The Future of IWMS: Navigating Emerging Trends with Archibus

As the corporate landscape evolves, the demand for agile and comprehensive facility management solutions becomes increasingly critical. Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) are at the forefront of this evolution, offering sophisticated tools to manage real estate, infrastructure, and facilities assets. Archibus, a leader in the IWMS space, continues to set the benchmark by staying ahead of emerging trends. This blog explores the future of IWMS and how Archibus is innovating to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

IWMS - ArchibusEmerging Trends in IWMS:

  1. AI and Machine Learning Integration: The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning into IWMS platforms like Archibus is revolutionizing facility management. Predictive analytics for maintenance, smart space utilization, and automated workflows are just a few areas where AI enhances decision-making and operational efficiency.
  2. IoT and Smart Building Technology: Internet of Things (IoT) devices are becoming ubiquitous in modern facilities. Archibus leverages IoT data to monitor building systems, optimize energy consumption, and ensure a comfortable and productive environment for occupants.
  3. Sustainability and Green Initiatives: Sustainability is no longer optional; it’s a necessity. Archibus is committed to helping organizations achieve their green goals by providing tools for tracking energy usage, reducing waste, and maintaining LEED certification standards.
  4. Mobile Workforce Accommodation: With the rise of remote and mobile workforces, managing space and resources effectively has become more complex. Archibus offers mobile solutions that enable employees to find workspaces, book resources, and access services on-the-go, ensuring maximum flexibility and productivity.
  5. Enhanced User Experience: User experience is paramount in the design of next-generation IWMS. Archibus focuses on creating intuitive interfaces and personalized dashboards, making it easier for users to interact with the system and perform their tasks efficiently.

 

How Archibus Stays Ahead:

  1. Continuous Innovation: Archibus invests heavily in research and development to incorporate the latest technologies and best practices into its platform, ensuring clients have access to cutting-edge tools.
  2. Scalable Solutions: Archibus provides scalable solutions that grow with your business. Whether you’re a small enterprise or a multinational corporation, Archibus can adapt to your changing needs.
  3. Global Support Network: With a vast network of partners and support professionals around the world, Archibus ensures that clients receive timely assistance and expertise no matter where they operate.
  4. Client-Centric Development: Feedback from the diverse Archibus user community drives the platform’s evolution, ensuring that new features and improvements address the real-world challenges faced by facility managers.

 

The future of IWMS is dynamic and promising, with technological advancements paving the way for smarter, more efficient facility management. Archibus remains at the vanguard of these developments, providing organizations with a robust, forward-thinking platform that not only responds to emerging trends but actively shapes the future of integrated workplace management. Embrace the advanced capabilities of Archibus and lead your organization into a new era of facility management excellence.

Ready to explore how Archibus can elevate your IWMS strategy? Contact us to discover the full potential of an integrated approach to workplace management.

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.

Streamline Your Facility Management with a Single Integrated Platform

In today’s fast-paced business environment, managing a facility’s infrastructure can be complex and challenging, especially when relying on multiple disjointed systems. Organizations are often bogged down by inefficiencies, data inconsistencies, and communication barriers. However, there is a solution that stands out for its ability to streamline and unify these disparate processes into one seamless operation: Archibus, a single Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS).

The Power of Integration Archibus offers a shared database across all applications, ensuring that information is consistent, up-to-date, and easily accessible. This integration extends beyond the core facilities management functions, as Archibus can seamlessly integrate with other critical systems, including financial platforms. By acting as a central hub, it simplifies operations and enhances decision-making.

Benefits of a Single Platform

  1. Enhanced Reporting: With all data consolidated in one platform, generating comprehensive reports becomes effortless. Users can pull real-time insights from various aspects of facilities management, from maintenance schedules to space utilization, providing a holistic view of operations.
  2. Improved Data Sharing: A single platform facilitates better collaboration between departments. When everyone accesses the same system, sharing crucial information is immediate, reducing the risk of miscommunication and errors.
  3. Increased Visibility: Archibus provides visibility into every facet of your facilities’ infrastructure. Managers can monitor and control processes more effectively, spotting trends, and addressing issues before they escalate.
  4. Consistent System of Record: As the system of record for all facilities-related data, Archibus ensures that the information used to make strategic decisions is reliable and authoritative. This consistency is vital for maintaining operational integrity and compliance.
  5. Comprehensive Facilities Processes Coverage: Archibus isn’t just a maintenance management tool; it covers the full spectrum of facilities processes. From space planning and project management to environmental sustainability, compliance, and lease management, it supports every aspect of your organization’s infrastructure needs.

