Demystifying FedRAMP Compliance and Authorization

Posted on October 23, 2023 by admin

As a government agency, there are many advantages to being able to tap into cloud technologies. From eliminating time-consuming manual tasks and reducing paperwork, cloud technologies offer a spectrum of efficient and effective improvements over traditional methods. Plus, software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription-based models can help reduce annual information technology costs.

To implement these technologies, however, you’ll need to comply with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program known as FedRAMP provides a standardized approach for assessing and complying with government security controls, authorizing cloud products and services, and providing continuous monitoring of systems. It’s managed by the FedRAMP Program Management Office (PMO).

FedRAMP authorization can seem daunting, but if you have the right resources and preparation in place, the process can be streamlined and simplified. In fact, there’s a lot less for a Federal agency to do than you might think. The burden is predominantly on the cloud service provider (CSP) whose services you wish to use and its independent assessor over your team and internal resources.

There are several common myths, misconceptions, and questions about FedRAMP requirements and processes – and a few benefits to understand given the investment and effort of the program.

To help clarify, we spoke with expert James Masella, Vice President of Compliance Advisory Services, at Coalfire – a leading provider of IT security assessments for many security standards and payments frameworks and programs, including FedRAMP support.

Masella has been working in IT for 20 years – 15 of them focused on security assessments for Federal controls, most prominently, helping organizations comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity controls. Over his career, Masella has accomplished over 70 FedRAMP compliance and assessment projects – and has been working on them since the program’s infancy in 2015. He’s been with Coalfire for eight years.

What is FedRAMP?

If you’re evaluating cloud technologies, such as a workplace and asset maintenance platform, it helps to have a background in the evolution of FedRAMP since there are many different cybersecurity compliance and controls to manage. In fact, the program was created specifically with this knowledge. The entire goal of FedRAMP is to accelerate the adoption of secure cloud solutions in the Federal government.

It streamlines the authorization process for CSPs and improves confidence in the security of cloud solutions. FedRAMP was created by the General Services Administration (GSA) in partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD) and NIST.

“The big problem that FedRAMP was meant to solve was the Federal government knew it needed to modernize its IT infrastructure because their model was not sustainable,” explains Masella. “Commercial cloud services were a lot more affordable than the way much of the government manages IT infrastructure and provided better services.”

The challenge is having assurance that the security of those commercial cloud services is meeting the requirements of the Federal government. Under the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), every federal agency can implement its own security plan if it follows the guidelines of the law – which also include audits and independent assessments.

FedRAMP pulls that all under one umbrella and allows all Federal agencies to leverage independent assessors to reduce duplicate effort within audit and assessment work. But FedRAMP is not a certification – it’s a compliance framework within a Federal program that an organization is either authorized to be a part of or not.

“FedRAMP is a different animal,” says Masella. “You actually are building an information system for Federal government use and the government is authorizing that system for use for Federal data.”

Any vendor who has gone through an extensive audit process can be listed in the FedRAMP marketplace, so Federal agencies can easily find and procure services without having to do additional research or due diligence. It makes it easier for departments, such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DoD, or healthcare organizations including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to purchase products from vetted vendors quickly while reducing costs associated with IT resources.

The good news is there are over 300 authorizations on the FedRAMP marketplace today, and some of them are large, some are small. They’ve all solved many of the challenges and issues already, relays Masella.

Delineation of work under FedRAMP: Who is responsible and for what?

The PMO is responsible for managing documents, such as policies, procedures, standards, guidance documents, templates, checklists, etc., which are used throughout all stages of authorization. The FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB) reviews all provisional Authority to Operate (ATO) packages before they are authorized.

The 3PAOs – Third Party Assessment Organizations – conduct independent security assessments for agencies before issuing a Provisional ATO. These 3PAOs assess each system’s compliance with NIST 800-53 standards, as well as other requirements specified by each agency or department at four different Impact Levels ranging from Low to High. Coalfire is an example of a 3PAO.

“In the case where a CSP has engaged an advisor, the advisor entities are doing all of the work,” says Matella. “The [government] agency just has their due diligence under the law to review the risk. That’s it. It’s the same thing they would have to do if they were the second agency, the last agency or the agency in the middle. There is no difference.”

The heavy lift and burden are accomplished by the 3PAOs and the cloud service provider.

The requirements for FedRAMP compliance

Depending on the risk associated with a particular service, organizations must demonstrate their commitment to security to gain authorization from the JAB. The requirements range from basic NIST 800-53 Rev 4 controls at Low Impact Level (Level 1) all the way up to DHS Risk Management Framework regulations and additional physical protection measures at High Impact Level (Level 3).

Once a Provisional Authority to Operate (PATO) has been granted, it is valid for three years, however, organizations are expected to continuously monitor their systems and update any changes made since initial authorization was granted.

Preparing for FedRAMP: What you need to know

If this is the first time you are dealing with FedRAMP, it’s important to understand some of the most common issues that can arise. Many of these will be the burden of the CSP you wish to use – but it’s better to know what they are upfront.

First, it’s important to communicate to the CSP your specific agency’s policies on who can access information. Some hurdles involve the standards and requirements themselves, relays Matella. These include technology and process compliance areas, such as validated encryption, requirements of internal flows, and connections to external services — they all must be FedRAMP authorized.

“In many cases, it’s not a Fed RAMP requirement, but it can be a requirement from agencies that only US persons or US citizens can actually access the production environments,” he says. “And many of these commercial cloud services are supported by offshore support and many have a ‘follow the sun’ (operational) model.”

