5 Tips for Building the Perfect Command/Operations Centre
Written by Richard Cobbold | September 25, 2024
The continual monitoring, accessing, analysing, and showcasing of information, dashboards, and video streams has become a central requirement for the modern data-driven organisation. Companies stand or fall on their ability to quickly access, review, and respond to key operational metrics from deep within their servers and cloud services. This trend is driving corporations of every type to adopt mega Command & Control Centres, NOCs, SOCs, and Situation Rooms. However, the technical design criteria for building these types of spaces are not well understood. These are not simply vast, dark rooms with huge displays and rows of steely-eyed operators. There’s plenty to consider as you embark on this type of complex project.
Here’s my starter list of 5 tips for deploying the perfect Operations Centre:
YES. YOU WILL NEED A BIG DISPLAY
It may sound obvious, but you genuinely need to immerse your operators in the data; the display needs to have impact. It should be big, and even better, curving around the space to enclose the room. It should be seamless – no bezel lines or distracting mismatched colours. It needs to be high resolution to fully represent the data. The good news is that with seamless high-resolution LED, there are no boundaries – height, width, and curvature can all be determined to best work within a specific environment and for a specific task.
Check out some of these walls for a flavour of what’s possible.
YOU WON’T NEED TO CONNECT IT TO LOADS OF COMPUTERS
You might be imagining a NASA-style control room with hundreds of different computers all connected to the display via a vast, rack-sized switcher and bundles of cables. Well, the reality is that one decent computer should actually be able to do it all. The system is likely accessing digital data from across your corporate network, and this is best done via a single secure desktop with multiple display windows. Save money on the computer hardware and spend it on the display instead.
Believe it or not, this whole NOC is running off a single PC.
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO CONFIGURE IT ALL AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON
With a tablet in your hand, you should have the flexibility to instantly select between hundreds of different data streams, choosing predefined sets of dashboards or live stream combinations. Zoom in on the key metrics you need to see and interact directly with any of the data in real time. Your system should have secure built-in credentials for quick pre-authenticated access to protected data. Plus, if you want to highlight certain elements, data can be automatically pulled from the system and populated into a unique GUI with custom views.
For more about dedicated NOC systems, see DVSI’s Vizualizar platform.
YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BE IN THE ROOM TO ACCESS IT
Moving to an IP-based core means you can provide access to other remote operators. Perhaps quickly divert data to a War Room for planning a detailed response or piggybacking with Command Centres in other time zones or regions. You can provide secure access via the corporate network to senior managers to review issues directly, and allow for work-from-home when circumstances prevent key operators from being in the building. Ensure the NOC doesn’t become its own silo – build it seamlessly into the core of your wider operational workflow.
Here’s a schematic example of a modern multi-modal NOC network.
THINK OF IT AS A SHOWCASE
Being able to showcase a highly efficient corporate operations centre to clients and staff sends a strong message about your organisation’s evolution towards full digital, data-driven transformation. Of course, there may be data sets that you don’t want to share, but managing what’s seen at any particular point is all about having the right flexible systems in place. In short, don’t hide your command centre away at the end of a dark corridor – it should be highly visible and the centrepiece of your operations and client sales journey.
What better place to explain what your company is really all about?
The future will belong to the companies best able to analyse and respond to the vast quantities of data they produce. An operations centre is the best way to visualise and bring those operations to life. Whatever your business, being able to harness your vast pools of data and showcase your operations in an exciting and meaningful way is essential. These 5 tips are just the tip of the iceberg – but as the links hopefully show, it is an area where our teams have developed significant expertise over the last few years. If you want to find out more, please get in touch!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DVSI is a specialist Experience Centre and NOC/SOC design and build agency. Working from offices around the world, we provide clients such as Accenture, Deloitte, EY, and Reliance with immersive technology, experiential media, and global deployment services.