Archibus IWMSWhy Choose Archibus? Choosing Archibus means selecting a partner that understands the complexities of facilities management. It’s not just about having a tool; it’s about having the right tool—one that grows with your organization, adapts to your changing needs, and drives efficiency at every turn.

Conclusion For organizations juggling multiple systems to manage their facilities infrastructure, Archibus presents an opportunity to simplify, streamline, and elevate their operations. The benefits of a single integrated platform—enhanced reporting, improved sharing, increased visibility, and comprehensive coverage—are just the beginning. Embrace the power of Archibus and transform your facilities management into a strategic advantage.

Ready to see how Archibus can revolutionize your facility management? Contact us to learn more and take the first step towards a unified, efficient future.

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.

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

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

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.

Hybrid and Smart: Building the Workplaces of the Future

Now, perhaps more than ever, employers are seeking to enhance their approach to the workplace experience. They are embracing new trends, such as hybrid structures and smart buildings, to create what we like to call “digital workplace euphoria.”

Euphoria may seem like hyperbole, but happy employees make for successful businesses. We’re not talking about amenities like ping pong tables, free Friday lunches, and in-office theaters. The goal of a euphoric workplace is to transform barely there connected offices to intelligent, autonomous ecosystems that empower employees to their most productive and efficient while maintaining healthy work-life balances.

Research indicates that we are seeing much more of a radical change among companies reacting to the workplace trends. Leaders in companies may not respond to every human or occupant need, but certainly, they are reacting to create a more automated workplace for agile teams. One part of the “why” for proactive movement toward hybrid agile is the long-term impact on business.

Smart BuildingsMany companies are going through significant financial losses due to COVID-19. How companies navigate digital disruption will likely affect their revenues and future operations. During the crisis of the companies who saw a 25% growth in the revenues 72% were first to experiment with new technologies. As well, 67% of those companies invested more in digital-related expenditures, according to a 2020 report by McKinsey. The companies that had not taken steps are electing to embrace the productivity associated with remote work to help them recoup those costs of not doing so in the past.

Certain financial dependencies, like expiring office leases and stakeholder pressures, are pushing companies to make an immediate decision on how to proceed with digital based investments to create work environments conducive to agile work, from anywhere. According to a Gartner survey, 38% of tech, media, and telecom business leaders (and 26% of leaders across all represented industries) reported plans to reduce their real estate footprint by, for example, closing retail locations. Gartner also reported that 74% of CFOs and finance leaders at least 5% of their previously on-site workforce to permanently remote positions after COVID-19.

Why Companies Choose to Go Hybrid

Remote and hybrid work is not new, but it certainly hasn’t been as widespread as it is now. According to a Microsoft report, some professions have been trending toward remote work since the oil crisis of the 1970s that resulted in substantially higher commuting and automotive costs. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic drove a “profound increase in the magnitude and speed of the shift toward remote work, with 88% of organizations from around the world surveyed in March [2020] reporting that they were encouraging employees to work from home,” the report noted. More than a third of U.S. workers transitioned to remote or hybrid work between March and April 2020 alone.

Aside from the long-term impact on fiscal reports, this mass transition away from the confines of a 9-to-5 physical office is the other part of the “why” for companies looking to improve three key facets of the digital workplace: people, space, and technology.

The Workplace Mantra: People, Space, and Technology

Creating an environment for employees – or an investor’s case, tenants – that elicits a sense of euphoria is challenging but not impossible. How are companies tackling the digital workplace? There are three elements of an optimized workplace that one should consider.

The first starts with people. People form the community within an organization that will serve as the litmus test for successful digital workplace implementation.