As Masella points out, these issues have been dealt with before by other agencies and CSPs, but it’s one that needs to be addressed and understood from the outset.

Secondly, CSPs themselves may think they know compliance, but it can be more work than they know. Many IT leaders assume they have the expertise in-house to handle FedRAMP since they already have an internal security team. Just because they have a robust engineering team, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to architect a system to meet FedRAMP requirements.

“Many times, the engineering teams are great at designing infrastructure and applications, but once you take away a lot of the tools that they have been using or you have to implement some new measures that they didn’t have to have before, this can complicate things,” says Masella.

For example, perhaps a CSP doesn’t perform vulnerability scanning internally or they don’t do file integrity management today and must implement and use it. Now they’re having to decide on new tool sets – which take time to evaluate and get up to speed.

The other problem area Masella sees a lot is not having the business case worked out and detailed enough for the investment. If the CSP hasn’t done enough market research, they can easily get derailed.

“[A CSP] might not be able to get that first initial authorizing agency, might not get on the marketplace, might start the investment and it begins to get pretty big, and the return-on-investment case might not be there,” says Masella.

The best guidance is for the CSP to work with an experienced, third-party FedRAMP advisor preparation provider. And as he points out, many of the challenges and pitfalls can be avoided since much of it has been sorted out already. Getting this kind of information upfront will help you speed up your FedRAMP authorization process overall.

FedRAMP checklist

Common FedRAMP questions

Is FedRAMP a certification?
How long should it take to finish the FedRAMP process?
What should be prioritized first when seeking FedRAMP authorization?
Can artificial intelligence help speed up the process?

Common FedRAMP misconceptions

Our agency will have to do a lot of heavy lifting of the work.
The CSPs engineering team works on security compliance already, so FedRAMP work should be easy.
FedRAMP takes a lot longer than it should.

FedRAMP Questions / Misconceptions	Answers
Is FedRAMP a certification?	No, it’s a program. You use a compliance framework, audits, and assessments to be authorized to be within FedRAMP.
How long should it take to finish the FedRAMP process?	It depends. Very fast is 90 days. Most common is 9 to 12 months depending on prioritization and changes needed.
What should be prioritized first when seeking FedRAMP authorization?	Gaps between the FedRAMP framework and your current state of compliance.
Can artificial intelligence help speed up the process?	AI has a significant role to play in automating the creation and review of documentation packages which could speed up the process and increase the number of services in the marketplace, but it’s not in widespread use yet.
Our Federal agency will have to do a heavy lift.	Actually, the CSP we want to use and its 3PAO will do the bulk of the technology and process compliance. Our agency will perform due diligence on risk under the law.
The CSPs engineering team works on security compliance already, so FedRAMP work should be easy.	This is the most common pitfall: A large engineering team does not mean you will easily meet FedRAMP requirements.
FedRAMP takes a lot longer than it should.	Preparation with CSPs and independent guidance will help speed up the process. Know your specific agency information access policies and communicate them upfront to CSPs. Encourage CSPs to work with a 3PAO.

FedRAMP helps government agencies like yours make sure your data remains secure while reducing duplication when purchasing compliant offerings in the approved marketplace. It also provides assurance that any cloud solution used meets pre-defined security requirements so that you can have peace of mind knowing your data is being always kept safe and secure.

After you go through the FedRAMP process for the first time, it will open up the door to a world of new and evolving cloud technologies forever.

Reposted from Eptura blog.

About IMS Consulting

For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus-related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced Archibus-certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

IMS Consulting specializes in the implementation of Archibus, the #1 real estate, infrastructure & facilities management solution in the world. Archibus is the global leader in streamlining how you manage your real estate, infrastructure, and facilities. Centralize your data, planning, and operations onto one seamless platform backed by 35 years of innovation and the world’s largest support network. Reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and create a better workplace by transforming how you connect with people, places, and processes.

Revolutionize Your Workplace Management with Archibus Hoteling: Top 5 Reasons to Use This Innovative Solution

Posted on June 26, 2023 by admin

Archibus Hoteling Application

Hoteling software has become increasingly popular among businesses looking to optimize their office space and resources. By allowing employees to book workspaces, conference rooms, and other shared resources on an as-needed basis, hoteling software can help reduce real estate costs, increase productivity, and improve collaboration among team members.

The leading hoteling software solution is the Archibus Hoteling application. This innovative platform offers a range of features designed to help space managers, workplace managers, and facilities managers streamline their operations and improve their bottom line. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should consider using the Archibus Hoteling application:

1. Increased productivity: With Archibus Hoteling, employees can quickly and easily find and reserve available workspaces and resources, reducing time spent searching for open spaces or double-booking.
2. Improved space utilization: Archibus Hoteling provides valuable insights into how your office space is being used, allowing you to identify underutilized areas and make data-driven decisions about how to optimize your space.
3. Enhanced collaboration: Archibus Hoteling enables teams to easily book and share resources such as conference rooms and equipment, fostering a culture of collaboration and teamwork.
4. Customizable options: Archibus Hoteling is fully customizable to meet your unique business needs, allowing you to tailor the application to your specific requirements and workflows.
5. Cost savings: By optimizing space utilization and reducing the need for additional real estate, Archibus Hoteling can help you save on occupancy costs and improve your bottom line.

In addition to these benefits, the Archibus Hoteling application offers a range of features that make it a powerful tool for workplace management. These include:

- Real-time availability: Employees can view real-time availability of workspaces and resources, making it easy to find and book what they need.
- Mobile accessibility: Archibus Hoteling is accessible from any device with an internet connection, allowing employees to book resources on the go.
- Analytics and reporting: The application provides detailed analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing you to track space utilization, resource usage, and other key metrics.
- Integration with other Archibus solutions: The application integrates seamlessly with other Archibus solutions such as space management and asset management, providing a comprehensive workplace management platform.

