We have identified five major shifts emerging in 2025 that will reshape and simplify building management. The facility management industry is maturing into a strategic cornerstone for operations, and these trends will showcase how the role will address cybersecurity, labor shortages, sustainability, compliance, and energy efficiency.

Increased facility cybersecurity through collaboration with IT and digital partners 

Cybercrime increased by 75% in 2024 and is expected to continue rising in 2025. Increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals are looking for any way to access the systems of corporations and infrastructure providers. Breaches can range from ransom attacks targeting corporate operations to more critical attempts to infiltrate payment and financial systems. 

Facility managers working with IT to prioritize digital security will protect their operations. Implementing secure-by-design systems limits access by layering security measures, timely software updates, and isolating operational technology from broader networks. Keeping software up-to-date will be essential to combat these risks. This includes ensuring patches are up to date on all IoT edge devices and critical building infrastructure systems such as HVAC, lighting, access control systems, and other equipment that might not traditionally be considered inviting to hackers. 

Labor gaps will lead to consolidation, outsourcing and technology adoption

While facilities management is vital, the industry is experiencing a significant labor challenge. This gap is expected to widen further as fewer young people enter the field, putting more pressure on the already strained workforce, which is retiring in large numbers​.

Adopting smart energy initiatives to attract tenants 

Managing energy resources wisely, whether turning to renewable sources or adopting technology that allocates energy to address real-time conditions, can also be a selling point for office spaces. Research shows that employees in green offices are 15% more productive, which has heightened the demand for eco-conscious workplaces. In addition to contributing to environmentally friendly goals, 69% of people prioritize working in greener environments, pushing the demand for organizations to seek more eco-friendly office spaces. 

In response, building owners will continue investing in upgrades beyond traditional improvements. From innovative building technologies that enhance energy efficiency, like intelligent lighting, to renewable energy installations, such as solar panels, these features will help attract tenants to office spaces that are up for lease. These sustainable upgrades reduce the environmental footprint and create a more productive and attractive work environment. Office buildings that embrace energy-efficient systems and eco-friendly designs will become desirable for tenants seeking long-term, cost-effective solutions.

Navigating and complying with new regulations

2025 will bring many new climate regulations for buildings globally. While larger sustainability teams may have the resources to stay ahead of these requirements, smaller teams could struggle to balance operations while working to understand unclear regulatory demands. Surveys show that only 25% of organizations are ready for upcoming regulations and reporting. 

Many building owners are navigating the uncertain landscape of upcoming regulations. Understanding and implementing strategies to meet compliance will take up more of the facilities and energy teams’ limited time. However, those who seek technological solutions that support energy reporting demands will be in a better position to handle any changes in the regulatory climate. Being proactive will allow teams to benefit from the efficiencies and lower costs of software designed to track and manage energy costs. 

Preparing for the potential of rapidly increasing energy costs 

The reality of digitalization drives the increasing need for global data centers worldwide. This surge draws increasing attention to their energy consumption and carbon impact, pressing the adoption of more sustainable solutions.

In response, facility managers are consolidating resources and increasingly outsourcing key functions to manage day-to-day operations effectively​. However, despite these strategies, the gap in skilled labor combined with rising demand calls for rethinking traditional operations. Industry leaders recognize the importance of investing in comprehensive training programs to develop the next generation of professionals. Like many labor problems throughout history, people will need technology to help close the gap. Leaders in outsourced operations will embrace new technology to empower the few to do more.

The heightened energy usage has already prompted a shift towards innovations like hybrid cooling systems and AI-integrated infrastructure, which will continue to evolve in 2025​. These advancements will take center stage as industry leaders recognize the critical need to align data center growth with sustainable energy practices.

As a result, building owners and facility managers may see their energy costs increase, and it will continue to be essential to maintain efficient operations through the use of traditional sustainability solutions as well as software solutions. As we move through 2025, cybersecurity, labor shortages, sustainability, increasing regulation, and the need to reduce energy consumption will be at the top of everyone’s priority list. 

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Connected portfolio intelligence platforms (CPIPs), a software platform category introduced by Verdantix in May 2022, go beyond traditional integrated workplace management system (IWMS) solutions by integrating real-time data, advanced analytics and AI to optimize building performance and elevate occupant experiences.

As vendors enhance their offerings through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, the boundaries between CPIP/IWMS and digital building IoT platforms are increasingly blurring, fueling innovative solutions that deliver even greater value to customers across the real estate landscape.

