use a large amount of pirated software more or less unknowingly, exposing themselves to lawsuits or huge cost increases in the future).

All R&D for the bluebee^® cloud and bluebee^® solutions is done locally in China by Siveco and partners, allowing very quick response time in case of problems.

Open platform allowing the use of market-standard plug-ins of which the GIS is a perfect example. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Siveco selected experienced partners to implement this part of the risk prevention portal.

Possibility to totally outsource the operation of the Risk Prevention portal in SaaS (Software as a Service) mode, with the system hosted outside of the client’s own infrastructure.

Thanks to the combined strengths of Siveco partners, the bluebee^® cloud platform provides the modern cloud architecture to support large-scale facility owners or service suppliers in China. Built on robust technology, the bluebee^® cloud platform is highly scalable, as proven by the strong track records of its various components.

Property management company Changcheng Property Group is currently deploying over 150 sites all over China, with 1,000+ web users and 500+ PDAs. Retailer Carrefour in France has implemented our maintenance system for around 2,000 users for 800 stores. In Europe, leading FM supplier Dalkia is running over 3,500 PDAs and energy service specialist Cofely (a GDF Suez subsidiary) over 2,500 PDAs using our mobile synchronization platform.

For more information on the bluebee^® cloud platform and its applications to Facility Management and Risk Prevention, please contact our marketing team at info@sivecochina.com.

Tags： cloud computing、PDA、FM、mobile、risk prevention、SaaS