| Building Automation | Lighting Control | Energy Managment | Maintenance Repair Operations (MRO) |
| Security Management | Smart Services | Industrial Automation | M2M (Machine-to-Machine) |
| Convergence Retailing | Medical | Telecommunications | Total Facilities Managment |
A building automation system’s core function is to keep the building climate within a specified range, provide lighting based on an occupancy schedule, and monitor system performance and device failures. It also provides email and/or text notifications to building engineering staff and keeps a history for post review and troubleshooting. The building automation system functionality reduces building energy and maintenance costs when compared to a non-controlled building.
A system is an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the over-arching functionality. System integration involves integrating existing (often disparate) subsystems. The subsystems will have interfaces. Integration involves joining the subsystems together by “gluing” their interfaces together. If the interfaces don’t directly interlock, the “glue” between them can provide the required mappings. System integration is about determining the required “glue”.
System integration is also about adding value to the system, capabilities that are possible because of interactions between subsystems. In today’s connected world, the role of system integration engineers is becoming more and more important: more and more systems are designed to connect together, both within the system under construction and to systems that are already deployed.