ABSTRACT
Facilities management (FM) simply defined means that an institutution hires a company to manage in-house computer resources. The San Diego Community College District has chosen to enter into a facilities management agreement with the Systems and Computer Technology Corporation (SCT). Earlier, the college district had consolidated mainframe computing activities in a central location. The corporations identified as being in FM included SCT, Computer Sciences Corporation Planning Research Corporation, and Electronic Data Systems. Comprehensive requirement specifications were developed and bidders were sought. Only the first two companies became bidders. The San Diego experience with FM has only covered a few months, but some signs of improvement are already visible. Complaints have dropped dramaticaliy. New systems development is ahead of schedule, and routine work is being processed more efficiently. SCT has started computer turnaround with virtually the same staff as under direction. The staff is employed by SCT, not the college.