So why wait? Take your office space management to the next level with Archibus Hoteling today! Contact us to learn more about how Archibus can help you manage your facilities and workplace effectively.

About IMS Consulting

For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus- related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced Archibus-certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

BIM for FM Construction Project Handover [Guide]

Posted on June 5, 2023November 6, 2023 by admin

In a perfect world, a construction project handover delivers everything facility and maintenance managers need to efficiently run the new facility, including data on all critical assets and equipment, where they are, and how best to operate and maintain them. But we don’t live in a perfect world, and that means handovers are often full of missing data or data trapped on paper, where it’s easy to lose and hard to leverage.

Before looking at how to improve them, it’s important to think about why handovers are so important.

Why is the construction project handover so important?

Money.

It’s important because no matter how much it costs to design and construct a new facility, it costs more to operate and maintain it, and the handover is what should set everyone up to run the new facility as efficiently as possible. It’s the first step to saving the most money when saving money matters most.

With the right data in the right formats, the owners know exactly what assets and equipment they have, where they have them, and what they need in place to both operate and maintain them.

Without a handover, or with one that’s slow and incomplete, owners find themselves spending many months and lots of money recreating or converting data into something their facility and maintenance managers can use.

In a recent Eptura webinar, Joy Trinquet, an industry analyst at Verdandix with a focus on BIM for operations, explains the problems with the traditional construction project handover.

“The existing handover processes at the end of construction projects are poor, at best. Building owners either receive no information or mounds of physical documents… They receive everything months after completion when the building’s already operating, and they can’t leverage it.”

And being inefficient gets expensive fast. “The cost of understanding these big close-out packages is about 10 cents per square foot, adding a lot of costs to a building owner who is just trying to get started.”

But with a successful construction handover process, earlier investments in building information modeling (BIM) data pay off throughout the entire facility life cycle.

That means owners get more value from their facilities, and they get it sooner. For construction companies, they can deliver more value to their customers. Instead of just a facility, you’re also including a turn-key plan for how to run it.

At the foundation of a successful construction handover is the seventh dimension of BIM.

What are the building information modeling (BIM) dimensions and what is 7D BIM?

BIM models have revolutionized the design and construction industries, allowing everyone involved in a project to contribute to a shared pile of data that’s both accurate and connected.

But the data’s not really a pile, after all.

One of the important things to understand about BIM data is that as you add in new types, you expand into new dimensions. So, 3D BIM is the basic dimensions for the facility, 4D includes all your design and construction timelines. 5D is money, while 6D BIM is all the data on sustainability. The data is not layered, and so it’s not really a pile. Instead, everything is interconnected, allowing you to see, for example, specific costs at different times in the construction phase, or the relationships between environmental studies and projected energy use.

7D BIM, which is BIM for facility management, is where you move all your earlier BIM data into new formats and a facility management software solution. Unlike earlier BIM data, though, which tends to both larger and more static, BIM for FM data is smaller, lighter, and constantly updating.

Why do you need different data for the design and construction phases and the operations and maintenance phases?

Different goals call for different types of data.

During the design and construction phases, a lot of that data, once it’s finalized, stays static. But for operations and maintenance, you need data that you can update in real time.

For example, the data you have for where the HVAC system goes in the walls and ceilings during design and construction always stays the same. But the data you have on usage, maintenance, and repairs on your HVAC systems changes over time. During construction, you only need to know where the roof units go. But to create and run a good maintenance program, you need to know where the units are location plus:

Makes
Models
Serial numbers
O&M manuals
Associated parts and materials
Maintenance inspection schedules
Maintenance tasks schedules
Maintenance and repair histories

Instead of as-built data, which tells you where everything is the day of the handover, you need as-maintained data, which tells you how best to run the facility.

Facilities are complex combinations of structures, assets, equipment, and grounds. But the same idea holds for much simpler products. When someone buys a car, they don’t need the blueprints. Instead, they need an owner’s manual.

7D BIM, BIM for FM, is the facility owner’s manual.

What are the benefits of BIM in facility management?

With the right data in the right formats, facility and maintenance managers know what they have, where they have it, and what they need to keep everything up and running.

So, when setting up preventive maintenance programs, they already have the first critical steps covered, including building their asset registry and going over the manufacturers’ recommendations on inspections and tasks.

And when technicians head out to do the work, they know exactly where to go because everything is already mapped out in the BIM data. Instead of walking around in circles, maintenance techs can move in efficient, straight lines.

For larger projects, when there’s a need to retrofit or renovate, planning is much faster and easier thanks to simple conflict detection. When you can easily access data on where everything is inside the walls, it makes it a lot easier to plan the plumbing for the new breakroom, for example.

Looking even further into the future, the BIM data from the turnover gets added to and updated throughout the facility’s life cycle, generating critical insights into choices made during design and construction. For example, the architect might have chosen a specific type of window for the sunnier side of a building to trap heat, hoping to reduce heating costs. However, during operations and maintenance, you might have a lot of new data that shows it costs more to replace the expensive panes than was ever saved in heating costs. When it’s time to design and construct a new facility, the architect would now know to use different windows.

