Flexibility is “more cowbell”

by Elizabeth Dukes on November 19, 2013
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Technology greatly benefits organizations in terms of increasing efficiency and productivity by automating More_Cowbellmanual tasks. In addition, technology has the ability to provide access to better data in real-time and reduce the overall cost of doing business. However, technology can also be a tremendous burden to an organization. If the technology does not meet or enhance the natural workflow of an organization, if it is difficult to use, implement and maintain and or requires too many or fixed resources, it may not be worth the investment.

Flexibility and simplicity of use of technology tools is key especially in the management of facility services. Every organization or industry says that their operation is unique. Although the concept of the services they deliver is inherently the same, the nature of their business truly makes it different. The tools you engage to help you mange the back office operations needs to adapt to these nuances. In addition, they need to be intuitive and easily integrated in the natural course of the user’s work process.

As part of our “more cowbell” commitment, our development philosophy places heavy emphasis on flexibility of configuration and ease of use. Our portal is a SaaS (Software as a Service) model, so we have a single application replicated multiple times. The only way to create flexibility for 1800 different customer locations, that truly are unique, is to offer flexibility of configuration, which we provide through our center driven architecture, workflow preferences and customizable fields.

Finally, it is has to be easy to use. Who has time to study a 3-inch binder or attend multi-day training class? By the time the implementation process is complete, our customers typically fully grasp how to use the tool.

This week we are highlighting the value of simplicity and flexibility in the workplace. Here is a snapshot of this weeks articles: 

Tuesday: Tracing the evolution of the GUI through the years

Wednesday: SaaS, cloud solutions and web-based software all prominent in facilities management

Thursday: Benefits of bringing asset management to the cloud

Friday: Worldwide market for software as a service (SaaS) on the rise

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Dukes

Elizabeth Dukes' pieces highlight the valuable role of the real estate and facility managers play in their organizations. Prior to iOFFICE, Elizabeth was in sales for large facility and office service outsourcing firm.

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