企业生态系统
如果我们把办公室想象成一棵树, the birthplace of the company and the visionaries who enabled its footing would be considered the seed. 这个种子形成的根可以被认为是IT, 作为信息的管道和树的支撑. 随着它的生长，树干 is formed thanks to the sum of its workforce as these people are what makes the office strong and stand above others. 树叶是人的力量所孕育的工程, 营养丰富的想法, 以及它赖以生长的有利气候.
The office is a delicate ecosystem that must have the proper conditions and nutrients to function and flourish. If any one aspect of this ecosystem is missing or damaged the tree will not produce leaves and eventually will eventually wither. 富有营养的想法, 人脉广泛的基础设施, and quality people have to work in harmony to deliver a vibrant outcome. To extend this metaphor further, if an office is a tree, then a company is a forest. Recent studies have shown that if one tree in a forest is missing key nutrients, a tree nearby will often share its bounty to support the deficient tree. This is not greatly different than the global support provided by large companies such as IBI.
通常, AEC firms rely on IT to provide all computer related services including hardware specs, 许可, 服务器和网络, 通信, 保安及软件. 对于像IBI这样的大型多办公室公司, it’s essential to stay on top of opportunities for license savings or hardware specializations that’s critical to design. 为了确保这一切顺利进行， IBI建立了一个特殊的部门，称为设计技术部门作(DT).
DT’s purpose is to use subject matter experts (SME’s) to manage parts of IT specific to design. These SME’s come from the design industry and are responsible for outlining hardware, 管理设计工具的购买和许可, 创建自定义安装包, 企业部署软件, 标准, 培训和最后的故障排除文件. 这些SME可以属于DT的3种变体:
- 支持: these are the people directly responsible for answering helpdesk tickets and interacting with users in their day to day operation.
- 系统: 负责 硬件、软件和许可工作.
- 项目中小企业(BIM人员): 负责维护项目标准的人员, educating end-users and driving change into processes to enhance project outcomes.
This granularity of service is not generally seen in typical IT scenarios, though it benefits the end-user from the inception of the hardware to the final delivery of the model.
在Deltec 第40届A&E行业报告 2018年, SME development was seen as one of the top challenges for the adoption of new technology facing engineering and architectural practices today. IBI is well ahead of the curve with developing this line of expertise and, 在某些情况下, have already silently saved the company millions of dollars through thoughtful planning and analysis. 还应该指出的是，高绩效的A&E companies have the highest overhead percentages as compared to their counterparts, which could mean the top performers continually invest in technology and the support systems around them.
这一切都让我想起了支持的重要性. is often seen as the silent partner whose contributions are not tangible in profit. 然而，如果没有支持，很多企业生态系统就会分崩离析. The old saying that nobody talks about IT until something is broken is often the case. Oddly the most praise and recognition for support generally come after fixing a major catastrophe and not in the daily grind of maintaining eco systems and keeping the lights on.
The next time you encounter support staff weather it be DT or IT remember they are your silent partner and without them the skyline would be very gray.
Ted Martin has almost 25 year experience with AutoDesk products and consulting services. His background is in civil engineering and had previously worked as a mechanical/manufacturing designer prior to joining IBI. He now manages a small team of professionals supporting 设计 resources for IBI Group in Toronto.