Summary

The construction project handover has traditionally left owners frustrated, unable to capitalize on earlier investments in BIM data from design and construction. Instead of delivering a useful owner’s manual, construction companies can only offer a lot of the wrong data, much of it in the wrong format. Instead of being able to efficiently operate and maintenance their new facility starting right away, owners are left playing catch up, spending time and money converting piles of paper into workable data. BIM for FM is the process of taking static as-built data and creating dynamic as-maintained data that facility and maintenance managers can use to create preventive maintenance programs and more easily complete retrofits and renovations. BIM for FM is the facility owner’s manual.

About IMS Consulting

For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus- related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by exp犀利士
erienced Archibus-certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

Quick Tips: How to Make Desk Sharing Work

Posted on May 22, 2023 by admin

The concept of desk sharing can upset the balance of even the happiest workplace. Companies often believe their employees will clash over where, how, and when desks are used. Employees tend to fear the idea of a nomadic office, where they ultimately have no home. Both fears are valid, but easily addressed with the right desk-sharing setup.

Yanking the rug out from under employees with a desking shuffle is likely to create panic and chaos. Likewise, being too rigid about desk usage often eliminates the point of a shared desk arrangement. The approach needs to be somewhere in the middle—a happy medium between rigidity and office anarchy.

What is desk sharing?

Desk sharing’s definition is in its name. Instead of coming to work and walking to the same desk every day, employees can choose their workspace. There are many methods of execution. Some involve employees claiming a desk outright, while others rely on desk reservation systems.

Like most new-wave office concepts, the idea is to take employees out of their “silos” and encourage them to commingle homogeneously.

The motivation behind desk sharing is better space utilization and lower costs for the business. For employees, it’s meant to eliminate the droll, repetitious concept of doing the same thing every day. Desk sharing offers the flexibility both sides need to function better while promoting a positive, healthy workplace culture.

Desk sharing pros and cons

If the line between effective desk sharing at work and total workplace disruption is so thin, why chance it? Simple. The benefits of a successful desk-sharing arrangement far outweighs the negatives. Let’s put them in perspective.

Pros

Saves space and lower space utilization costs
Creates new collaboration opportunities among coworkers
Improves workplace culture and employee wellbeing
Helps attract and retain talent
Increases business flexibility and worker agility
Supports a flexible workforce (remote, part-time, contractor)
Encourages a social workplace
Incentivizes employees to be tidier and cleaner
Levels the playing field in an office, creating equality

Cons

Lacks personal, private space for employees
Results in more disruptions to work
Creates challenges for IT and support infrastructure
Takes employees longer to get settled and working
Promotes the formation of cliques and territories

Managed properly, the cons are easily minimized, managed, or eliminated altogether. There’s a tremendous incentive to make shared desking arrangements work.

How to make shared desks work

Making shared desks work isn’t a superhuman feat—it just relies on paying attention to the details. Here are a few tips for a proper transition to shared desks:

Get buy-in from employees well before the changeover. Explain the benefits and field concerns in an open forum to foster positive sentiment.
Actively address employee concerns beyond listening to them. Target pain points with innovative solutions and present them to employees. Responsible oversight can make the change easier.
Determine the number of shared desks you’ll need, then budget for more. Consider the number of employees, the shifts they work, and other variables that affect occupancy. It may seem counterintuitive to cost-cutting, but extra desks ensure everyone has one during peak times.
Create rules and guidelines to cover shared desk etiquette. This can stop bad habits and friction-inducing problems before they manifest. It’s also a great way to set the tone for what employees can expect from their new desking arrangement.
Make the change gradual. Up-ending your entire office in a week won’t allow employees to transition or adapt. Delegate a set number of desks to convert over a period of time and lean into the transition. It’s less abrupt and gives employees time to get familiar.
Create a variety of desk types and locations, as well as supplemental workspaces outside of shared desks. Employees shouldn’t feel boxed in by a lack of space. Provide options to improve utilization rates.
Delegate authority to an office manager or facility manager. Creating a central authority for disputes and questions gives employees the comfort of having a final word on any uncertainties that may arise.
Create a funnel for feedback about the shared desking arrangement. What do employees like or dislike? What isn’t meeting their needs or expectations? How could the arrangement be improved? Make the arrangement an ongoing forum.

These tips can help you avoid everything from workplace friction to the outright rejection of shared desks by your workforce. However, remain cognizant of how your workforce adjusts and adapts to shared desks. Keeping this arrangement successful depends on meeting ongoing challenges as they arise.

Avoid the pitfalls of desk sharing

The pitfalls of shared desks are few, but critical. Poorly executed shared desks can topple major pillars of your workplace—productivity, culture, and comfort. Proper execution is key. Ongoing adaptation is another. Consistent employee sentiment and recognition of relevant trends are the others. Together, they make shared desking work

Shared desking is a proven, positive workplace arrangement that offers measurable benefits. To capitalize on it, make sure you’re laying the right foundation and avoiding some of the common pitfalls that can sink this concept before it has a chance to return value.

By Tamara Sheehan
Director of Business Management
SpaceIQ

About IMS Consulting

For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus- related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced Archibus-certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

Identifying Facilities Management Goals and Objectives

Posted on May 15, 2023November 6, 2023 by admin

Facility management has always been critical to overall organizational success because of how it impacts key performance metrics like growth, productivity, and the bottom line. But as the landscape has changed, so has the process of identifying facility management goals and objectives.

Traditionally, facility managers have acted more as space planners and workspace governors. But the rise of the hybrid office is just one of the many new workplace trends reshaping not only how we work but also where we work. Now, facilities managers need to set strategic goals using data and analytics from workplace management platforms and enterprise asset management solutions. They need to think about how to manage preventive maintenance for better asset management while finding new ways to support productivity by keeping a close eye on the overall employee experience. It’s a juggling act, with demands related to keeping people working and assets and equipment in working order.