The second element is technology, which acts as the catalyst for change and encompasses each tier of the Smart Building Maturity Model. Most buildings fall somewhere in between the connected and intelligent spaces of the model. From the Internet of Things (IoT) to artificial intelligence (AI), the infrastructure created by technology ultimately makes up the third element of an enhanced workplace: space.

Space doesn’t always refer to a physical location; it relates to the context in which people are working. Space can mean a geographically distributed footprint, flexible hoteling and co-working spaces within your organization, or a scalable real estate portfolio that allows you to set your physical and virtual space settings in a manner that best suits your internal method of operating.

Georgia-Pacific (GP) is one company that has fully embraced all three spheres of the optimized workplace, and by the way is one of the companies that experimented with digital based agile work long before the COVID-19 crisis. The Atlanta-based maker of paper, packaging, building products, and related chemicals resides in an iconic office tower. In the first major renovation since the company occupied the tower in 1982, GP aimed to achieve “optimal integration, functionality, cost and efficiency among the various systems throughout each floor – lighting, HVAC, audio-visual and room scheduling systems,” according to a company press release. The digital building transformation included an Internet of Things (IoT) foundation that resulted in economically feasible, purposeful automation carefully constructed for GP’s user base.

GP reported that the building uses “bio-dynamic (circadian) lighting in the office and collaboration areas, driven by network-connected lighting management. [GP] will respond to peak electrical demands by adjusting building systems. The interconnected system allows the company to collect accurate, real-time data to understand how the space is used, improve employee productivity and satisfaction, and increase real estate investment.”

Along with commercial offices, hospitality and education are two other industries that are exceptionally receptive to similar methods of in-house automation. Fortunately, platforms offered by companies like SpaceIQ offer businesses of all sizes and types of options to create digital workplaces that support agility and flexibility.

Hybrid Strategies for Working “Smart” and Hard

For many companies, leveraging hybrid strategies starts with creating smart buildings and workplaces.

Smart building(s) – both as a verb and a noun – is a partner of hybrid workplaces at the heart of the “next normal” regarding the future of work. Over the last year, companies worldwide have experienced a rapid shift to long-term hybrid and/or remote environments. From Human Resources (HR) to Information Technology (IT) to Marketing and beyond, the functional teams within these organizations are being driven to review their existing work practices and confirm that they align with employees’ current needs.

For some companies, this process may feel like an uncertain scramble – but it shouldn’t.

This moment presents an opportunity for organizations to revise their digital framework and create an even better workplace experience – one that encourages a positive return-to-office transition after a yearlong hiatus or, for remote and hybrid workers, a structure that compels them to engage virtually. Smart building is critical for both employees and executives to tap into the human side of work and reach peak satisfaction in the process of doing so.

As a company specializing in “smart building,” Cognitive Corp is at the forefront of researching and analyzing workplace trends and technologies that impact commercial real estate (CRE) teams.

So, what do we mean by “smart building?” In a word, automation.

Smart building implies that a company has a built-in infrastructure to automate as many day-to-day and long-term tasks as possible. Infrastructure can include IT and networks, HVAC, lighting, time-tracking, scheduling, and anything in between that has a digital footprint.

A key strategy is to distribute the levels of automation and smart building into four tiers on a visual pyramid called the Smart Building Maturity Model. This model helps companies prioritize based on current needs and future growth:

    • Connected Building: Connected building forms the foundation at the bottom of the pyramid. Most companies fall into this category, which includes basic IT networks and the commonplace technology you’d find in a standard office.
    • Intelligent Building: With system integration, energy efficiency, and building automation, intelligent building is what most companies strive for in their next-level smart building process. It can lead to more unified collaboration, better asset management, and streamlined workspace and remote services.
    • Smart Building: The core of the pyramid. Smart building includes open architecture, occupant interaction predictive analytics, which contributes to human centric workplace metrics, on-demand services, big data, and more elements of building intelligence. The future of work is already here, and smart building should be a consideration for most companies.
    • Cognitive Building: At the pinnacle of the pyramid we’ll find cognitive building. Here, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics are the vital pieces that drive building automation. While most non-technological companies do not aim for this high-level tier, we believe it’s still essential knowledge to know all the possibilities within the realm of intelligent architecture.