The latest Verdantix report, Green Quadrant: Connected Portfolio Intelligence Platforms (CPIP/IWMS) 2025, provides heads of facilities, information technology (IT) operations and real estate professionals with comprehensive insights to select the best-fit provider for their requirements.

Of the 12 most prominent CPIP providers in the market, eight leading firms — Planon, IBM, Eptura, MRI Software, Tango, Johnson Controls, Spacewell-Nemetschek and Nuvolo — demonstrated advanced CPIP/IWMS capabilities.

The report highlights how vendors are harnessing AI to enhance their platforms and gain market share, from AI-powered chatbots and predictive maintenance, to intelligent space-planning solutions, such as Tango’s AI-driven floorplan optimization tool.

Key report findings:

• Major building technology providers are actively acquiring CPIP/IWMS vendors to expand their market reach and offer comprehensive tech-enabled solutions. This trend is driving innovation and accelerating the integration of IoT and AI capabilities into CPIP solutions. Recent acquisitions include Schneider Electric’s control of Planon and Trane Technologies’ acquisition of Nuvolo.
• Strategic partnerships are enabling providers to deliver localized support and functionality across new markets. For example, Johnson Controls’s acquisition of FM:Systems has seen a comprehensive integration of FM:Systems functionality into Johnson Controls’s OpenBlue digital platform; and Planon has partnered with EY Advisory Netherlands and US-based consultancy EBUSINESS STRATEGIES, and acquired the global firms AIA, COOR and SPM Assets.
• Vendors are integrating AI to enrich analytics, streamline processes and enable features such as chatbots, predictive tools and data-driven insights, for example, the AI tools offered by MRI Software, Planon, Service Works Global and Tango.
• Energy and sustainability management remain critical as firms strive to align operations with environmental goals by tracking energy performance and leveraging financial data, for example through Spacewell Energy.
• Buyers are transitioning towards integrated CPIP/IWMS solutions to streamline operations and enhance decision-making. The comprehensive nature of these platforms often makes it easier to secure C-Suite approval and drive digital transformation.

Joy Trinquet, senior analyst at Verdantix, explained:

The CPIP market is undergoing a seismic shift, transforming real estate management with IoT-enabled platforms and advanced analytics. By catering to a broad range of stakeholders — from real estate managers to employees — CPIP solutions empower organizations to optimize their real estate portfolios, reduce costs and enhance workplace experiences. To stay ahead, vendors must prioritize AI-driven innovation, seamless user experiences, strategic partnerships and continuous adaptation to industry trends.

To learn more, read the full report here: Green Quadrant: Connected Portfolio Intelligence Platforms (CPIP/IWMS) 2025.

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Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which recently devastated many southern states, including Florida and North Carolina, caused billions of dollars of property damage, leaving many real estate owners, managers and tenants scrambling to recover. Rehabbing properties in some areas will take at least 2 years to complete, and some communities will never be the same.

In an environment where severe storms have become the new normal, CRE stakeholders, especially those in high-risk areas, need to take a proactive approach to portfolio health and resiliency and create contingency plans that will enable them to prepare their portfolios for identified risks and respond after an event to implement post-storm recovery as quickly as possible. However, this is a massive undertaking, especially for those with large, distributed portfolios.

As these dynamics persist, technology has emerged as an essential tool helping landlords and occupiers address climate-related challenges. By leveraging intelligent, data-backed solutions, CRE stakeholders can better manage the health, performance, and risk of their portfolios, even in the most dire of conditions.

Building resiliency through tech

In order to create impactful resilience strategies, CRE owners and occupiers must first gain a complete understanding of potential risk at both the portfolio and individual asset levels. Armed with this information, they can create weather and hazard preparedness plans tailored to each property’s individual needs. Tenants should conduct the same type of analysis, understanding their leases, insurance, landlord and tenant impacts and responsibilities in the event of an extreme weather catastrophe.

One way technology aids this process is by providing stakeholders with a picture of potential damages before a weather or hazard event even hits. Using climate technology that can map the specific locations within a portfolio against various potential climate and hazard risks can help identify sites with the most risk and help to understand the potential business impact. Planning and other preparedness measures can also be taken, such as installing an aqua fence.

Let us consider Dollar Mart, a fictional discount retailer with more than a thousand triple net-leased locations across the eastern half of the United States. The company’s real estate team sits in its Atlanta headquarters and oversees the entire portfolio. None of Dollar Mart’s locations — storefronts ranging from 3,000-5,000 square feet — has an onsite property manager; the Atlanta team oversees the physical well-being of the portfolio and taps into each site’s store manager when necessary. Nearly all maintenance work is handled by third-party vendors.