With their collections of always-connected, sometimes competing demands, facility managers need to carefully identify facility management goals and objectives before setting up the processes and procedures that help them get there.

The Role of Facilities in goal setting

There are three types of facility management goals: those supporting the company, those supporting employees, and those inherent to the facilities themselves. It might be easier to understand these goals in a big upside-down funnel, with broad support at the top and specifics at the bottom. What ties all these goals together is the importance of the facilities, the facility manager, and the need for efficient facility management.

Take a broad goal, for example, such as growing company revenue from $1M to $2M in 2023. Many different variables go into this objective, each playing a role in its ultimate success — facilities included. Because there are so many factors, the weight of the goal is evenly distributed. Marketing has to market more effectively. Sales have to sell better. Facilities need to support employees. Across departments, a lot of different teams and people play a part.

With a goal like implementing a digital conference room booking system, there are only a few factors, because the focus is narrower. It’s a facility-specific goal, so it might only mostly involve the IT department.

But in both examples, and in fact, with all goals, the facilities matter, and it’s up to the facility manager to ensure facility management plays a part in all strategic initiatives, regardless of scale.

Facility goals that tie into company-wide objectives

Broad goals are connected to the entire company, including:

Top or bottom-line growth
Branding and culture initiatives
Product or service developments

These goals touch every segment of the business in some form or another, which means they also involve the facilities.

When it comes to broad goals, the objectives for facilities management tend to be passive. The workplace serves a supporting role — the foundation for all contributors to the goal. It’s about preventing burnout and promoting comfort at work. Ensuring employees have the right workspaces and amenities to do their best work. Streamlining daily operations to conserve time, money, and effort. Bringing this stability to the workplace provides sound backing for company-wide success.

For example, that could cover keeping the offices safe with visitor management. Or keeping the employee experience positive with seamless desk booking. And keeping the workspace cool in the summer and warm in the winter with dependable HVAC.

Facility goals with an employee focus

Because employees directly interact with their workplace, intermediary goals generally involve facilities to a greater degree. One affects the other. Rearranging the stack plan or moving to a new building. Hiring, promoting, or parting with talent. Installing new workplace processes or practices. To see these objectives succeed, facility managers need to draw a line that connects facilities and people in a positive way. For the last few years, though, the line of connection between employees and workplaces has been increasingly challenging to draw.

Straight lines are out, and there’s a lot of looping back and forth with the increase in remote workers and the rise of the hybrid office. In the past, you had a steady number of people coming into the office five days a week. Now, you might only have surges on certain days, leaving a lot of the space empty when employees work from home. The new trend is for most to stay away Mondays and Fridays, with a build-up that starts Tuesday, peaks Wednesday, and then starts to 必利勁
fall on Thursday. And it’s not people coming in to sit at their desks and work alone. Employees are coming in for face-to-face meetings, driving up demand for larger spaces in the middle of the week.

In most cases, facility managers need to consider employee interaction with the workplace and how facilities support employees. How can workplace changes improve productivity? Enable better collaboration? Reduce friction? It can be everything from implementing room booking software to making sure there are extra snacks in the break room mid-week. Changes may be significant, but they’re also purposeful. If you’re rearranging three departments over four floors, the outcome needs to achieve a specific goal that benefits employees in a meaningful way.

Facility objectives for smaller, more targeted initiatives

The narrower goals of FM support the facilities themselves. Employees may benefit and reaching these goals might contribute to broader business success, but the driving factor is facility-specific improvement.

Some of the facility goals are more project-based while others are part of long-term efforts. So, you might have a project to:

Improve wireless signal strength
Install motion-sensitive lights
Implement an integrated workplace management system (IWMS)
Set up a portal for maintenance ticketing

In all these cases, there’s a set start and end date, with a clear objective. If you’re improving an area by adding better blinds so people can see their screens without worrying about the midday sun, you have one specific date for the installation. After that, you can move on to the next project.

But for long-term, ongoing efforts, you could look at reducing energy expenditures or tracking and improving on maintenance technician goals, for example:

Maintenance backlog times
Number of work orders closed
Equipment costs
Equipment downtime
Preventive maintenance efficiency

For both project and ongoing goals, you can think of them as facility-focused, mainly or in large part the responsibility of facility managers. Consider them a reinvestment in facilities that support the intermediary and broad goals listed above. Their focus is specific, but the outcome is likely to be far-reaching, even if it’s a bit harder to see. When you have less equipment downtime, even on something as small and simple as the break room coffee machine, employees don’t waste time standing around. They’re fully caffeinated and back on task quickly.

Always factor in facilities

Facilities have gone from a line item on the balance sheet to a key instrument for goal-setting and objective planning. Facility managers aren’t just masters of space planning and allocation — they’re contributors to growth and optimization strategies. These strategies take place at every operational level — from mission-critical goals to everyday workplace improvements. Wherever it’s involved — and it’s always involved — the workplace is a critical part of overall success.

