CAFM & IT
SURVEYING SOFTWARE SERVICES
Gary Watkins, CEO for Service Works Group discusses the results of a recent CAFM technology review and what they mean for the industry.
The technology available to facilities managers has enabled them to expand their use of software, far beyond reactive and planned maintenance, to a variety of tasks including resource management, capital projects and space management.
The recent annual FM software survey, conducted by Service Works Group (SWG), revealed that FMs believe CAFM has brought significant benefits throughout their organisation and has even had a positive impact on the business’s bottom line. Almost 50% of respondents felt that the greatest business benefit of FM software has been in helping to secure new contracts, and add value to existing ones by demonstrating confidence, offering improved data quality and greater transparency.
Businesses are feeling the benefits of FM software in a number of ways, including through streamlined processes and integration with other systems.
The survey respondents (of whom 45% worked in-house and 31% were outsourced service providers) revealed that they continue to rely on FM software for maintenance works, with 91% of respondents using CAFM for reactive maintenance and 88% to manage PPM schedules.
However, the software is also being put to effective use by bringing a wider range of benefits through asset management, contract management, as well as resource management, space planning and move management, mobile workforce management, and health and safety.
In order to create a best-of-breed, cost-effective and enterprise-wide solution for their organisation, over half of the FM service providers
26 | TOMORROW’S FM “ALMOST 50% OF
RESPONDENTS FELT THAT THE GREATEST
BUSINESS BENEFIT OF FM SOFTWARE HAS BEEN IN HELPING TO SECURE NEW CONTRACTS.”
integrated their FM software with other systems. Integration with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, finance and health and safety systems were the most popular, alongside Building Management Systems (BMS), energy management and environmental systems. Despite the mandatory introduction of 3D Business Information Modelling (BIM) for all UK public sector projects from April this year, and the call to the industry to embrace BIM technology, some 50% of the respondents are still failing to take advantage of the benefits of integrating CAFM with BIM.
Beyond the benefits of integrating FM software, the survey has also identified other prominent trends. Several features and functions of FM software and technology are becoming more prominent in day- to-day use, and are having a greater impact on the business.
One example is the use of self- service, which is becoming increasingly popular in FM, with almost 60% citing this as a significant FM software technology trend. The results show that two thirds of respondents provide self- service help desk access, 90% of whom said they offer access to their staff and building occupants, an increase of more than half since last year.
The most prominent trend, highlighted by the survey, was the use of mobile apps. Last year, almost half of respondents said they were already using tablet and mobile technology as part of their FM strategy to manage contractors and operatives, which has risen this year by some 72%.
The survey also showed that while FM software emerged as the leading tool to manage the FM function, a third of organisations are still relying on Excel and paper-based tools. This means that nearly half of the respondents’ companies are left not only without global access to information for consistent management reporting, but are also vulnerable to serious service failure, lack of compliance, or health and safety breaches.
Many people are now implementing CAFM software to create a more effective and efficient workplace; however many organisations still need to take the next step to a more reliable, transparent and high data quality system that will contribute to the business objectives.
www.swg.com
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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