 

Data-driven Insights to Support the Hybrid Workplace

The digital workplace focuses on the occupant’s experience within a technological ecosystem. A successful digital workplace supports the human-centric side of corporate initiatives. Different personas within the commercial real estate industry will perform unique functions depending on their role in their organization. However, all roles utilize metrics to inform the progress of their digital transformation.

For individual roles, here are some items to consider:

    • Commercial Real Estate and Facilities Managers: Individuals entrusted with managing facilities should articulate workplace values about the broader business. This includes adapting to change, especially as it relates to the physical space. Your growth mindset should shift from fixed to fluid.
    • Workplace Professionals: As a workplace professional, try to develop strategies and tactics that support agile, flexible workplaces and employee experiences. Consider the wider range of knowledge available to you, beyond just “physical office” and “working from home.”

Workplace Euphoria is Frictionless

An agile, flexible workplace is no longer an option for most businesses; it is a requirement. Baseline metrics allow companies to see how initiatives eliminate employee and occupant stress during times of uncertainty, deliver on diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments, improve operational efficiency, and make remote work, workable.

Additionally, metrics shed light into the onboarding of new technologies, security automation, and workplace productivity. Workplace analytics provide a 360-degree view of any misaligned technology expectations. Embracing technology to create agility and flexibility in return to the workplace can result in euphoria for employers and employees.

To learn more request a demo.

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.

Leverage the CLEAN Future and LIFT America Acts with an IWMS

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce recently introduced two bills—the CLEAN Future Act and LIFT America Act—that are focused on clean energy and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in America by 2050.

What does that mean for U.S. workplaces? A lot. The impacts on businesses and organizations of all types are substantial. Managing the nuances of each act will require powerful technologies – such as an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) – to meet the stringent requirements geared toward sustainability.

What is the CLEAN Future Act?

The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act is legislation designed to ensure the U.S. achieves net-zero greenhouse gas pollution no later than 2050. The policy also includes an interim target of reducing 2005 levels of pollution by 50 percent no later than 2030.

These targets have been set by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a global group that believes that all nations must work together to aggressively cut carbon pollution. The panel said achieving net-zero greenhouse gas pollution by 2050 will help the world avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.

What is the LIFT America Act?

The Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (LIFT) America Act is legislation aimed at reducing energy and water usage in U.S. facilities, including hospitals, community drinking water plants, and schools.

These changes are meant to modernize infrastructure, fight the effects of climate change, and improve public health standards. The policy is designed to improve:

    • Energy efficiency and clean energy
    • Electric vehicle infrastructure
    • Drinking water
    • Broadband internet access
    • Public health infrastructure

Impacts on U.S. Businesses and Organizations

The CLEAN Future and LIFT America acts will directly impact businesses and organizations by alternating building requirements and energy standards across the country. If passed, the CLEAN Future Act would require building owners to:

    • Benchmark annual energy and water usage via the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® – this applies to buildings greater than 50,000 square feet and buildings already in compliance with local benchmarking ordinances are exempt
    • Develop a model building energy code using ASHRAE 90.1
    • Increase building energy performance standards

 

The LIFT America Act will place additional requirements on federally owned structures, including:

    • Reduce average facility energy intensity by 2.5 percent each year (relative to their 2018 baseline)
    • Reduce potable water consumption by 3 percent each year (relative to their 2007 baseline), for a total of 54 percent reduction by 2030

Increasing Sustainability with an IWMS

Many organizations struggle to find cost-effective ways to reduce their carbon footprint and ensure employee safety and wellness. Technology can streamline processes to effectively track and measure sustainability goals.

An integrated workplace management system (IWMS) platform, including one offered by Archibus, an iOFFICE + SpaceIQ product, makes it easier for organizations to comply with the more aggressive standards outlined by the CLEAN Future and LIFT America acts. A web-based IWMS platform can track key processes like energy and waste management, which helps organizations better understand the impact they have on the environment.

