As I have talked about many times, one of the biggest challenges for institutions when it comes to their Asset Management (AM) programs is keeping their existing data current based on completed capital and maintenance projects.  

While getting the data is not without its challenges, in general most organizations have a process for collecting existing facility data, whether partnering with a firm like ours or using internal resources.  It takes a lot of time and effort but the initial data collection generally has a beginning, a middle and an end.

However, the end of the initial data collection is then the start of the data management/maintenance phase.  This one is a lot more difficult because in general changes are made fairly frequently, over time and often by multiple different departments within an organization.  To get it right you have to have a well thought-out approach ready to go on Day 1 post-assessment.

In general, we have always said that the two most critical things you must have to setup a proper data management process is capability and capacity.  

The capability focuses on staff knowledge and training on how to update the data, the usage of any software that you are licensing and the access to the information on the changes.  

The capacity focuses on the prioritization of the activity and sufficient available time to manage the updates.  Too often we see these critical tasks spread out across organizations where the responsibility to do it is the fifth thing on many people’s priority list.   This generally does not work out well in the long run.

However, as we continue to speak to clients across several different sectors, there is a new important factor that we are seeing arise.  DESIRE.  We have had several clients come to us recently, despite having the capability and capacity,  stating that they just don’t have the desire to keep their data up-to-date.  Data management is not an easy task.  It requires constant discipline, focus and attention.  Some clients simply do not want to do it.  

This is the point in which they often seek outside support to complete the data updates (the proverbial box of receipts at the end of a year).  If you don’t have someone on your team that is passionate and has a desire to keep your data current, even if they have the capability/capacity, you may want to look for alternative solutions to ensure success of your on-going AM program.