Physical Operations 101

“Physical Operations” are operations in the real, physical world that organizations undertake to ensure security, safety, compliance, and business continuity. It refers to the management of tangible assets, people, material, vehicles, and buildings in a physical environment across premises and locations.

Physical operations in modern enterprises include hardware and software systems and processes across workforce, visitor, access control, parking, physical identity, physical security, building and critical infrastructure, workplace experience.

VersionX Physical Operations Platform is a unified platform that governs and orchestrates physical operations across enterprise premises and locations such as movement of people (employees, visitors, contractors, vendors) and material; usage, maintenance, and movement of assets, equipment, and vehicles; usage and maintenance of buildings, facilities, energy, and utilities.

It is the larger category that includes PACS (Physical Access Control Systems), Smart Parking & ANPR Systems, VMS (Visitor Management Systems), PIAM (Physical Identity and Access Management), BMS (Building Management Systems), PSIM (Physical Security Information Management), Workplace Experience Platforms, IWMS (Integrated Workplace Management Systems), PropTech, Smart Building Platforms, and so on.

The Physical Operations Framework

The Physical Operations Framework provides a comprehensive understanding of “physical operations” by examining it through the following four dimensions of operations and their interconnectedness:

  • 1The Physical World Elements
  • 2Activities
  • 3Controls
  • 4Outcomes

What Physical Operations Comprises

1. Physical World Elements

These are tangible, real-world elements that organizations manage such as people, assets, materials, vehicles, buildings.

2. Activities

Physical world elements act and interact such as enter, exit, access, move, transfer, use, maintain.

3. Controls

Organizations control physical world elements and their activities through mechanisms such as policies and procedures, processes, visibility.

4. Outcomes

Physical operations ultimately exist to produce desired organizational and business outcomes such as safety, security, efficiency, compliance, continuity, experience.

physical operations framework image
A Diagrammatical Representation of The Physical Operations Framework

How the Four Dimensions Connect

The Physical Operations Framework uses a simple operational flow:

Physical-world elements participate in activities. Activities require controls. Effective controls contribute to desired outcomes.

Elements → Activities → Controls → Outcomes

This structure remains constant across industries even as the contents within them may change from business to business.

From Fragmented Operations to a Unified View

Organizations across industries manage physical operations through separate functions even though, in reality, they are interconnected. The Framework examines this and offers a unified understanding.

Why A Unified View Matters

Managing physical operations in fragments prevents organizations from gaining a comprehensive understanding of their operations.

Let's Learn More About Physical Operations

Flo introduction

Hello there!

I'm Flo. I spend my days around your buildings, watching how humans work. At night, I nest in the VersionX office. Well, I’m part of the team. Here, I share with you all I have learned about physical operations, one crumb of insight at a time. Hope you enjoy learning with me.