Article reposted from SpaceIQ.com

About IMS Consulting

For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus- related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced Archibus-certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

Condeco and iOffice + SpaceIQ Merge to Create Eptura™

Posted on January 16, 2023 by admin

San Francisco and Atlanta, GA – October 4, 2022 – Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, today announced the merger of Condeco, the global provider of workspace scheduling software, and iOffice + SpaceIQ, the global workplace and asset management company, to create Eptura™. The strategic combination creates a global worktech leader that provides software solutions to power the modern workplace. The merger follows previously announced investments in Condeco and iOffice + SpaceIQ by Thoma Bravo and JMI Equity, who will remain the primary investors in Eptura. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The modern workplace is rapidly evolving, and businesses are demanding new worktech solutions that make adapting to the future of work easier for everyone. With a total addressable market of $25 billion, Eptura’s combined solutions bring the collective knowledge, depth of experience, and comprehensive portfolio of more than nine products (including Archibus) together to meet the challenges of the global workplace with a unified technology experience. Eptura’s solutions can be easily integrated into any workplace and offer an extended ecosystem of partnerships – providing the most adaptable solution.

The combined company’s new brand reflects its unique ability to strategically respond to the dynamic needs of the modern employer and hybrid workplace. Eptura™ stands for ‘the epicenter of the future at work’, underscoring the company’s ability to accelerate the development of new worktech solutions and enhance the user experience.

Brandon Holden, CEO of iOffice + SpaceIQ, will serve as CEO of Eptura. Paul Statham, Founder & CEO of Condeco, joins Eptura’s board of directors and will continue working with Thoma Bravo. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and with large regional offices in London, UK, and Melbourne, Australia, Eptura has over 1,000 employees across the globe, 16.3 million users, and a customer base spanning more than 16,000 of the world’s leading companies.

“With the proliferation of hybrid work, there is an unmet need for technology solutions that enable businesses to adapt to the changing needs of the workplace,” said Brandon Holden, CEO of Eptura. “By combining the power of our expertise and products, Eptura provides a comprehensive solution for business leaders who recognize the importance of keeping people at the center of the workplace of the future. I couldn’t be more excited to lead Eptura as we deliver on our mission to empower the workplace of tomorrow.”

“This combination ushers in the next generation of workplace technology by unifying the best-of-breed software across asset management, integrated workplace management systems, and workplace experience solutions,” said Paul Statham. “Bringing together two exceptional teams with unmatched product suites, Eptura is poised to build upon the leadership of Condeco and iOffice + SpaceIQ by accelerating the joint development of new worktech and unlocking even more possibilities for our customers, and offering wider opportunities for global growth.”

“We have been lucky enough to be partners to both iOffice + SpaceIQ and Condeco for over a year now, and combining these two great companies creates the clear category leader for the modern workplace,” said A.J. Rohde, a Senior Partner at Thoma Bravo. “The level of innovation the company can drive for customers will be very exciting, and we are thrilled for Eptura to begin that journey.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Thoma Bravo. Goodwin Procter served as legal counsel to JMI Equity.

About IMS Consulting
For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus- related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced Archibus certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

The Next Normal in a Post-Pandemic Workspace

Posted on March 10, 2022November 6, 2023 by admin

Whether your office has already partially returned to work or you’re planning a workplace reentry, one thing is certain—things may never be the same. Safe facility management during an unprecedented pandemic requires a high level of planning and precaution. The measures you implement should increase employee productivity, promote workplace trust, and most importantly, keep employees and customers safe.

Rule and Regulation Compliance

It’s not always easy to keep up with new regulations, especially with constantly changing guidelines. Regardless, the first priority is employee safety. In most nations, employers are encouraged to provide a safe working environment. Physical safety should be a constant for all employees, but some may tolerate risk better than others. It’s wise to consider your most vulnerable employees when creating a return-to-work plan, but determine strategies with everyone in mind.

Second, keep employees informed of changes and guidelines. Assign staff to monitor local conditions and guidelines, then share updates on a consistent schedule. Keep a global perspective and adjust plans as needed to comply with local requirements.

Third, align business priorities with global realities. Inspect your building for potential hazards and determine remediation costs. Be willing to remodel, reconfigure, or rearrange everything including work schedules, walls, and seating arrangements.

Masking, Sanitation, and Social Distancing

Most official guidelines center on three principles—masking, sanitation, and social distancing. Depending on your industry, some guidelines may present more of a challenge than others. Restrictions will change as the coronavirus threat diminishes or increases, so keep long-term needs in mind when investing in safety equipment.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements can vary depending on the role. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to PPE. Some employees may not be able to wear masks. Others may need to avoid the workplace altogether, such as employees with asthma or other respiratory conditions.

Employees want clean workplaces, even more so now under COVID-19. Make sanitation a priority by setting up hygiene stations with hand sanitizer, soap, gloves, and disinfecting wipes. The typical weekly office cleanings may not be enough. Consider hiring extra cleaning staff to more frequently clean bathrooms, break areas, and shared spaces like conference rooms and lounges.

PPE isn’t limited to individual employees. Plexiglass shields provide an additional layer of protection around pinch points where social distancing may be a challenge, such as reception areas, entrances and exits, and payment areas. Posted policies and directional signage are great visual reminders for customers and employees to abide by your workplace precautions.

Other measures such as UV lights and thermal scanners are options for combating COVID-19 but should be part of an overall workplace health and safety strategy. It’s wise to check with locally, regionally, and country-specific requirements to determine what’s feasible for your team to manage.

Technology and Real Estate Optimization

For most workplaces, safety decisions center around official guidelines. Maintaining six feet of distance helps protect people from breathing in infected air particles. However, this is easier said than done for many businesses.

Social distance guidelines vary by country and region. In the U.S., 6 feet is the standard; the World Health Organization recommends 1 meter. Social distancing may reduce workplace capacity, depending on your current seating configuration, plan density, desk sharing, and other factors. The potential for space loss raises some interesting options:

Should some individuals work remotely forever? Can we stagger work schedules? Do we need to let some staff go?
Should we purchase or rent additional office space or retrofit the space we have? Should we consider moving? Should we renegotiate the terms of our lease?
How can we prepare our workplace for future emergencies?