When a hurricane is brewing, there is no on-site staff at any Dollar Mart properties that is knowledgeable about how to prepare for a storm — instead, Dollar Mart’s central real estate and facilities team must grapple with the hurricane’s potential impact across the portion of their portfolio that is likely to be impacted.

In these increasingly common situations, real estate teams are helped immeasurably by data-driven technology that tracks maintenance, repairs, and environmental data, and can highlight properties within a storm’s path and the likelihood that individual properties will face significant damage. Factors like the age of the building and its equipment, roof, type of landscaping — and open work orders — help dictate which properties have the greatest concern within the path of the storm. Technology that helps pinpoint these properties in a massive portfolio can empower real estate and facilities teams to address these items before the storm and/or book third-party vendors to inspect the most vulnerable locations immediately after the hurricane clears, even potentially through the use of drones if access is restricted.

Bouncing back post-storm

While technology is increasingly proving critical for owners and occupiers who strive to be prepared heading into weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, heat and cold waves, etc., a technology framework is just as important for enabling a quick, efficient response post-storm.

Once the storm has passed, Dollar Mart’s real estate team in Atlanta will want to ascertain the level of damage across their portfolio and make repairs to ensure that stores are reopened for business as quickly as possible. In the days after a storm, tools that track facility status and equipment health from a central platform enable the real estate team to address damage across hundreds of properties in real-time. By automating third-party vendor procurement, technology can also help facilitate faster completion of tasks like generator deployment and water intrusion repair, which are critical to reducing business disruption, testing for mold and other environmental issues, and mitigating the costliest property damage.

After the immediate post-storm emergency work is done, Dollar Mart can also use its detailed property data and damage reporting to apply for insurance aid with greater speed and accuracy. Because technology helps the company document and substantiate losses with precision (covering things like pre-storm asset condition, real-time damage reports, and repair actions taken immediately after the event), it helps them significantly strengthen their claims.

Looking ahead

Sadly, the work does not end here, because in high-risk areas, there is always the threat of another storm, weather event or natural hazard — but therein lies another advantage of using technology in facility management.

One of the most compelling benefits of integrating technology into resilience planning is the intel gained before and after damage is repaired. Taking a close look at how properties held up during extreme weather, Dollar Mart can glean actionable takeaways about vulnerabilities exposed during the storm – such as specific equipment failures, weak points in building structure, or areas prone to flooding. With 1,000+ properties in its portfolio, these insights inform long-term improvements to infrastructure across the region and guide preventative measures for future climate-related events.

By continuously keeping the climate mapping current and identifying flood, extreme weather, natural hazards and climate exposures that threaten a company’s assets, risk is being managed as hazards and climate changes and scenarios change over time. Paying close attention to high hazard core assets is also important. Vulnerability and value-at-risk assessments for core assets should be identified to determine which would cause material financial risk to a business in an extreme event. Supply chain risk should also be considered in the planning and mapping. By keeping the risk and resiliency mapping and monitoring current and learning from each storm with the help of technology, CRE owners and occupiers can refine storm and natural hazard response strategies — enhancing property durability, mitigating financial or supply chain risk to the business, and delivering operational efficiency, ultimately building a more resilient portfolio over time.

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This article discusses how mobile technology is revolutionizing facility management and specifically describes how the tools can particularly benefit organizations.

Greater efficiency through immediate access to data

One of the most significant benefits of mobile solutions in FM is real-time access to critical data. This may include inventory management, maintenance schedules, or answering service requests. The benefit of mobile solutions is immediate access to information, which can speed up decision-making and ensure that teams are all on the same page, minimizing the chances of double work or missed work.

With a mobile app, a facility manager can:

• Access and update data instantly
• Monitor equipment status and track inventory levels on the move
• Receive timely updates, ensuring that every work order and schedule remains up to date

Accessibility of data at any point in time allows teams to rapidly respond to emerging concerns, keeping facilities running efficiently and smoothly. For instance, facility managers can change or reschedule duties in time, anticipating needs or any other changes to prevent interference.

Enhancing communication and collaboration

Effective facility management depends on clear, streamlined communication among departments and locations. Mobile solutions simplify this by providing one unified platform where staff members can communicate and share information in real time. Instead of phone calls and emails, teams can respond to each other directly within the app, making it easier to keep track of project progress and arising issues.

