Corporate Teams
Corporate Asset Management teams provide essential support to the Business teams.
Corporate teams are created where a duplication of services is being provided within each of the asset management groups or regions, and the organization requires a consistent and cost-effective approach to particular tasks.
Corporate groups often cover:
Each of these departments will be represented on the Asset Management Steering Committee.
Finance
The Corporate finance group will produce and maintain the organization's policies on financial controls, including capital expenditure works, budgeting and procurement.
The finance department will provide four key interfaces with the asset management teams. They are:
- Control and maintenance of the asset register
- Planning and forecasting resources for budgeting and capital expenditure programs
- Data to support service level planning, including economic environment conditions and trend analysis
- Reporting on the financial performance of assets or asset groups.
The reporting on the management of individual assets or asset groupings is particularly important to the organization, as it will indicate the ongoing economic viability of the service being delivered.
Asset managers will use this information to make decisions on the future service delivery levels and the costs associated with delivering this level of service.
Information Technology (IT) Systems
It is desirable that all staff use a single computerized information system that will deal with all asset groups. Ideally the IT systems provides a centralized repository that can be used by all asset management staff to enter and access information that will influence the long term performance of their asset groups.
The IT group will support the asset management program by being responsible for:
- Specifying the technical requirements of the system during the design and implementation phase
- Administering the system, eg adding new users, setting access rights etc
- Maintaining the system for speed, reliability, availability and backups
- Managing requests for modifications and upgrades, between the asset managers and the IT system suppliers
- Long term IT strategies.
Human Resources
Appropriately trained and experienced asset management staff are key to success of any asset management program.
The human resource department will provide the organization with:
- Recruitment strategy, policy and plans for asset management staff
- Position descriptions and employee programs
- Resources for asset managers to develop succession plans
- Management of employee development, training and succession programs
- Information on asset management training courses, as appropriate to the stage of the asset management program
- Training register for all staff
- Statistical analysis on asset management staff and skills retention over time.
Effective forward planning by this group will ensure that the right mix of skills is maintained within the organization, and the ongoing success of the asset management program.
Administration
The corporate administration group are responsible for defining and maintaining overall organizational direction and policies for asset management.
Specifically, policy defining the roles and responsibilities of asset management and asset management staff in the organization will be set by this group.
The quality assurance program will also be administered by this team, and include the role of audit and certification.
The corporate administration group will be responsible for tracking the success of the asset management policies and program through an agreed performance monitoring program.