During the pandemic, many business leaders are leveraging real estate planning software to visualize coronavirus-related changes to seating arrangements, staff schedules, and office remodeling before committing time and money to wholesale changes. For example, hoteling software helps maximize seating efficiency using dynamic data such as HR information and floor maps.

Business owners can require that employees reserve a hotel desk prior to coming to work and show the reservation before they’re allowed to enter. After someone uses the hotel desk, facility management can be notified that the area must be cleaned and sanitized before another reservation can be made.

The Next Normal is Now

Reopening your workplace can be difficult. Regulations are constantly changing and there’s no saying when COVID-19 will ease. The post-pandemic “next normal” requires flexibility and adaptability. Desks, rooms, and entire floors may not function the same way. Previous policies for remote work, sick leave, and work schedules may need to be reevaluated in the new work environment.

You can’t foresee every situation, but you can be flexible in establishing your new normal. Employees will appreciate your efforts as they return to their former—though newly arranged—workspaces.

By Nai Kanell
Vice President of Marketing
SpaceIQ

About IMS Consulting
For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of Archibus- related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IM犀利士
S Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced Archibus certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

Facility Management KPI Examples

Posted on February 17, 2022November 6, 2023 by admin

Did we meet our monthly sales goal last month? Is our current ad campaign generating expected engagement? How long do customers spend on hold before we pick up and answer their questions? We track and measure success and failure in the workplace through Key Performance Indicators (KPI). KPIs help develop real goals and meaningful steps to achieve them, and they’re essential in every segment of the business.

Below, we’ll dive into some facility management KPI examples that identify opportunities for workplace success. But first, let’s take a closer look at KPIs themselves and why they’re so integral.

What are KPIs and why track them?

KPIs are like a roadmap that tells us if we’re on track or off-course, or if our goals are even feasible. They’re an important metric across every business unit, from sales to marketing, to facilities management. KPIs show how short Sales are from their monthly revenue goal. They set the precedent for how many media impressions Marketing will get from its newest ad campaign. KPIs even apply at a personal level and can show Max how far ahead he is on a specific project.

KPIs focus on the most important aspects of business for a particular group or individual. You’re not going to track sales revenue for your Marketing team because they’re not the ones selling, just like you wouldn’t track average wait time for your Sales department—that’s a Customer Service metric. Identify and track KPIs that are relevant to each business unit to understand how well that 威而鋼
business unit is performing.

Usually, departmental KPIs are narrow-focused on explicit goals set for that team. Facility management KPIs are a bit broader and span both people and the building itself, but they’re nonetheless important to track. Here are some sample KPIs for facilities managers that touch both realms.

People-focused KPIs

Facility manager primary KPIs focus on how people interact with the workplace. The primary goal of the workplace is to support the workforce, so it only makes sense! People-focused KPIs look at space occupancy and availability, how happy and/or satisfied employees are, and workforce allocation. Some of the most important KPIs to track include:

1. Space occupancy rates
2. Desk availability
3. NET Promoter Score
4. Workforce distribution

Uptrends on these KPIs indicate that the workplace is functioning as it should. People are happy, they have the right workspaces available to them, and they’re doing work in a productive way. KPIs trending down in this area indicate the workplace doesn’t meet the needs of the people in it. They’re not able to work efficiently or productively, and they’re dissatisfied with the workplace—or worse, the company itself.

Building-focused KPIs

On the flip side of facility management, KPIs are building-facing metrics. These KPIs look specifically at the building as an investment. Is it generating positive returns? How does the building serve the needs of the business as an asset? These KPIs track costs, building performance, and maintenance of the investment. Some of the most common include:

1. Work order fulfillment times
2. HVAC and energy costs
3. Total facilities costs
4. Equipment downtime

Facility managers need to track these metrics with the intent to continuously improve them. Ask yourself, how does the business benefit from a reduction in equipment downtime? Where can you reallocate bottom-line savings to generate better ROI for the top line? Building-focused KPIs tell facility managers what they need to know about the performance of the building as a physical investment.

Use KPIs to set actionable goals

Facility management KPIs represent the aspects of the job that matter most—those with the biggest impact on the workplace and the people in it. It’s not enough to just measure them; you also need to improve upon them. For example:

Right now, 23% of employees are remote. We want to increase this to 45% over the next 12 months while accounting for new job growth in that time.

Over the last six months, the average response time for routine building repairs and maintenance was three days. We want this to be two or fewer days in Q3 and beyond.

KPIs don’t force a solution—they connect the dots between data and strategy, providing one to facilitate the other. You might buy coworking memberships for the employees you intend to transition to remote work, or staff another person to the maintenance department to expedite work order fulfillment. It’s not how you improve your KPIs, so much as that you continue to hold yourself to them.

The more you know, the more you grow

KPIs are a drilled-down way to look at fundamental aspects of the business—the ones important to its success. Tracking facility management KPIs is the simplest way to hold the workplace to its highest standards, to facilitate success within it. There are infinite ways to reach your goals and meet your metrics, and what matters is that you hold yourself to these standards.

KPIs will tell you when you fall short of the ideal and where there’s room for improvement. Pay attention to them!

By Reagan Nickl
Director of Professional Services
SpaceIQ

Archibus OnSite On-Demand Webinar

Posted on February 10, 2022September 12, 2022 by admin

Archibus OnSite is a cloud-based SaaS CMMS that provides preventive and reactive maintenance, asset and compliance management.

