Facility Management Software

Introduction

Facility management software is designed to allow organisations to more effectively manage their facility and plant assets. In particular, the software can be used to oversee repair and preventative maintenance work, store drawings and schematics, assist with auditing efforts, record information about facility layouts and room usage, and store important data about equipment and tools. All of this makes it easier for organisations to make effective use of space, avoid unnecessary downtime, save money on emergency repairs, and manage other aspects of a facility.

The practice of managing a facility through the use of computer software is sometimes referred to as computer-aided facility management (CAFM) and software of this kind may also be called CAFM software. These programs allow users to centralise information about a workplace so that it can be easily accessed, and this information can then be viewed within the wider context of what else is happening in the building and why. In organisations with multiple premises, the use of facility software also allows important information to be shared across those locations.

Among the most common features of facility management software are space management, equipment management, maintenance management and incident management options. Some applications focus on particular areas, as is the case with facility space management software, or a facilities ticketing system, while others are more varied in terms of options and functions on offer, providing a more all-purpose experience.

The nature of facility software means it can be easily categorised alongside solutions like building maintenance software, fixed asset management software, and field service management software. However, it is worth highlighting the fact that facility management software often includes many of the same features as those applications, while offering plenty of others, too. This can potentially save businesses money on buying multiple applications, which is especially valuable for smaller enterprises, where there may be a limited software and training budget.

While the precise range of features on offer can vary substantially from one solution to the next, and while some solutions will be higher in quality than others, most of the best CAFM software solutions include similar core features. These help to define the category and will allow users to:

• Plan and track maintenance activities, and schedule preventative maintenance work
• Control and manage the use of physical space within a workplace, such as room bookings
• Schedule events and activities, and reserve the use of equipment and other resources
• Record the results or findings of audits, and plan any follow-up activities that may be needed

What is facility management software?

Facility management software is the name given to software that has been designed to assist users with management activities related to their facility and plant assets. One of the best ways to explore precisely what facility management is and how it works is to answer the question, "What is facility management?" first. Essentially, it is the use of tools and processes to ensure operational functionality, safety, and efficiency linked to property is optimised.

With this in mind, facility software allows businesses and other organisations to centralise much of the important information related to space management, maintenance management, equipment management, and incident management. From there, it becomes easier to ensure that the workplace is functioning as it should, that employees can safely perform their roles, and that equipment is managed effectively so that people can use it when they need it.

Through the use of high-quality computer-aided facility management software (CAFM software), it is easy to carry out preventive maintenance work and fix problems as and when they do occur, in the most efficient way possible, while avoiding situations like the double-booking of rooms, or equipment. All of this combines to allow for improved productivity and better overall management of work facilities or plant assets. Crucially, this can also occur within a single building, or across a network of different premises or work sites, depending on individual circumstances.

What are the benefits of facility management software?

The benefits of facility software, or CAFM software, are largely centred around the idea of centralising important information related to facilities or plants, and related assets. For the most part, these software solutions are intended to help facility managers and other senior business leaders keep workplaces running smoothly, identify any problems as soon as possible, and track important activities, such as maintenance work. With that said, some of the more specific advantages associated with the use of this software include the following:

• Increased productivity: one of the main advantages associated with the use of facility management software is the ability to reduce downtime. This is primarily made possible through the use of features that allow past, current, and future maintenance options to be tracked, managed and scheduled so that equipment failure is minimised and any problems are resolved as quickly as possible. However, productivity benefits can also be found through effective space management, room scheduling and similar features, ensuring that employees know where they should be at any given time. This can help organisations to avoid situations where rooms are overbooked, where overcrowding hinders work and where too many people are trying to use the same equipment at the same time.
• Enhanced access to information: another major benefit of using facility management software involves the centralisation of important information so that it can be accessed easily and quickly. Examples of some of the information that users may need to access include audit reports, maintenance reports, room bookings, incident reports and information about visitors to the workplace. Crucially, when all of these details can be stored within a single application, it makes the entire process of finding and using the information much more efficient. Moreover, data from multiple sources can more easily be found, viewed, compared and contrasted, while in workplaces with more than one office or facility, information can be easily shared between them, as well.
• Improved compliance: the use of facility management software to track the status of various aspects of the workplace and manage audit reports can allow users to improve overall levels of compliance with industry rules and regulations. Some solutions will offer the ability to store relevant documents, outline processes that need to be completed in order to fully comply with new regulations, and confirm which regulations are currently being complied with, complete with the relevant supporting evidence. All of this can help to avoid situations where a business has failed to comply within the necessary timeframe, which could potentially result in fines and other penalties.
• Optimised resource usage: when resources within a facility can be managed or controlled through a centralised facility management software solution, it becomes easier to optimise the use of those resources. This could include regulating or overseeing the use of equipment, the use of tools, or even the use of labour so that productivity is maximised, the amount of time people are spending doing nothing is minimised, and unnecessary queues to use particular tools or rooms are either eradicated or kept to an absolute minimum.
• Reduced paperwork: the ability to store information related to facilities and assets digitally can help organisations to reduce the amount of paperwork they process, while also helping to improve accuracy by removing some of the human error associated with written documentation. Within Australia and other parts of the world, digital signatures are also now recognised and supported by law, with very few exceptions, and this means that facility management software can be used to take issues related to regulatory compliance into the digital sphere, too.

