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Business Model A good business model, with respect to infrastructure management, requires a clear set of goals and a well defined strategy of how to achieve them. A clear set of goals ensures that everyone involved in the management of the infrastructure understands what is trying to be achieved. A well-defined strategy ensures that they know how this is going to be done. In order to determine appropriate goals and strategies to optimally manage infrastructure, it is necessary to evaluate the existing business model and business processes of the organization managing the infrastructure. One of the initial steps in the evaluation of business models and processes is the collection and analysis of data. With respect to the business model the data must be indicative of how and why resources are currently allocated and the benefit that can be attained from these allocations. With respect to the business processes the data must be indicative of their effectiveness (ability to produce desirable results), efficiency (ability to minimize required resources) and adaptability (ability to adapt to changing needs). Some examples of effectiveness data are the timeliness of interventions, the improvement of the physical condition and/or reliability of existing infrastructure, and the number of restrictions placed on usage. Some examples of efficiency data are the amount of time required to make maintenance decisions and collect data, the amount of resources required for data collection, and the number of errors that occur in data collection. Some examples of adaptability data are the reaction speed at which unexpected interventions are performed, the loss of benefit that normally occurs due to unexpected interventions and the ease of coordination between different types of infrastructure (e.g. if it becomes known that a section of road will be closed to repair a tunnel, how easy is it to reschedule the maintenance activities on the bridges on this section of road to take advantage of the closed road.) The results of the data analysis are used to improve the existing business model and business processes. Once developed the economic viability of any new business model and business processes needs to be analyzed. This economic analysis is used to determine the impact of business models and processes on both the agency and users of the infrastructure. The use of computers in infrastructure management is
currently one of the biggest improvements that can be made to infrastructure
management business processes. Due to the immense processing power available,
computers can now be used to analyze the large amounts of data and the
large numbers of strategies available to infrastructure managers that
was not possible even a few years ago. In order to harness the power of
computers it is necessary, however, to transfer the needs and desires
of the infrastructure managers to the software programmers to ensure that
the any developed business process support system (in the case of infrastructure management
these are called infrastructure management systems) software provides
exactly what is required. This is usually worked out in the development
of a software prototype where there is extensive communication and mediation
between infrastructure managers and software developers. Once the
prototype version of the business process support system is developed
the full-scale development of the infrastructure management system can begin.
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Goals are statements of what is trying to be accomplished. Setting goals requires the determining and articulating precisely the needs and desires of the infrastructure owners. |
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A strategy is a plan of how to achieve goals. Strategy development for the managing of civil infrastructure requires an intimate knowledge of how the infrastructure works as well as the organization responsible for its management. |
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A business model, in general, is a model of how an organization makes or generates revenue. A business model, with respect to non-profit organizations, which includes many of the government agencies in charge of infrastructure management, is a model of how an organization allocates its resources. |
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A business process is a set of partially ordered activities that can be considered as accomplishing a goal. A business process consists of a group of logically related tasks that use the resources of an organization to provide defined results in support of the organization's objectives. An organization has many interconnected business processes, such as the process for approving proposals and the process for deciding which maintenance activities to perform and at what time. |
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Collection of data requires retrieving published data and the conducting new investigations, e.g. interviews with infrastructure managers, performing visual inspections of civil infrastructure and performing both destructive tests, such as concrete cylinder strength tests and non-destructive tests, such as in-situ permeability measurements. The collection of data also requires the verification of its reliability and accuracy, estimation of its cost, usefulness, and usability and the construction of a database. |
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Analysis of data is the organization of all of the collected numbers and statements into coherent useful information and results in indicators of the performance. |
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Unexpected interventions are not part of the long term management strategy but must be performed immediately. They occur due to unexpected events such as natural hazards.. |
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Business model improvement requires the clarification of goals and strategies. |
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Business process improvement is a systematic methodology developed to help an organization make significant advances in the way its business processes operate. It involves making them more effective, more efficient and more adaptable. |
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Economic analysis in infrastructure management is the analysis of the costs and benefits to the organization managing the infrastructure and the costs and benefits to the user of the infrastructure.. |
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Business Process Support is whatever is needed to make a business process used in practice. |
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A Business Process Support System is specific set of tools put in place
in order to support a set of business processes. The set of tools can
be paper or IT based. |
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Infrastructure Management System An is a business process support system used to help determine optimal management strategies for infrastructure. |
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Mediation between infrastructure managers and software developers is required to ensure that any developed software to aid in infrastructure management meets the needs of the infrastructure managers. Successful mediation requires knowledge in both the field of civil engineering and software engineering. |
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