Key communication benefits include:

• Direct messaging features to enable prompt response
• Shared access to the work order and checklist, so everyone is in sync
• Alerts and notifications to prompt responses to any critical problem

This simplified communication reduces the chances of misunderstandings or delays, encouraging a collaborative environment. Teams can solve issues more effectively and ensure that all members are aware of their duties.

Cost savings through preventive maintenance

Unplanned equipment failures can be very costly, both in repairs and lost productivity. Preventive maintenance through mobile solutions involves setting up and tracking routine maintenance schedules by facility managers. This shift from reactive to proactive maintenance extends the life of equipment, prevents breakdowns, and saves on repair costs.

How preventive maintenance saves costs:

• Alerts and reminders for scheduled maintenance
• Early detection of potential issues through regular inspections
• Historical data on equipment performance to plan timely changes or repairs

For example, facility managers can develop and schedule maintenance activities based on usage patterns and manufacturer’s recommendations, allowing service of equipment before problems develop. Using data analytics, they can determine trends and base conclusions on when to replace, update or repair machinery.

Improved compliance and safety management

Most sectors, such as healthcare or manufacturing, require compliance with high standards. Failure to observe these can result in penalties and unsafe situations. Mobile FM solutions help ensure compliance by making inspections more manageable, ensuring proper record-keeping, and creating audit trails for compliance.

Mobile compliance solutions offer:

• Digital checklists to ensure that the same aspects are checked on every one
• Automated reports that can be reviewed, sent and shared among stakeholders
• A secure repository of documents for audits and reviews

In safety-sensitive environments, a mobile application with digital checklists enables field personnel to conduct inspections without paper forms, reducing the possibilities of errors or missed items. Having digital records readily available also simplifies the audit process, making compliance less cumbersome.

Streamlined work order management

Work orders are typically cumbersome to manage and monitor. Traditional methods involve back-and-forth communication, causing delays and requiring manual data input, which slows down workflows. With mobile FM solutions, it is possible to create work orders, assign them, and update them in real time. This improves accountability and ensures that tasks are completed on time.

Mobile work order management allows facility teams to:

• Assign tasks to specific team members or contractors
• Track the status of tasks in real time
• Access previous work order history to observe patterns or repeated problems

This fosters transparency so that everyone within the organization is aware of their responsibilities and timelines. For example, when a maintenance request is submitted, the concerned technician can be immediately alerted and prepare accordingly for their work.

Enhancing sustainability efforts

Mobile facility management is also environmentally friendly. Businesses not only reduce costs but also minimize their carbon footprint by digitizing records and limiting paper-based processes. Digital forms, checklists, and reporting create a sustainable workplace and facilitate easier data analysis for continuous improvements.

Sustainability highlights:

• Paper waste is reduced through digitized records.
• Automated processes save energy.
• Better resource usage and waste tracking help identify areas for improvement.

For example, an organization can track energy consumption and identify inefficiencies that could lead to lower energy costs and a smaller environmental impact.

About the author

Jason Davis is a senior manager at Axonator, Inc., a developer of no-code mobile app solutions that automate checklists, improve reporting, and streamline workflow processes to boost operational efficiency and compliance. Visit Axonator to learn more about what the company provides.

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This is not surprising given that BIM contain a great deal of relevant information for facilities management operations ‒ for example, information about the composition of the building and the properties of building components.

This newfound interest in BIM consequently creates many questions, notes workplace management software provider Planon. The company created an e-book that includes five of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) along with Planon’s answers to those questions.

Read this white paper to find the answer to these questions:

• What is BIM?
• What added value does BIM bring to facility management?
• Can a BIM be integrated with an integrated workplace management system?
• Is there a roadmap for successful BIM and IWMS integration?
• Can Planon’s IWMS software work with BIM data?

Download your free copy of this FAQ now by filling out the form at Planon.

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With the right vision, preparation, change management, technology tools, and network, facilities management (FM) can significantly contribute to the success of sustainability projects, ensuring that they become woven into the fabric of your buildings, operations, and experiences, and aren’t just one-off efforts.

Need some inspiration? In this first joint e-book, Planon and Schneider Electric have compiled several examples of smart, sustainable changes their customers are making in the areas of maintenance, stock management, hybrid working, health and safety, and workplace efficiency. With these changes, facility management teams can better support their organization’s sustainability strategy and bring about positive change within the built environment.

