In today’s increasingly complex working environment, organizations are focusing on building a robust infrastructure for sustainable growth. This includes both the physical and underlying infrastructure of the processes and systems that govern it. Whether you own a construction site, an educational institution, or a corporate office, you are likely to face many challenges as it is challenging to comply with the rules relating to maintenance and organization.
A facility management system lies at the heart of an organization and allows processes to be streamlined to ensure maximum efficiency and use of infrastructure. Facility managers need to be aware of the disparate platforms and bring them into an integrated, streamlined, and well-managed solution.
Numerous facility management tips and guides help simplify and accelerate the overall management process. In this article, we’ll understand how to implement facility management software.
What is facility management?
According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), facilities management is an organizational function that integrates people, place, and processes within an established environment to improve the quality of people’s lives and the productivity of the core business.
Facilities management encompasses the tools, software, and services that support the operation, safety, and sustainability of a business. Some of the activities of facilities management include:
- Lease management
- Capital project planning and management
- Maintenance and operation
- Energy management
- Employee and tenant management
- Property management
- Emergency and business continuity management
- Space Management
What is Facility Management Software?
Facility management software is a specialist software designed and built to optimize the management of buildings. It allows organizations to manage their overall repair and maintenance programs through a web-based dashboard or facilities management application.
Modern FM software also aims to improve workflow completion and strengthen team communication.
How to implement facility management software?
Implementing facilities management software is not just an overnight job; you need to examine your organization’s requirements, such as what actions your facilities management software should perform, how it can help improve efficiency and more.
Identify the staff
You need to understand what kind of staff will interact with the facilities management solution. Virtually all are possible, but you need to find out. For example, ground-level staff file troubleshooting requests through the CMMS portal, department managers update the existing employee directory, planning managers rely on deep dashboard data to make real estate and financial decisions, facilities managers collect and analyze this data to improve the workplace, and IT administrators integrate office devices through the system.
Determine who needs what and why, and evaluate certain features, benefits, and functions to simplify the next stage.
Software development
The next step is to develop software that meets the needs of your business. You can turn to facilities management software companies that offer ready-to-deploy software solutions for software development, or you can turn to a bespoke software development service provider. There is no doubt that developing bespoke facilities management software is the best approach for stage two.
Off-the-shelf software may not have all the features your business needs or may have some extra features that you don’t need at all; either way, it is a costly investment. Whereas with bespoke software development, you get what you need for your business and support services to ensure the software runs smoothly.
You can use the information you gain to make informed decisions in the software development process. The software development phase is crucial because it involves the precise implementation of the software to manage the facility. Make sure that the software you choose meets the criteria of your business needs and expectations. Check the MVP for all parameters such as user interface, integration capabilities, report tracking, etc.
Define and build the system
Now that you’ve finally developed your custom software, it’s time to outline your workflows. Start with the following steps to integrate the software into your existing operations and create a system:
- List the processes and tasks you can automate with the platform.
- Collect and analyze the data you can change in the software
- Establish communication and collaboration modes integrated into the software.
- Revise manual processes that need to be restored to the software.
- A custom software development company can help you complete the customization for your business and help you create and optimize every unique aspect of the system.
Programming and deployment
Before you deploy your software system, test it and make sure it is designed accordingly. This step is also known as the wash, wax, and polish phase when the system is ready to be deployed. However, a test deployment can disrupt the system and frustrate employees, so you need to think through the final steps before deployment:
- Test workflows and processes to make sure they work as planned.
- Establish credentials for employees according to permissions and access requirements
- Define cross-departmental links such as portals and workflows.
- Conduct security and availability audit between multiple applications.
Integrate it into your workflow
Now that you have implemented an object management system make it the standard for performing any activity in the organization. Your facilities management software should be the basis for operations and decision-making. The best way to notice the return on investment is to normalize its use across different verticals in your enterprise.
Conclusion
Facility management technology every day incorporates new enhancements involving new technologies that help create sustainable, advanced systems that meet standard business requirements and deliver measurable results. A facility management solution helps identify the best ways to improve operations and maintenance procedures. Using best practices makes your facility more proactive and less reactive.
