Physical Infrastructure Requirements

Description

• An analysis of the impact of new business solutions on the existing physical infrastructure.  This deliverable identifies the changes to facilities required along with an estimate of the costs and benefits of these proposed changes.

Business Value

• Changes in physical infrastructure serve as “enablers” to the redesign effort.  Possible changes range from cost-savings (e.g. the consolidation of space requirements) to facilities upgrades (the installation of new equipment).  A thorough review of all space-related issues and a cost estimate of the proposed changes are necessary to cost-justify any decision to proceed to implementation.
• Overlooking the potential impact of the proposed BPI exercise on physical infrastructure can lead to unforeseen expenses later on that might not have been taken into consideration as part of the original Business Case.  Unplanned facilities expenses can delay or hinder successful project implementation.

Approach

The Physical Infrastructure Requirements deliverable is characterised by a high-level examination of the impact of proposed changes on an organization’s physical infrastructure in terms of:

• Scope of changes to facilities (e.g. changing office layout to clusters or building a new warehouse for a new product line)
• Type of physical changes (e.g. location, type of space, size/volume, layout)
• Reason for change (e.g. to improve material flow, to realize facility cost-savings, etc.)
• Criticality of the change in achieving desired performance benefits (e.g. can’t achieve cycle time reduction unless manufacturing facility is modernized)
• Estimated costs and benefits of physical infrastructure changes
• Timing/sequence of changes to facilities (e.g. larger office space must be built before the new “call center” can be implemented).

1. Determine impact of the proposed business solution on physical facilities.
1. Review facilities-related issues from previous steps.
2. Create a list of issues having an impact on facilities.
2. Review facilities impact list with appropriate client personnel and identify nature and extent of required changes on physical infrastructure.
1. Identify facility specialists and functional representatives.
2. Develop an approach to addressing location, type, volume, and design/layout issues.
3. Conduct work sessions with the facilities sub-team to identify the impacts and costs of physical infrastructure changes.
1. These generally include:
1. Construction/refurbishing costs
2. Leasing costs
3. Moving costs
4. Furniture/office equipment costs
5. Miscellaneous operating costs (e.g. increased utility expenses).
3. Develop physical infrastructure plans to complete the desired changes. (Work Packages)

Guidelines

Tactics/Helpful Hints

Recognise that changes to physical infrastructure can be triggered by changes to information technology hardware/software, organisation structure, processes, policies, guiding principles, etc.  Take all of these facets into consideration when making a complete