What is IWMS?
Integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) can help an organization with facilities management, project management, and real estate lifecycle management.
Ideal IWMS software integrates a series of functional areas within a workplace that were initially not combined or working simultaneously, but now serve as areas that crucially need to work together.
Facilities management
This refers to operations and maintenance of workplace facilities, including management of employee service, move management, resource scheduling, computer-aided design, building information modeling, and space management. Floor plans or other maps can be readily available in an easy to understand view for any necessary analysis or information gathering. The Internet of Things (IoT) can also provide sensors to product data on occupancy and analyze possible space occupation and any ideal changes in cost.
Capital project management
Capital project management typically involves the design and implementation of building expansions or renovations, facilities replacement, and blueprints, all of which are coordinated on an IWMS to support design, capital management, cost, procurement, scheduling, bidding, critical path analysis, and documentation.
Facilities maintenance
It is crucial to keep building occupants comfortable and safe.
Facilities must be maintained, and IWMS solutions can maintain a
database of necessary information like maintenance requests, inventory,
vendors, warranties, work orders, and associated costs. Preventative
maintenance can also be analyzed and applied to prevent more expensive
future costs. Occupants can submit requests through a self-service
portal, at which point facilities maintainers can prioritize requests.
IoT systems are being integrated into IWMS platforms, which can anticipate maintenance needs and provide real time monitoring of facilities and associated assets.
Real estate lifecycle management
Real estate management demands combined data sets about managed properties, including square footage, costs, assets, lease terms, and occupancy. Management of real estate in an IWMS provides a visualization for different spaces for the purpose of showcasing the space, and keeping record of the different options and layouts available—this enables communication between potential and current tenants, as well as anybody else interacting with the property including maintenance and outside contractors.
An IWMS can also manage information in the event of an acquisition, needed portfolio management, lease management, accounting, and tax management.
Resource management
Businesses have been trending toward more sustainable practices, and
IWMS software is accommodating. Facilities are capable of measuring,
analyzing, and reducing consumption of resources and waste—examples
include use of water, energy, and emission of greenhouse gases. IWMS
allows facility management to take advantage of features to increase
sustainable practices, gather performance metrics, and plan better
energy management.
Facilities managers can also log and track goalposts using data collection and automated reports that can indicate whether or not goals are being met, and whether or not goals need to be more realistically adjusted. Goals can provide a wider view of sustainability practices and help workplaces grow their understanding of their all around consumption. IoT has also played into facilities management, as smart sensors can adjust anything from lighting to adjustment of temperature based on usage, detection of environment, and occupancy of the space.
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