What are the features of facility management software?

The features of facility management software depend on the nature of each individual application and its particular area(s) of focus. For instance, a facilities ticketing system may have a less comprehensive range of features than CAFM software, while facility space management software, or facility asset management software, are going to have features that centre around those particular areas, too. Nevertheless, the majority of solutions on the market will offer:

• Maintenance management: plan, schedule and track maintenance work, in order to ensure all physical assets remain in full working order. Using facility management software, it becomes quick and simple to monitor and schedule maintenance work to be carried out on equipment, as well as structural repairs, so that the workplace is fully functional and disruption is minimised. The maintenance management component of many software solutions will also allow users to keep a record of any past maintenance work that has been completed. As a result, the information is readily available for future reference and can be used to inform subsequent maintenance efforts. Over time, this data can also be used to anticipate when future maintenance work may be required.
• Space management: oversee, organise, control, and supervise the use of space within a physical building. This functionality is also found in facility space management software, meaning more general-purpose facility management software solutions could potentially be used instead. Monitoring the physical occupancy levels of different parts of a building can be essential for optimising the use of space, but also for health and safety purposes. Users may be able to set limits on the number of people that are able to be in a particular location at any given time, and in many cases, notifications can be set up, alerting the user to overcrowding or inefficiencies.
• Reporting/analytics: create reports covering the results or conclusions of audits and present the information in a wide range of different visual formats, including charts, graphs, standard text or numerical data. From there, users may also be able to get their facility management software to carry out analytics work automatically, through artificial intelligence and machine learning. This can be useful for identifying significant trends or patterns, learning valuable lessons and establishing precisely what state a facility is in and what can be done to improve it.
• Equipment management: monitor the use of equipment within a facility, manage the allocation of different tools and make important decisions about the reallocation of equipment to different parts of the workplace, based on the needs of the moment. An equipment management feature can be essential for making sure the tools and technology within a workplace are sufficient and being used in the right ways to maximise outcomes.
• Incident management: keep track of incidents within a facility, such as equipment failures, service failures and other disruptive events. Having this information in a central location means it is easier to access in the moment and makes it easier to access in the future, too. As a result, users will be able to compare current incidents with previous incidents, find out how similar incidents were resolved in the past and pick up on any incidents that have happened multiple times. This can then help to inform equipment purchasing, maintenance and training decisions going forward.
• Preventative maintenance: plan, record and otherwise oversee preventative maintenance efforts. In many cases, facilities can be kept in full operation through the careful scheduling of preventative maintenance efforts, which are intended to stop equipment failures and other similar problems from manifesting. Through the use of past data, artificial intelligence and information from employees, it is often possible to anticipate issues, act quickly and avoid downtime. Not only can this help to keep the facility up and running, but it can also save time and money that would otherwise need to be spent on more complex maintenance activities further down the line.
• Room scheduling: maintain a schedule of who is using which room, and at what time. Scheduling can be effective for managing a number of different room types within workplaces, but especially if those rooms contain equipment and technology that is only available on a limited basis. This particular feature also goes hand-in-hand with the space management component of facility management software. When the use of certain rooms is controlled on the basis of a schedule, it becomes easier to ensure that those spaces are being used by an appropriate number of people. Room scheduling can also be vital for locating individual employees over the course of a working day.
• Visitor management: manage visitors to a workplace, so that important information is made accessible, including details on who is visiting, when they are visiting, who they are meeting and where they will be. Having this information available ahead of a visitor arriving can be essential for allocating time, space and equipment. However, the visitor management component can also be valuable during visits, where it can tell users where visitors can be found and after their visit, where it can tell users who visited the workplace, why they visited, when they were there and who they met. Some solutions include built-in check-in and check-out options, too.

Using the Capterra software directory, it is easy to sort through the available options, based on the features they have to offer. This can help users to begin their search by only seeing the software solutions that deliver exactly what they need. Meanwhile, customer reviews for the various facility management products are also available and this feedback from real users who have first-hand experience with the applications can be used to inform decision making.