Sustainability isn’t a new topic for most organizations, notes Planon. But setting environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals and launching successful strategic initiatives to achieve them are two separate things.

Budget cuts and other priorities often delay sustainability initiatives, which are usually seen as complicated and costly projects. But small changes made by facilities and operations teams can have a big impact and bring about significant transformation.

Your team may already be on the right path! The e-book explores how data management technologies like an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) or resource advisor can help FM teams provide reliable data for company-wide sustainability projects with lasting impact.

Get tips on the best departments to work with for sustainable changes in these areas:

• Improved maintenance processes
• Replacements and upgrades
• Smarter stock management
• Hybrid working
• Safe and healthy workplace
• Better sustainability reporting
• Mitigate ESG-related risks with access to accurate data
• Workplace efficiency

Download this e-book now to kickstart positive change at your organization.

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The workspace returns are led by the Asia Pacific market, including a worldwide 495% increase in collaborative room bookings since January 2022, 76% increase in room booking check-in rate, 35% increase in visitor check-ins , and 3% increase in site inspections.

Brandon Holden, CEO of Eptura, stated:

Data from Eptura’s Workplace Index report demonstrates that space planning, workplace experience, visitor management, and asset maintenance are all inextricably linked.

By taking a comprehensive look at the different facets of the modern working arrangement, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of how the world at work is responding to the needs of their workforce and make more informed decisions about the future of their assets.

The report draws on a representative sample of more than 6,000 organizations within Eptura’s global customer base to showcase emerging patterns in how the physical workspace operates at every level, from individual assets to office floorplans to entire buildings.  Data from 2022 serves as a benchmark against which the report compares insights from the first quarter of 2023.

Additionally, the report explores four preeminent tensions organizations are navigating in today’s workplaces: freedom vs. connection; flexibility vs. certainty; value add vs. cost center; and CO2 target vs. costs.

Freedom vs. connection

This theme from the report highlights the tension between an individual employee’s desire to work how they want and the need for human connection with other employees within a business.

• Office attendance headlines of 2022 confirmed one thing for senior management: the commute must be earned and not mandated from their supervisors. Employees want the freedom to choose when and where to work. This desire, however, often conflicts with both the employee and manager’s needs to connect in person.
• All regions spanning Asia-Pacific (176%), Europe and the United Kingdom (839%), and the Americas (281%) saw significant year-over-year increases in desk bookings.
• A new post-pandemic pattern has emerged out of this tension. High check-in rates for room bookings show steadily larger populations of the workforce are falling back into the rhythm of going into the office for connection, which tends to attract more people into the office. All regions exceeded a 70% check-in rate, and the global rate for room booking check-ins grew from 56% to 76%. Specifically, APAC room bookings increased by 50% Q1 2022 compared to Q1 2023, EMEA increased by 84%, and Americas increased by 46%.

Flexibility vs. certainty

The second main theme from the report highlights the tension between the desire to work in a fluid manner and the need for predictability within a business. While flexible work policies are broadly welcomed, they can create enormous friction for facility management and corporate real estate teams who need to plan around workspace demand that changes daily.

• Many workplaces are seeing a peak in demand from Tuesday to Thursday. While the data shows a clear pattern of increased room bookings during the middle of the week over the past three quarters, Monday and Friday are also seeing increases in room bookings.
• Analysis of customer-reported working patterns shows that the majority of flexible work policies fall into one or more of six common categories: Split-Week (35%); At-Will (24%); Office-First (12%); Designated Teams for Hybrid (12%); Remote-First (8%); and Week-by-Week (4%).
• When separating return visits from unique visitors, there has been a 35% increase in visitor check-ins year over year. Peaking in November 2022, this has now exceeded pre-pandemic visitor traffic levels, with a gain of 60% from the lows in January 2022.

Value add vs. cost center

From a financial perspective, this theme explores the tension between the pressure to reconfigure, remodel, and renovate workspaces to create attractive modern  workplaces and the need to rationalize costs in a business, as companies are under twin pressures to deliver effective workplaces from both an employee experience and operational point of view.

• Globally, the research shows an ongoing increase in meeting room-based activity with all regions steadily seeing more days per month booked.
• Between 4Q 2022 and 1Q 2023, APAC grew by 32% in usage of rooms for 14 days or more per month, while EMEA grew at a steady but slower rate at 31% growth, and the Americas saw an increase at 48% growth. This growth in meeting room usage brought the total number of rooms booked for more than 14 days per month to 74% in APAC, 68% in EMEA, and 59% in the Americas.
• Data shows that most work orders are being requested and completed by facility teams on Mondays. Asset inspections are highest on Mondays and Tuesdays.

