Operational technology assessment
An operational technology assessment is a structured audit of every system in a building or estate, used by owners and occupiers to establish what their technology can actually deliver before they invest in it.
What have we actually got, and what will it let us do?
What we do
01 / 05Every system in your building is a decision you already made.
We audit every operational and workplace system across the asset or estate. What is installed, what data it produces, whether that data can be reached, and where the constraints sit.
Most of what we find was never written down. Systems arrive through fit-outs, landlord works and vendor upgrades, each one specified in isolation. Nobody holds the whole picture, and the gaps only surface once something has been bought.
The client finishes with one honest picture of the building instead of six vendor opinions.
- Systems and data register, every system on the asset in one place
- Integration readiness rating, layer by layer
- Constraint and risk log, with the commercial consequence of each
- Prioritised gap list, sequenced by what unblocks the most
Asset owners, operators, and heads of real estate who have inherited an estate they did not specify.
How it works
02 / 05- Week 1
Scope and access
We agree the boundary of the assessment, then get access to the systems, the drawings and the people who run them day to day.
- Weeks 2 to 4
Survey
On site across every layer. Building management, security, network, audio visual, lighting, metering, occupancy, workplace platforms. We interview the operators, not just the vendors.
- Weeks 3 to 5
Data interrogation
We establish what each system actually produces, whether the data can be reached, and on what terms. This is where most assumptions break.
- Week 6
Rating and report
Findings, readiness rating, constraint log and a prioritised gap list. Presented to the people who will have to act on it.
Durations are indicative and depend on the size of the estate and how quickly we get access.
Questions we get asked
03 / 05How long does an operational technology assessment take?
For a single asset, typically six weeks from access to final report. Portfolios run longer and we usually assess a representative sample first, then extend the method across the rest. The constraint is rarely our pace. It is how quickly we get access to the systems and the people who operate them.
Do you need access to our building management system?
Read access, yes, and to the network and workplace platforms alongside it. We do not make changes and we do not need control. Where a vendor holds the only credentials, that is itself a finding, and it goes in the report.
We already have a smart building consultant. How is this different?
Ask whether they sell, resell or integrate any of the systems they recommend. If the answer is yes, their assessment and their pipeline are the same document. We have no hardware line, no integration arm and no vendor commission, so the recommendation is the only thing we are selling.
What if the assessment says our building is not ready?
Then you have saved the cost of finding out later, which is the point. Most assets are not ready. The useful output is not a verdict, it is the sequence: what to fix first, what it unblocks, and what can wait.
Does this work for a portfolio, or only a single building?
Both. Portfolios are where it pays hardest, because the same three constraints usually repeat across every asset and nobody has seen them side by side. We assess a representative sample, then apply the method across the rest.
Is this the same as a WiredScore or SmartScore certification?
No, and they answer different questions. Those are certifications, benchmarked and awarded against a published standard. This is a working document that tells you what your systems can deliver and what to do next. Clients pursuing SmartScore often run an assessment first, because it shows where the evidence is thin.
Adjacent stages
04 / 05Ready to press start?
05 / 05Tell us about the space, the asset, or the problem.
We will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.