What should be considered when purchasing facility management software?

When purchasing facility management software, there are a number of things that need to be considered. Taking the time to think carefully about the different options on the market and viewing them within a wider context of what is actually needed can be essential for making the right selection. One of the best ways to do this is to ask the following questions and really contemplate the answers to them:

• What is facility management software for? It is vital to give some serious thought to what the facility management software is actually going to be used for. Not every organisation is going to need all of the features provided by the most comprehensive solutions on the market, and this means there may be instances where the best overall solution may not necessarily be the best solution for a specific workplace. Try to come up with a list of the most important features, the ways the software is going to be used and the features that are not necessarily needed. Once this has been done, the process of finding the best option becomes much easier.
• Can facility software integrate with other applications? If other applications are currently being used for some of the features that are included within facility management software, or if there are other software solutions that could work alongside the facility software, it is important to give consideration to the level of integration that is possible. Can data be easily moved from one application to the other? Is it possible to import files from other applications? What file formats are supported? When buyers take the time to answer these questions, they can make a more informed decision about the best solution for their particular setup and circumstances.
• Is mobile accessibility important? Gartner research shows that mobile apps have a huge bearing on business success in the modern world and this is largely due to the way modern work has become more flexible. Today, it is common for employees to carry out tasks while at home, while travelling or in different locations within the workplace. This can make the availability of either a dedicated mobile app or access to cloud-based facility management software through a mobile web browser essential. Even if this is not a pressing concern right now, it is something that buyers should think about with regard to how their facility software may be used in the future.
• What is the best CAFM software deployment option? Finally, it is essential that buyers spend the necessary time thinking about the different deployment options available for facility software. The two main options here are on-premises deployment, where the business owns the software, sets it up on their own systems and then manages data themselves, or the cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) approach, where a third-party service provider manages the software, makes it available over the cloud and then securely stores data in the cloud, too. The former has higher upfront costs and those costs may be more unpredictable, especially with regard to updates and data handling. The latter, meanwhile, has lower upfront costs and the costs are more predictable, but there is usually a subscription fee that is paid for an agreed length of time. Both have plus points and drawbacks, so the right option will depend on a number of factors, including how the software will be used and by whom.

What are the most relevant facility management software trends?

The most relevant facility management software trends are another factor that should be considered before making a purchasing decision. It is important that businesses opt for solutions that offer the best chance of serving them well for the foreseeable future, and this requires the applications to have been designed with an awareness of current and emerging trends. Some of the most important trends to think about in relation to facility management are:

• Growth in conversational user interfaces: The rise of chatbots, smart assistants, and similar tools have led to increased demand for conversational user interfaces in general. It is worth thinking about whether or not a solution that includes conversational elements, such as speech recognition, or the use of chatbots, could benefit facility managers and make work more efficient. One of the potential advantages of a conversational user interface is the ability to carry out facility management work while also performing other complex tasks; primarily through the use of voice commands. Conversational user interfaces can also offer accessibility advantages, especially for people with disabilities that might prevent them from using conventional software user interfaces.
• Rise of cloud technology: Software releases of almost all kinds have been influenced by the rise of cloud technology and the advantages it can provide. In particular, cloud storage makes it easier to share data across locations and update that data so that changes are visible to everyone, in real-time. In addition, there are advantages in terms of data security and compatibility across multiple different devices and operating systems. With facility management software, cloud technology can be used to keep audit reports and similar information up to date and to share information about the status of equipment. Furthermore, it can be especially advantageous when it comes to a facilities ticketing system, or booking platform, where instant sharing of information may be necessary.
• Increased use of artificial intelligence: A growing number of software solutions are finding ways to make effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities and this is a trend that shows no sign of slowing down. Within facility management software, in particular, AI has the potential to automatically identify trends, such as when maintenance should be scheduled in order to avoid downtime, or when rooms are most likely to be in high demand. In the latter scenario, this analysis can be carried out not only on a day-by-day basis, but also in terms of pinpointing the busiest months or the busiest periods of the year, making it easier to plan and manage the use of rooms, space and equipment over time. AI technology also has the potential to carry out tasks like data analysis, even without the need for human intervention, and it can remove some of the human error associated with performing these tasks manually. The result is not only greater efficiency, but also greater accuracy.
• Remote and hybrid work models: A final trend to keep in mind while exploring facility management software options is the growth of remote and hybrid working arrangements. It is now more common and sometimes necessary for employees to work from home, or from other remote locations, and this can have an influence on the software that is used. Where remote work is needed, or where facility managers may occasionally work off-site, it is essential that software can be accessed from anywhere, using a range of devices, and that any changes made to data are made across the board, so that there is consistency throughout the organisation.