CO2 targets vs. cost

Lastly, this theme from the report highlights the tension between meeting the requirements set by environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards and the need to optimize costs.

• The physical footprint of an organization’s buildings is generally responsible for roughly 30-50% of the company’s energy consumption. Despite a broad movement to reduce those emissions by at least 50% in the next 7 years, high initial costs and insufficient budget have been major blockers to becoming net zero emitters.
• Accurate data collection is critical for companies to succeed in improving their ESG standards in a cost-effective manner. By collecting and analyzing data across all aspects of the built environment — energy consumption, water consumption, consumables, repairs, and maintenance — companies can identify areas where they can make improvements.
• Sustainability and workplace jobs are expected to experience rapid growth in the next five years. A new report from The World Economic Forum’s Future of Job Report 2023 highlights sustainability as a key driver in the job market, listing Sustainability Specialists, Renewable Energy Engineers, and Solar Energy Installation and System Engineers as some of the fastest-growing roles relative to their size today.

Download the full 2023 Q1 Workplace Index report from Eptura.

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While most of these are common problems real estate owners and operators encounter, they threaten the very existence of such businesses during economic downturns.

How do they keep themselves afloat and profitable? Real estate owners and operators are turning to technology solutions to find ways to curb spend and improve the bottom line in 2023 and beyond.

The C-Suite, especially, has started viewing property operations technology as a strategic investment, and expects comprehensive and real-time visibility into their real estate portfolios’ performance.

This data will help them make data-driven decisions to reduce operational expenses and increase productivity, improving the bottom line at every step.

The tools and platforms that deliver high-level overviews and real-time insights into critical O&M parameters for portfolio performance to senior leadership will do well going into the future.

Trend #1: Property operation tech will become a strategic investment

To keep up with the evolving demands from CRE portfolios, it becomes imperative to choose a software-led approach to optimize portfolio operations.

Organizations are increasingly seeking property operations software platforms that can unify data silos and help leadership teams plan, set cost-effective O&M strategies, and measure performance against it.

The industry wants to circumvent the frustrations of dead-end tools and needs a unified system of action rather than just a system of record.

As with any investments made into digital transformation efforts, property ops tech procurement must be handled by leadership teams.

The right platform will eliminate silos and allow all important stakeholders to access the data they need, along with a bird’s eye view of portfolio-level critical parameters.

Real-time, well-rounded, and accurate data is now a standard expectation from commercial facilities. Tools which can deliver this at scale will win in 2023 and beyond.

Trend #2: Faster time-to-value and flexibility to scale will be No.1 priority for O&M teams

Just as things move at the click of a button — from booking a cab, to ordering food, to even automating financial transactions, real estate owners/operators are looking for solutions that deliver similar experiences in their day-to-day tasks.

They prefer scalable platforms that are flexible enough to incorporate new technologies such as IoT sensors, building management systems, and devices as they are introduced to the infrastructure. Such platforms enable real estate owners/operators to start deriving value from their investments with a much lower time-to-value than is typical for the real estate industry.

From our discussion with O&M teams world over one thing remains clear — they want  interoperability, scalability and low barriers for change management to stay relevant in the ever-changing environment of property ops tech.

Trend #3: Decarbonization will remain a key focus area

With increasing government regulations for net zero emissions goals and an impending recession, decarbonizing goals are more important now than ever for most businesses.

CRE owners and enterprises will have to approach energy cost reduction as a comprehensive strategy to make sustainability a habit.

The first (and cost-effective) steps to net zero are digital retrofits and cloud-based controls that give O&M teams granular visibility into asset and energy performance metrics.

Cloud supervisory platforms enable data-driven sustainability to monitor, analyze, and remotely optimize their existing automation systems and guide further efforts to more advanced ways to conserve energy.

Reimagining property operations for 2023 and beyond

A lot has changed over the last few years. Workplace occupants expect a higher standard of service, safety, comfort, health, productivity, and experience from office spaces.

While technology has remained the answer for long, the time is now to take stock of your current O&M strategy and plan your 2023 agenda on the back of the key themes dominating the industry. SaaS-driven efficiency, agility, and innovation will be the way to keep up with the ever-evolving demands and expectations from commercial facilities.

