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The Next Generation of IWMS: iXMS
In the past, facility management software existed almost exclusively in the realm of facility management professionals. But as the needs of the modern workplace have evolved, facility management software has evolved to accommodate them. As a result, leaders from nearly every department are now achieving successful business outcomes using it.
Here are just a few examples of how facility management software benefits everyone.
While every member of your C-suite has their own specific concerns, there’s one priority that nearly all of today’s executives share: optimizing operations through data and analytics. And the most effective tool for organizing and analyzing data is facility management software.
Facility management software gives your executives real-time visibility into how your company uses all of its resources, including space, assets and technology. Access to comprehensive, real-time information helps executives stay up to date on important financial and operational changes.
They can also:
For corporate real estate (CRE) leaders, facility management software offers on-demand access to important details about their entire portfolio, including:
When integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, facility management software provides CREs with even more data, including real-time space utilization at portfolio-, building- and floor-level as well as total capacity versus actual occupancy.
With this information, CREs have the power to leverage current and historical data to not only forecast future space needs but also identify opportunities to consolidate space and reduce real estate costs considerably.
Additionally, facility management software lets CREs see monthly and yearly lease obligations, including contract dates, renewal options and monthly payment as well as all important lease documentation for both property and asset leases. Having all of this information in a single database lets CREs to more easily optimize their portfolio.
Like CRE leaders, the operations and facility management team also benefit from the space management tools within facility management software. It helps them better understand how employees occupy and utilize the workplace and, in turn, make more effective decisions about how to manage, maintain and allocate the space.
In addition, the operations/facility management team can take advantage of move management, asset tracking and service request tools.
With move management software, rearranging and relocating employees, furniture and assets is a breeze. Facility management leaders can:
This allows them to plan and coordinate moves in the most efficient way while minimizing disruption.
Asset tracking tools also let the operations and facility management team view details about every asset in a single place, including physical location, age, purchase date, install date and warranty information. They can also see an asset’s true utilization, costs and performance to make more informed maintenance decisions and extend the lives of mission-critical assets.
Finally, with facility maintenance software, the team can create, view and manage all on-demand and preventative maintenance requests in a centralized queue. They can also see the total number of assigned tickets, the status of each ticket and the number of tickets by request type.
In response to the changing nature of work, many organizations have begun hiring workplace experience (WX) managers. A WX manager is responsible for the overall employee experience as well as the workplace elements that influence it —including the physical workplace, the technology the organization provides and the policies that impact company culture.
WX managers leverage the tools within facility management software to empower employees to get the most out of their professional environment. More specifically, WX managers connect facility management software to employee-facing technology like kiosks and digital signage to communicate important information to the workforce and enable them to effectively interact with the workplace.
With kiosks and digital signage, employees can more easily navigate the office, find colleagues, book meeting spaces and reserve assets. In turn, the WX manager gains valuable data about how employees engage with the workplace and its technology, which he or she can use to further optimize the WX.
As the wardens of workplace technology, IT managers are tasked with ensuring your company’s software and hardware support a productive, modern digital workplace.
With facility management software, IT managers can track the utilization and performance of workspaces and technology assets throughout their organization. They can aggregate this information into analytics dashboards to detect patterns and identify trends, such as which rooms always appear to occupied and which always seem to be vacant. They can see service requests related to workplace technology and make decisions about future investments based on needs.
For instance, an IT manager might discover a conference room is underutilized, investigate related service requests and determine no one is using the room because the Wi-Fi signal in that part of the office is weak or the videoconferencing equipment is unreliable.
Using this information, the IT manager can make updates to ensure employees have what they need, no matter where they are.
The best facility management software integrates with employee-facing mobile apps, which allow your entire workforce to enjoy the benefits.
Employee experience apps like iOFFICE Hummingbird connect your workforce with the people, places, resources and services they need to be productive.
For instance, they can:
You can also integrate Hummingbird with Slack so employees can receive alerts and notifications directly in their Slack channels.
Powerful, easy-to-use facility management software has become an essential investment. However, many solutions on the market today are either overly complex and hardware-intensive or limited in their functionality.
To find the best facility management solution, look for software that is:
The way we work is changing, and your workplace deserves technology that can keep up. Take the first step today—schedule a live demo of our facility management software.
