🎧 #024: Mike Brooman on the role of the MSI and Smart Core

“I think that’s what we’re all missing is we’re all spending so much time on integration and doing the same sh*t differently, that we’re not able to get to those new use cases that then move the industry forward”

—James Dice

Welcome to Nexus, a newsletter and podcast for smart people applying smart building technology—hosted by James Dice. If you’re new to Nexus, you might want to start here.

The Nexus podcast (Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Other apps) is our chance to explore and learn with the brightest in our industry—together. The project is directly funded by listeners like you who have joined the Nexus Pro membership community.

You can join Nexus Pro to get a weekly-ish deep dive, access to the Nexus Vendor Landscape, and invites to exclusive events with a community of smart buildings nerds.

Episode 24 is a conversation with Mike Brooman, CEO of Vanti, a master systems integrator out of the UK.

Summary

• We talked about why buildings are behind, and how the problem of closed or proprietary systems extends beyond just HVAC.
• Then we took a bit of a deep dive into the role of the master systems integrator, which is often misunderstood in our industry.
• Finally, Mike explained the open-source effort Vanti is launching called Smart Core. I'm very excited about Smart Core, and can't wait to hear your feedback and see people get involved in this effort.

Mentions and Links

1. Vanti (1:06)
2. Capgemini (3:47)
3. Accenture (4:02)
4. Research in Motion/BlackBerry (4:16)
5. AMX, Crestron (14:33)
6. WiredScore (23:13)
7. Integrated Systems Europe (27:22)
8. Navigant (29:05)
9. Oracle (36:12)
10. LEED, WELL, BREEAM (41:00)
11. Smart Core (1:00:06)
12. Comfy (1:10:54)
13. CopperTree Analytics (1:11:16)
14. Tridium (1:13:26)
15. BuildingSync, NREL (1:17:29)
16. gbXML, CityGML, IFC, Sedona and Project Sandstar (shoutout to Apler) (1:17:33)
17. Linux (1:17:51)
18. Volttron (1:18:08)

You can find Mike Brooman on LinkedIn.

Enjoy!

Music credit: The Garden State by Audiobinger

THE ABOVE AUDIO, VIDEO, SUMMARY, AND LINKS WILL ALWAYS BE FREE. PODCAST DEEP DIVES WITH MY REACTIONS, MY TOP HIGHLIGHTS, AND THE FULL TRANSCRIPT ARE EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF NEXUS PRO.

Here’s this week’s deep dive outline:

• My reaction, including highlights:
• Mike answers James’ favorite question
• The smart building adoption curve, and the concept of ‘first followers’
• ‘Big four’ equivalents in other silos
• The tenant-landlord problem- separate mindsets, separate systems
• Defining ‘master systems integrator’
• Are MSIs accommodating vendors to continue operating in silos?
• Finding the line between MSI and consultant, commissioning agent
• The ideal holistic data model, and the potential of BIM
• SmartCore: what it is, why RPC is lacking, why bother, interaction with other open source efforts, and how to get involved (1:00:05)
• Full transcript

Go deeper