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Twenty First Century Building Automation Shouldn't Create IT Headaches

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Twenty First Century Building Automation Shouldn't Create IT Headaches

 
June 25, 2015

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  By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

In-house IT personnel have a lot on their plates today. While cloud-based solutions have taken off the strain of supporting premise-based software, the increased trend of mobility has filled in that hole. Corporate IT workers struggle to meet the needs of employees who may have desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets, all of which they use simultaneously and interchangeably. Security issues have become a focal point are as there are more pathways into the company network than ever before, and all of them need to be guarded.


Today, however, the Internet of Things (IoT) trend is about to make even more work for the average corporate IT department. “Smart buildings” that monitor temperature, security, lighting, energy use, open doors and windows, entrances and exits, fire safety controls and “green” features such as heat pumps and fuel cells or solar panels are generating a lot of data and requiring at least one full-time person to cope with the demands. Suddenly, functions that were once in the utility room are requiring a presence in the data center.

In a recent white paper, smart building solutions provider Panduit Enterprise Solutions defined a “connected building solution” as software that “enables the deployment of converged applications throughout the enterprise by extending the reach of both IP-and non-IP network devices within a building. This convergence allows building systems to be considered a true business asset, enabling developers and owners to reduce costs and enhance workplace experiences for their tenants and employees.”

While it may allow building occupants to reduce costs when it comes to energy or security, chances are good that these systems could make more work for IT departments if they’re not deployed in the correct model. Panduit suggests that companies consider splitting smart building functions away from the data center and into a telecommunications room model to keep the functions separate.

“The telecommunications room (TR) is increasingly enabling the integration of building automation systems with the enterprise IT network, providing a secure environment and consolidation of all network physical connectivity,” wrote the paper’s authors. “In the past, the TR served as a location where lower level switching and patching resided, with the majority of switch and server equipment that supports IT and building system applications located in the data center. Now, both small businesses and large enterprises are starting to deploy decentralized equipment hubs, with the TR becoming a preferred location for IT managers to store active equipment such as distribution layer switches, storage, and servers.”

This approach allows building tenants or owners to build a “zone-based” network approach to cabling, making it easier to diagnose and fix problems that may crop up later. A good building automation system should be a solution to the problems of high costs and complexity, not a problem itself. This way, building occupants and tenants are better positioned to control costs and boost efficiencies, all without unduly burdening the IT department.




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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