New Technology Heals Problems Left Behind By Old IWMS System (Case Study)

FBL Financial Group was experiencing rapid growth and expansion, which is usually great news. However, their outdated IWMS platform was the cause of many issues and was not keeping the flow of incoming employees and changing offices properly organized.  The iOffice IWMS software helped sort through the confusion. 

Many companies implement integrated workplace management system (IWMS) applications, with high hopes of how the robust tool could help supply valuable information about their facility. However, often times either mismatched systems, or outdated technology can eventually cause more harm than good. This exact situation plagued our current customer FBL Financial group, before they adopted iOffice. Here is their story.  

The Challenge: Rapid Expansion Exposes Outdated Software Snags

FBL’s initial IWMS program was holding them back, when it was supposed to be propelling them forward. Although implemented with the best intentions, their program could not easily process and manage frequent changes without significant manual effort, slowing down the workflow overall. Also, it didn’t help that the initial company that provided the software had been bought and sold many times. The complicated updates provided only temporary fixes to what was a much larger problem. The software no longer met the needs of the user. 

What We’ve Learned: All IWMS Systems Are Not Created Equal

The FM team had just about had enough with manually plugging data in and out, tweaking processes to accommodate urgent needs- taking too much time to handle what should be routine business requests. Combined with the gaps in technical support, the complex end-user experience and difficulty training newcomers, their current IWMS was just not operating as originally intended.

The FBL team made the decision to partner with us after learning iOffice could be easily integrated with other business systems. 

“With iOffice, everything is simple…it saves time and delivers faster results.” – FBL iOffice user

With the iOffice platform, HR data feeds directly and automatically into the system, eliminating the need for anyone to enter duplicate information separately and manually for any employee moves, adds or changes. There is less user error, no duplicated efforts, and speedier change management. The system was just what FBL needed to keep control of their rapidly expanding database. 

The Main Takeaway: Evaluate Your Current System, and Consider Changes For the Better

The FBL facilities management team has saved time, experienced faster communication and speedier transfers with the iOffice system, taking the pain out of facilities management. In the future, FBL foresees using iOffice to enhance its processes and methods for their building management. 

FBL took the time to evaluate their current situation, and rightfully determined their initial plan just wasn’t meeting their needs as an organization. Their story is an excellent example of the positive impact taking the time to catch up on your current operations can have. It may be easy to keep using what you always use simply for the sake of routine, however it is in your facility’s best interest to continually be evaluating. Something out there could be what you needed all along.

To access the complete FBL Financial Group Case Study, click here.