Coordinate Every Aspect of a Project
The Role of the
Master Systems Integrator (MSI)
At NICO, we believe that the MSI role is crucial to project success. The MSI is responsible for coordinating every aspect of a project involving multiple systems or suppliers. Our MSIs ensures that all stakeholders work toward the same objectives, providing independent, expert advice on system integration and solution delivery. This role is essential to avoid system silos and ensure that every component, from the BMS to the lighting, works seamlessly together.
If you have been involved with any new buildings, you have probably heard the term MSI. You may even have been involved with getting something implemented that uses one, but what is a Master Systems Integrator (MSI), and why is it important to make sure that they are the right person?
The MSI’s role is crucial for any “Smart” building delivery. The role coordinates all vendor/supplier components or solutions that must be integrated. It’s about integration and collaboration to ensure everyone works harmoniously towards the same goals and objectives.
But before you ask, No, the MSI doesn’t replace the project managers (PM’s), unlike the PMs who cover specific areas, the MSI role works across all of the disciplines as “Smart” is all about taking data in and being able to use all of the data from disparate systems to provide insights from which informed decisions can be taken either manually or automated.
The MSI’s job is not necessarily to be the expert in everything. But they do need to be able to ask the right questions or talk to the right people so that they can harmonise the data silos and translate the data streams into business deliverables so that the client can make informed decisions.
To be effective, the MSI role needs to be engaged early to provide independent and impartial advice on the most appropriate solutions, integration, and delivery.
A good MSI can ensure a building or solution is “Smart or Smart Ready”. We ensure that everything is ” Smart/Smart Ready ” and what is needed to become “Intelligent.”
If you ask four people, “What is an intelligent/smart building?” You will likely get four different answers. This is not the fault of the people you ask; it is simply that the industry is in its infancy with hundreds of point solutions and no agreement on the holistic approach. Even the name is confusing; some use intelligent buildings, and others use smart buildings to mean the same thing. We try to differentiate and define these terms as:
“A smart building uses sensors to create smart siloes of information, whereas an intelligent building pulls all the smart information together into one or more portals.” The reason, we say, one or more portals is that everyone involved in managing the building will require a different view of the information.
We specialise in helping organisations through this complex matrix, ensuring the data is exposed and available to your chosen Intelligent building solution.