Organizations can utilize Archibus apps to align with their unique business needs, including:

    • Sustainability Assessments: Regular sustainability assessments allow organizations to measure performance indicators, mitigate risk, and reduce their carbon footprint
    • Energy Management: Many organizations have inefficient energy management practices that are difficult to find and cost them thousands of dollars each year – benchmarking, tracking, and management tools help control costs and increase sustainability
    • Green Building: Whether companies must meet new legislation requirements for individual buildings or across their portfolio, the green building app will help them achieve those goals
    • Waste Management: Efficient waste management systems allow organizations to improve health practices and minimize risks
    • Emergency Preparedness: The right IWMS tools overlap with business continuity planning, helping organizations recover quickly in emergency situations
    • Hazard Abatement: Identifying and abating indoor environmental hazards can be time-consuming, but this feature streamlines the process and keeps organizations safer
    • Health & Safety: From workplace safety accidents to PPE, organizations can gain greater control over health and safety protocols
    • Hazardous Materials: Quickly retrieving material safety information helps to protect building occupants and cut compliance costs

Where to start: Sustainability Assessments and Energy Management

Businesses and organizations don’t need to wait for the CLEAN Future and LIFT America acts to launch sustainability measures. IWMS technology makes the concept of environmental sustainability a reality by tracking, ranking, and documenting details on the condition and use of physical assets.

Manual evaluation using spreadsheets and other archaic methods are replaced by objective and systematic ways to identify and prioritize facility replacements, upgrades, and renovations based on environmental sustainability criteria.

Using data from a central repository in Archibus, building owners/managers can:

    • Establish proactive sustainability processes that can improve operational efficiencies, enhance stakeholder work environments, and boost asset value
    • Identify which assets should be repaired, renovated or replaced to achieve environmental efficiency goals or support an existing LEED™ or BREEAM® rating program
    • Improve capital budgeting and planning capabilities by tracking costs and budgets associated with environmental deficiencies
    • Increase efficiency of sustainability efforts by integrating assessments with work order management and by using a unified data repository

 

An energy management solution is also easy to implement in order to aggregate, evaluate, and optimize energy and utility spending decisions and reduce unnecessary consumption and costs. With Archibus, organizations can:

    • Evaluate consumption patterns to help renegotiate rates and consolidate energy providers
    • Reduce business risk and exposure to changes in energy costs or carbon emissions regulation thought what-if analyses
    • Track energy expenditures against a business plan or objective benchmarks

 

For more information on sustainability assessments and using IWMS technology to set the stage for compliance with the CLEAN Future and LIFT America acts, visit www.archibus.com.

By Fred Kraus
Sr. Director Product, Archibus
iOFFICE + SpaceIQ

To learn more request a demo.

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.

Archibus OnSite Makes Fielding Work Orders Simpler

Maintaining facilities takes an organized, concerted effort. There are so many facets of property upkeep to consider, each demanding its own approach to maintenance, repair, and improvement. Businesses need a tool on their side that enables not only visibility into these tasks, but also streamlined management of them. It’s why iOFFICE + SpaceIQ created Archibus OnSite.

Archibus OnSite is a new mobile solution that helps organizations efficiently manage preventive and corrective maintenance work orders, assets, and compliance. It’s designed with total facilities in mind, to enable groups and teams charged with keeping them up and running right.

Companies are taking a closer look at overhead

In the era of flex work, companies are paying more attention to the cost of overhead. What they’re finding are opportunities to cut back—not necessarily on space, but on the cost of maintaining that space. It’s all about cost optimization through better workplace efficiency.

Organizations are wasting too much time on administrative overhead: completing work orders in the office and planning work routes ahead of time. Instead, they need to efficiently maintain facilities and assets in a manner that optimizes for availability, uptime, good working order, compliance, and cost. They’re turning to Archibus OnSite to help them take a smarter approach to broad facility upkeep, and reaping the benefits that come with it.