There is a sea of vendors offering property ops tech solutions for every O&M use case. However, unless property operations are approached as a holistic and unified function, the network of specialized systems and software you deploy may sit in silos and could turn counter-productive, costing  you efficiency gains and savings in the long run.

Picking a flexible, scalable platform that enables interoperability to put you on the path to more O&M efficiencies will make all the difference, delivering a portfolio of high-performing buildings and assets in 2023 and forever.

Find out more about Facilio’s connected operations platform for smart buildings here.

The post Three trends that are set to shape property ops in 2023 appeared first on FMLink.

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by Brook Potter and Andrew Yu — Employees are a company’s biggest asset. Deeply engaged, they can deliver 20 percent higher profitability for an organization through greater productivity. But new studies show that just 20 percent of employees are actually engaged in the workplace, a drop from pre-pandemic times.

With hybrid work models looking like a permanent way forward, organizations are working hard and investing aggressively to engage employees — whether they return to offices regularly, infrequently or not at all. They are also leaning hard on facility managers for data to help predict, plan and provision for a more dynamic use of offices to maximize space utilization.

The pandemic-accelerated digital transformation has brought to the forefront PropTech that can help with both scenarios: smart building services and low-code app-building platforms. Bringing the two together can help organizations engage employees, inform space utilization and remain agile as things continue to change.

Companies are having success engaging employees with these types of digital experiences (DEX). Following is a compilation of learnings and examples, and guidance on how to approach the process of delivering a workplace app that unifies the digital experience.

What kind of digital services help engage employees in the workplace?

Organizations are redefining offices for hybrid work. Instead of making many individual desks available, they may set up huddle rooms, or neighborhoods, which can or must be booked in advance. Or they may organize more special events to bring people into offices, or host them virtually, to bring remote and in-office workers together. For amenity areas like cafeterias, gyms or even conference rooms, enabling smart building data through a company mobile app lets people check occupancy or temperature and apply comfort controls. Here are the broad categories of services organizations build into their digital workplace experiences:

• Collaboration and socialization — Technology that helps people see when others are heading to the office, sync schedules and seating, and reserve spaces for drop-by meetups has become a must-have in the hybrid workplace. The desire to make trips to the office “worth it” has also driven workplace technology to include the ability to connect socially, with opt-in personal profiles that enable employees to share their interests with co-workers, join affinity groups and participate in gamified workplace experiences.

• 

  Comfort and control — With access to data on daylight, lighting and temperature in different parts of a building, employees can decide to set up meetings in bright, lively areas or quieter spots. And with the ability to control some of those conditions directly, they can accommodate their own preferences – lowering or raising window shades and/or room temperature.

• Dining services — If research is reflective of what is happening on a broad scale, the number-one, most-used amenity is anything to do with food — ordering meals, checking menus, even alerting colleagues that food leftovers are available and where they can be picked up.
• Frictionless experiences — Enterprises now use, on average, a whopping 364 separate apps, with 53 percent of workers noting that they find having to “navigate between apps” more annoying than working on household chores. App platforms that integrate technologies in a way that is seamless to workers is a must-have. This takes the form of a single sign-in to submit service tickets, request PTO, access Office 365 or Jira, check progress-to-goals and other job-related tasks.
• Well-being services — Health attestations, notifications to nudge healthy behaviors and support services
• Amenities — Gym, yoga, spa services, meditation and more
• Events — From all-hands meetings to guest presentations to family days and volunteering outings
• Training — Onboarding, compliance training, learning and development
• Help desk/fix-it — From reporting a broken laptop to getting a new badge or scheduling a shipment

Digital HQ: The mobile workplace app

Launching a unified workplace app: A roadmap

Here is a guide to creating a unified workplace app that can help keep employees productive and engaged and make the most of an organization’s changing space.

1. Establish stakeholders and teams

The workplace app experience should contribute to missions across the organization; so, the first step will be to identify stakeholders who can help create the vision and priorities for the app experience and play an ongoing role in its evolution. This group typically includes representatives from:

• Workplace Experience/Technology
• Facility Management
• Corporate Real Estate
• Information Technology
• Digital Transformation
• Hybrid Work
• Corporate Communications
• Marketing
• Employee Experience
• Human Resources
• Intranet Manager/Internal Community Manager 

2. Conduct discovery

Use focus groups, surveys, observations, interviews and usage data to determine what experiences matter most. Consider day-in-the-life scenarios for in-office and remote work. 

3. Map vision & technology enablement

Take what is learned in discovery and prioritize implementation to identify what features the app will have at launch and which ones will be delivered over time. Taking a modular approach helps you get the app up and running quickly and evolve. 

