FACILITIES MANAGEMENT — THE ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057510 |
| Date | 01 May 1988 |
| Pages | 15-17 |
| Published date | 01 May 1988 |
| Author | Malcolm Owen,Duncan Aitchison |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
-
THE ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION
by Malcolm Owen and Duncan Aitchison
Hoskyns Group plc, London
Introduction
Information Technologies are reaching a critical mass. Business is beginning to reconfigure things from the
ground — this time with the computer in
mind.
The result: entirely different approaches to existing markets
and whole new product lines. At the same time, computer, telecommunications and video technology are
merging into something bigger and better than the individual components. What becomes essential is a fresh
mindset, a new way of perceiving the role of Information Technology in business.
This conclusion from a recent Business Week article is typical of the outpourings of the management gurus.
Information Technology (IT), we are
told,
must no longer be relegated to being a reactive service for middle
management. Modern managers, at all levels, must constantly assess the improvements which information
technology can provide to enhance competitive position, improve services and products, increase revenues,
lower costs, improve returns, gain market share and assure future growth. Using the likes of American Airlines
and American Hospital Supplies as our role models, we should consider the business in the light of what
is,
and will be, technologically possible, and devise strategies that exploit these opportunities.
The change
in the
perceived function
of IT
within
business
is
perhaps
the
most visible
of the
current
management issues. Alongside
it,
however, is an equally
important change
in the
perceived relationship between
IT and
a
business, which
is
manifest
as the
growth
of
Facilities Management
(FM).
FM
is a
much misunderstood term.
For the
sake
of
clarity, therefore,
it is
best defined
as "a
service whereby
the contractor takes full financial
and
management
responsibility
for
all
or
a major part
of
a data processing
or management services function, employing
the
existing staff, buying
or
taking over
the
leases
on the
computer and running
the
whole installation
in
situ
or
at the contractor's premises.
An
agreed service is then
supplied
at an
agreed price."
The market for this alternative approach is now growing
at
35
per cent per annum. More and more organisations
are following
the
lead
of the
likes
of the
Rank
Organisation, Bejam, British Shipbuilders, Hoover
and
Marley
by
devolving
IT to a
third party.
The reasons behind this trend fall into
two
broad
categories
—
constraint
and
focus.
Virtual Ownership
Although
FM may
appear
to be a
problem moved
and
not
a
problem solved,
the
converse
is
true. What
organisations really want from
IT is
the information,
not
the technology. Through FM, that
is
exactly what they
are able
to buy
— when, where and how they want
it.
FM creates
a
fundamental shift
in the
relationship
between
IT and a
company, which
for all
practical
purposes remains
the
owner
and
controller
of its
information
but
without
the
burdens
of
management
and risks
of
investment
in
technology.
This change
in
relationship offers
a
radical solution
to
the four main constraints
to
real progress through
IT:
belief, inertia, management
and
change.
The
belief
constraint,
or
confidence crisis,
is
best summed
up by
the following statement:
Technologically,
it's
all happening.
. . But
practically,
it's
a non-event.
I
guess
top
management were bitten badly
in the early
days.
Or they find this "competitive advantage
through
IT"
idea that the business schools are pushing
a
bit
dubious.
No tomorrow's
world,
they
say,
till we
see
some
benefits today.
We
know we're
on the
verge
of an
information revolution. But experience shows we can't see
what things really mean until we buy them and
try
them.
How can
we
break
out of
this paradox?
This quotation from a DP manager, taken from the latest
Price Waterhouse review
of
IT, typifies the technological
Catch 22. To "break-out" first demands DP becoming
a business within business, operating
in a
manner
which management, who are unsure and unconvinced
about
IT, can
measure
and
appreciate.
FM delivers
an
agreed service
at an
agreed price.
The
client starts
the
year with
a
known budget cost and
a
set level
of
expectations.
The
ability
to
judge
IT
performance becomes much simpler and, assuming
contractors deliver the quality
of
service on which their
businesses depend,
a
positive contribution
to the
business
is
quickly visible.
IMDS
May/June
1988
15
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