How Archibus OnSite helps maximize overhead ROI

Archibus OnSite is built on a modern, mobile framework that makes facility teams and field workers more efficient. From fielding and sorting work orders, to built-in compliance checklists—Archibus OnSite puts critical resources in the hands of craftspeople charged with vital facilities tasks. Additional core features planned for the app include:

    • Location awareness for easy work planning and routing
    • Push notifications for instant reminders of what’s important
    • Questionnaire framework for regulatory compliance maintenance checklists

 

Unlike other maintenance solutions that focus solely on ticket management, Archibus OnSite takes a holistic approach to facilities management. It connects asset, compliance, and maintenance management with floor plans and maps to optimize the management of tasks—including locating and planning work.

Archibus OnSite optimizes maintenance operations by bringing visibility and flexibility to the actions that enable them. Beyond realizing the need for maintenance, upkeep, or repair, Archibus OnSite helps facility teams execute with purpose, to get the job done more efficiently and at a lower cost to the organization.

Archibus OnSite is part of a full-featured IWMS

Archibus OnSite works seamlessly with other Archibus modules to enable an even more streamlined approach to facility upkeep. The Archibus integrated workplace management system (IWMS) delivers a full profile of relevant data to Archibus OnSite users, giving them even more capabilities in the field, so they can do their job better. Over time, core synergies will include:

    • Connect to assets for a complete asset inventory and maintenance history to inform lifecycle decisions.
    • Extend to compliance and condition assessment solutions for a comprehensive view of assets under management.
    • Connect to space data and GIS to include floor plans, campus plans, and maps for wayfinding, planning, and locating.

 

Archibus OnSite allows facility teams to do more, faster. Robust integrations provide immediate, relevant data for an informed response to any support ticket, no matter where it originates or what the scope of work is.

Archibus OnSite as a comprehensive maintenance solution

As overhead costs loom large over organizations, Archibus OnSite ensures a higher standard of upkeep and quicker responsiveness that reduces asset maintenance costs and maximizes the ROI of the workplace using:

    • Robust and configurable workflows (approvals, estimating, scheduling, checklists, etc.)
    • Labor scheduling and workforce management and coordination tools
    • Part inventory management for simplified inventories and better cost control
    • Asset lists, maintenance history, reference documents, and compliance sheets

 

Archibus OnSite brings a broader level of oversight to facility upkeep and puts organizations more in-control of their response to everyday facilities tasks. No matter where or when maintenance demands arise, Archibus OnSite ensures a well-coordinated response.

The time for smarter asset management is now

Overhead costs may seem like a burden, but it’s vital to remember that real estate is an asset. To maximize asset ROI and more than justify the overhead costs that come with it, companies need to focus on the variables they can control—namely, their response to facilities maintenance.

Archibus OnSite is a ready-to-deploy, easy-to-integrate, versatile app that transforms the way an organization manages its largest asset. With seamless connectivity to other Archibus solutions, availability in seven languages, and the full support of iOFFICE + SpaceIQ behind it, Archibus OnSite will change the way companies think about and approach facility maintenance.

To learn more, check out our webinar or request a demo.

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.

Webinar – What’s New in Archibus v.26.1?

 

Archibus V.26.1 offers several new features, as well as improvements to existing features. Many of these enhancements are a direct response to customers’ suggestions in the UserVoice forum.

Back to Work

As companies return to the office during the COVID-19 pandemic, many are implementing a hoteling strategy in which employees book seats for days they will be in the office. To support the increased use of hoteling, we have implemented several new features for booking seats. All new features can be found in the self-service Workplace application; while others apply both to Workplace and the Create Booking task. Since the self-service Workplace app is a handy way for all staff to book their seats, we have also updated the Workplace interface to meet WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) accessibility requirements.

  • Workplace Accessibility
  • Workplace Hoteling Changes
  • Other Hoteling Changes (Create Booking and Workplace)

User Experience

In order to provide an intuitive and pleasing user experience and to respond to customer requests in UserVoice, we have made the following changes:

  • Reports Central
  • Space Console: Improved Search
  • Space Console: User  Experience Improvements
  • Move Console: User Experience Improvements

Other Changes

Archibus V.26.1 also includes these changes:

  • Platform and Framework
  • Cost Tracking in the Leases SaaS Module
  • Space Access Analysis from Employee Badge Data (Demo)

IMS Consulting - Archibus v26.1 Health Check

Our On-Demand webinar dives deeper into what’s new in Archibus v.26.1.

