Discrete Dynamic Systems [cringe!]
Original Post: August 29, 2017
My very first class at West Point was called "Discrete Dynamic Systems." [What in the heck is that, right?] DDS, as we called it, taught the mathematical foundations all cadets needed later in the academic career and prepared us for some pretty heady engineering courses. In other words, it took a cadet's academic lifecycle, broke it into component parts (from a mathematical perspective, anyway), and addressed the components as individual, "siloed" learning objectives. It was the antithesis of efficient, but that's because it was SUPPOSED to be.
Asset management, it turns out, is exactly the same way--in most cases, it takes an asset's lifecycle, breaks it down into component parts and addresses each phase as discrete milestones. This, too, is the antithesis of efficient, but it's NOT supposed to be. So, how do we fix it? Simple...
The primary hinderance keeping asset management sub-optimal (in most cases), is that there are too many tools and teams doing too many things without talking to one another. In the IT world, for instance, there are 5 phases in a device lifecycle: 1. purchase, 2. configuration, 3. deployment, 4. management, and 5. refresh. Generally, each of these tasks is completed independently using disparate tools, non-congruent processes, and handled as its own discrete dynamic system [cringe!].
ATLAS takes a fundamentally different view. We realize that the asset lifecycle is a continuous (and, yes, "dynamic") system and integrate all the tools used for each of the phases together so data flows seamlessly from one phase to another. This helps our users reduce inefficiencies due to data or personnel loss and while offering superior services at dramatically lower costs.
Now, "Discrete Dynamic Systems" makes me cringe because it was an early morning, 5-day-per-week haze session that I passed only because the professor was exceedingly generous (or maybe sympathetic?) to me. But it should also make your skin crawl from knowing that's how most asset management programs are viewed now. If you're ready to graduate to something more advanced...more efficient...more powerful, send us a note. We'll get you out of the cycle of discrete headaches and into continuous bliss in no time.
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