Join us to learn how Archibus OnSite takes a holistic approach to facilities management, connecting asset, compliance, and maintenance management with an intuitive mobile app for managing work, and floor plans and maps for locating and planning work.

About IMS Consulting
For more than a decade, IMS Consulting has delivered the full scope of ARCHIBUS-related services to both government and commercial clients. As a Virginia Certified Small Business, IMS Consulting provides our clients with personalized attention by experienced ARCHIBUS certified consultants. Our experts work with our clients to thoroughly understand how they do business, identify their unique needs, and pinpoint opportunities to better manage their infrastructure, employ more efficient work processes, and make smarter capital budgeting decisions—both today and over the long term.

IMS Consulting specializes in the implementation of ARCHIBUS, the #1 real estate, infrastructure & facilities management solution in the world. ARCHIBUS is the global leader in streamlining how you manage your real estate, infrastructure, and facilities. Centralize your data, planning, and operations onto one seamless platform backed by 35 years of innovation and the world’s largest support network. Reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and create a better workplace by transforming how you connect with people, places, and processes.

Stay on Top of Day-to-Day Operations Through A Web-Based IWMS with Portfolio Management

Posted on January 27, 2022 by admin

When you think about the traits that make a business successful, you might consider financial prowess, passion, and patience as crucial attributes. However, an oft-neglected trait has become increasingly crucial to defining success in a post-pandemic world: flexibility.

The ability to adapt to changing situations is extremely underrated yet extremely important. If the changing rules and regulations over the past year in reaction to Covid-19 have taught us anything, it’s that nothing is permanent, and everything is “figureoutable.”

It is naturally easier to talk about adapting than it is to actually make those changes to your business; when you have to manage an entire global portfolio with different property types and functions as well as the people who populate those spaces in a virus-sensitive society, space usage and availability can change in an instant. In addition, staying on top of day-to-day operations, spotting trends, and analyzing all of the data can be overwhelming, to say the least.

Portfolio managers who want to address current problems while identifying opportunities to better use their spaces can turn to an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) for insights. An IWMS with portfolio management provides oversight for any size real estate portfolio, improves root cause analysis to easily isolate problems and uncover potential opportunities, minimizes cost, and maximizes current commercial real estate (CRE) holdings.

A Triple-Win Scenario

A web-based IWMS with portfolio management affords businesses on-demand access to a centralized collection of data, which empowers more informed decisions about CRE.

A common operating framework of land, structures, buildings, and leases creates a more collaborative, better-informed workflow that enhances flexibility and increases scalability. This can have a trickle-down effect, benefiting all stakeholders and establishing a precedence of dynamic, situation-proof problem-solving.

Operationally, there are three positives to an IWMS with portfolio management. This triple-win includes benefits for:

- Your Business: An IWMS can improve the analysis and management of real estate assets and align them with the company’s long-term mission. A key strategy is maintaining current spaces or invest in new ones as hybrid work – including remote work – grows.The opportunity to evaluate and track facilities as a dynamic asset allows companies to take advantage of vacancies and investment opportunities. An IWMS empowers business unit managers to easily review assets and space assigned to them. In turn, they can rationalize capacity, identify spaces that are no longer needed, and redesign or repurpose spaces to fit the changing needs of employees or potential subletters.Data visualization via the optional geographical tool to link to GIS functionality in the IWMS delivers map-based perspectives of properties. Real estate managers can then visualize the total impact and effectiveness of real estate spending and decision-making across business units. This makes it easier to develop quick, informed strategies based on the portfolio’s ability to fulfill the organizational mission. Additionally, seamless integration with other IWMS applications like capital budgeting, project management, space management, and enterprise move management maximizes CRE optimization for the business as a broad unit.
- Your Employees: Data analysis and space planning are critical to prioritize the changing needs of employees in uncertain times. An organization’s ability to remain flexible and competitive for the benefit of its employees is pertinent to its success as a whole; higher employee satisfaction leads to higher engagement and productivity.Careful consideration of safety and health precautions, and opportunity for collaboration, are cornerstones of any return to the workplace plan. An IWMS tracks space usage, which allows employers to meet the unique needs of their employees. This data may result in creation of quieter, distraction-free spaces where employees can concentrate on work or the development of a hybrid work environment that makes it easy to switch between working from home and working in a group setting. The overall goal stays the same: decrease a potential loss of productivity.
- Your Customers: Time is the only asset you can freely spend… but can’t ever create or purchase more of. Because of this, it must be used wisely.Less time spent on decision-making allows businesses to spend more time on customer service. An IWMS allows managers responsible for real estate assets to command every detail of a CRE portfolio and proactively offer better customer service.Client expectations have evolved with COVID-19. The growth of the digital landscape now requires businesses to be responsive 24/7. An IWMS provides unit managers with a self-sustaining platform available at their fingertips to answer client questions and concerns more quickly.

Face the Future with Flexibility

Creating an agile workplace that is able to withstand change and sustain positive business-employee relationships, as well as business-client connections, is crucial for continued growth. But it’s not a simple task.

The ability to be flexible is paramount and the only way to be recession-proof and ensure forward momentum. Implementing a SaaS solution like Archibus to securely modernize and up level is a means of committing to continued business improvement, employee productivity, and customer satisfaction – no matter what uncertain times might bring.

The result? An organization in control of accurate property and performance information that is designed to meet the needs of every party involved, from the business as a broad entity to individual employees and customers.

To learn more request a demo.

By Danielle Moore
Director, Channel Marketing
iOFFICE + SpaceIQ