4. Lay out the implementation plan

Every organization’s priority and technology enablement capabilities are different. Companies with the most success typically start with an out-of-the-box solution and launch in a limited number of locations, in anywhere from three to eight months. Then they gather feedback and refine the employee experience. They continue to add personas and locations, expand features and integrate other tools and apps, evolving continually in a phased launch approach to enable greater personalization and sophistication – it is all about the art of the possible.

 

The key technology layer that enables these kinds of engaging experiences is the workplace app. It is the interface by which people interact with smart buildings and other enterprise technologies and tools, whether they are in the office or not. Having people drive their own workplace experiences and connect directly with smart building services through a unified app also helps organizations shift from a facility-centric to a people-centric approach to managing buildings.

App-building platforms now exist that provide sophisticated tools and out-of-the-box integrations presented through a friendly, low-code UI, so organizations can easily deliver a highly customized experience without the pain that has typically come with building or outsourcing it.

Use case: Smart building services

Smart buildings are those that use technology to enable the efficient use of resources like energy, while also creating a safe, comfortable and fundamentally engaging environment for the occupant. By using a low-code app-building platform to connect its workforce with smart building services, an organization can engage its workforce in both domestic and international locations while delivering solutions to its clients to help them drive engagement and make their workplaces smarter and more responsive.

By connecting a workplace app to a building management system, employees can use their phones to control temperature, lights or blinds in a space, for example. The app can connect to an access control system to enable digital badging with the phone. Additionally, the app can integrate with smart IoT sensors to show occupancy levels or indoor air quality ratings in spaces.

Through integration with workplace management solutions, such as visitor management, room/desk booking or ticketing systems, the app enables end users to access these often discrete services in one place for additional convenience.

Use case: Role-based app experience

A multinational bank and financial services company is combining smart building data within a unified workplace app to create a concierge-like experience for its employees. Using the app platform’s low-code approach and native API integrations, they were able to set up role-based personas, which each accessed aggregated smart building data and presented it differently for employees, FMs and floor ambassadors who assist people with the in-office experience. For FMs there is the potential to integrate selected data from the building management system into the app and extend the value of these data to a mobile context.

Use case: Equity and collaboration

It is possible for a company to launch its workplace app as a central hub of an employee experience that is empowering and equitable, with capabilities focused on building confidence and collaboration in a changed workforce. With this dynamic approach, employees can work from anywhere and still have access to the benefits of being in the office.

Features like interactive maps and video tours of reconfigured office spaces, along with sanitization status and occupancy checks provide transparent tools that inspire confidence, while the ability to quickly see who is working, when and where helps employees align schedules and locations to collaborate. Additional capabilities for social sharing, polls and gamification connect and engage the workforce in a people-centered workplace.

Use case: Dynamic personalization

A leading global financial services institution engages its employees by hyper-personalizing the app experience based on data users have opted to provide. Depending on where and when the employee logs in, they see different information. Checking the app from home in the morning will show a dashboard with the day’s schedule, and knowing that the employee has scheduled to come to the office shows them colleagues who will also be in the office that day to foster collaboration. After they have badged into the office it may show them lunch options or notifications about on-site office conditions or events. As they prepare to leave for the day it may show them transit schedules.

All of these experiences can be available to employees from a single workplace app. They can be further extended with integrations to the many digital tools and platforms employees are already using day to day.

An engaging workplace experience is now table stakes

While workplace amenities and tools that engage people may seem like a nice-to-have, in the competitive post-pandemic talent market they have moved up in priority to the must-have list. An elevated digital experience is an expectation — companies have to go way beyond a corporate intranet to reflect the kind of hyper-personalized experience people have become used to on their mobile devices and with smart home technology.

The success of organizations, especially people-centric organizations, in the era of hybrid work is in how they help employees succeed wherever they are. For some that means bringing people back to offices full time. For others it is less frequently, or for certain purposes, so they can continue to be productive, but also get to know one another.

There are incredible tools and solutions in the market today to help facility managers make buildings and workplaces smarter, like building management systems, access control systems and smart sensors. Previously, these solutions and the activities they enable have been driven by site and facility leads. With low-code app-building platforms that can easily integrate other web-based tools and scale securely to thousands of users, they are now able to extend that experience and responsibility to the occupants of those facilities — employees — so they are more aware of what is happening through communication and expression of data and also through actions they can take.

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