For more information about Archibus v.25.4 contact IMS Consulting: hello@ims.consulting or find us online at http://ims.consulting Connect with us on LinkedIn.

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.

2 Minute Drill – IMS System Auditing Extension for Archibus

2 Minute Drill – IMS System Auditing Extension for Archibus

 

An integral part of managing an Archibus implementation is understanding who is accessing the system, what information are they reviewing, and if users are experiencing errors during the execution of their daily responsibilities. The IMS System Auditing Extension for Archibus provides organizations with the ability to review detailed logs of system performance, track system errors experienced by end-users and system processes, and review a log of all users that have logged in and out of the Archibus application.

IMS System Audit Extension for Archibus - IMS Consulting

As a core feature, the Archibus application provides data event logging to allow organizations to track when data in the system changes, what data changed, and who changed it. The IMS System Auditing Extension for Archibus also provides enhancements to this core feature by parsing all data event logs, displaying the captured events in easy-to-read reports, and performing analysis to help organizations understand the transaction load their users are placing on the system.

For more information about these offers contact IMS Consulting: hello@ims.consulting or find us online at http://ims.consulting Connect with us on LinkedIn.

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.

2 Minute Drill – Archibus Real Property Application v.25

2 Minute Drill – Archibus Real Property v.25

 

Align your real estate portfolio with your organizational mission with Archibus Real Property v.25.

Centralize Leases

Manage all of your leases in a single database, with the ability to locate lease information through an interactive map.

Evaluate Total Cost of Ownership

Understand the true cost of properties by assessing operational costs alongside lease costs.

Archibus v.25.4 Real Property - IMS Consulting

Enhance Lease/Buy Decisions

Inform all lease/buy decisions with a comprehensive understanding of costs, compliance, occupancy, and key deadlines.

Automate Compliance & Administration

Integrate with solutions for ensuring compliance with lease accounting standards and automate important lease payments to stay on top of key deadlines.

Streamline Chargebacks with Accurate Reporting

Chargeback building expenses to occupants with accurate and automated invoicing.

Forecast Real Estate Scenarios

Leverage advanced portfolio forecasting to create a multi-year plan for your real estate strategy.

For more information about these offers contact IMS Consulting: hello@ims.consulting or find us online at http://ims.consulting Connect with us on LinkedIn.

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.

2 Minute Drill – Archibus Maintenance Application v.25

2 Minute Drill – Archibus Maintenance v.25

 

Optimize operations with Archibus Maintenance v.25 and its pro-active tools for automating preventive maintenance. Track and evaluate everything to improve continuously and enhance outcomes across the board.

Generate Detailed Work Orders

Enable occupants, craftspersons, and managers to generate work orders from anywhere.

Automate Preventive Maintenance

With Archibus Maintenance v.25 you can prevent costly breaks before they happen with a preventive maintenance strategy. Generate work orders automatically based on the specific maintenance of needs of different assets with an automated Preventive Maintenance Planner.

Prioritize and Centralize Work Orders

View, approve and manage all work orders from a single console. Drill into each order and advance to view details and advance its status through to completion. Automate alerts for critical orders and bottlenecks that need attention.

Respond Quickly and Effectively

Enable craftspersons to receive requests directly on their mobile phones with relevant details, then update orders with additional details after completion. Track the status of each order to ensure that the job is done, and reschedule missed orders.

Evaluate and Optimize

Evaluate effectiveness with metrics that enable you to track the cost, labor, and performance of operations. Track trends, identify outliers and gain visibility into how effectively your strategy is meeting needs on the ground.

Anticipate Budgetary Needs

Calculate the cost of your preventive maintenance plan for the year ahead to ensure that your budget reflects your priorities.

For more information about these offers contact IMS Consulting: hello@ims.consulting or find us online at http://ims.consulting Connect with us on LinkedIn.

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.