A new year is about to start and although this should be time of laughter and sheer joy unfortunately 2009 is not. As the majority of US and European corporations feel the bitterness of the financial crisis corporate investments in Integrated Workplace Management Systems have been reduced to an absolute minimum.

Does this implicate that the coming few years will be an absolute nightmare for IWMS vendors? Most likely not as Integrated Workplace Management Systems are in the “cost-savings business“. Although this seems a quite bold statement it is not.

In the coming posts I will discuss the reasons for this statement. Today increased efficiency through IWMS.  

Increased Efficiency Through IWMS

To cut costs most companies reduce the number of employees. As a result the same amount of work has to be done with less employees. Completing work with less employees can basically be achieved in two ways:

1. Force employees to work more than 100 hours a week…..
2. Implement systems which can automate routines

Since the first solution will get you in a lot of trouble with the Department of Justice the only way to go is to implement systems which can automate routines. Integrated Workplace Management Systems are exceptionally well fit for this task.

Alhough you can expect some benefit from the system itself, the real benefit is in structurizing processes within your organization. When you as FM or RE professional objectively evaluate your facility processes you will most likely come accross a lot of processes (Purchasing, Help Desk Calls, Conference Room Reservations, Service Requests, Contracts, etc.) which are managed through lots of Excel spreadsheets on John Doe’s computer. Unfortunately John has called in sick two days ago…

Does this sound familiar? Realize that John’s absence is a potential cost saver! Integrated Workplace Management Systems can automate FM routines that will:

1. Minimize human inteference by (re-) routing work automatically to the correct tradesperson
2. Increase the availability (24×7) of your products and services catalog through web access
3. Reduce the number of required FM employees to support your business processes and thus reduce costs
4. Reduce the costs of errors since workflow and data integrity protection will enforce your business rules

These routines immediately start saving money for you and my advice is to focus on efficiency!

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