We’ve attended a few conferences recently and heard a common refrain: Life would be easier if the IT and Facilities teams could collaborate more often and/or earlier in the process.
The problem is that as technology advances, the old turf wars have remained. Between new facility technology solutions and enhanced sensor capabilities, the lines between the two “departments” are, technically, blurring more and more. But in over 65% or North American organisations, a firm line continues to divide thinking and directors.
Pre-2024 Thinking That Continues
Building automation has been around for decades*. Sensors and other automation tools are being used to control and monitor Building Automation Systems (BAS) such as HVAC, lighting, shading, air quality, water level, leak detection, as well as alarm security and life safety systems, energy management systems and more. The electrical and mechanical devices controlling the systems need to be interconnected and coordinated through underlying control networks. Use of virtualization and mobility tools are also becoming increasingly common in facility management. Enter IT.
When new buildings are being designed and constructed, “Facilities” usually takes the lead but… If IT is not involved early enough in the planning, there is a real risk that completion dates will be delayed and extra costs incurred, to allow for necessary IT cabling, good Wi-Fi connectivity, etc. Lots of etcetera.
When IT and/or HR decide expanded Wi-Fi coverage, cameras, facial recognition systems, etc. are needed, they often butt heads with facility managers.
It is estimated that in 2023, this lack of collaboration resulted in extra expenditures of 8 – 10%.
It’s no wonder that in its Automation with Intelligence study, Deloitte reported:
“Cost reduction remains one of the top priorities of many organizations. Intelligent automation is a proven way to achieve this. By adopting intelligent automation, organizations expect to achieve an average cost reduction of 31 percent over the next three years.”
8 Trends Impacting 2024 and Beyond – Things for Us All to Start Including in Our Thinking
- Hybrid Working – No Longer a Lingering Post-Pandemic Phenomenon, but Institutional Reality
Despite many organisations currently mandating employees return to work, the expectation is no longer that they be in the office every day. Moving forward, it’s expected that at least 50% of employees who are able to work from home, will continue to do so for a portion of their work week. This means that the traditional office setting is changing into one that needs more collaborative workplaces, with fewer assigned individual offices or workspaces. There will also be an escalating need to engage simultaneously with people working off-site.
As a result, conference rooms are morphing into connected meeting rooms – and people working remotely need secure, stable ways of joining their in-office colleagues. Moving forward, facility managers will need to work with their IT counterparts to ensure that work can be performed optimally with a distributed team. Simply having a screen and webcam will no longer be sufficient for businesses to function efficiently.
To ensure the digital and physical workplaces work seamlessly and optimally will require rethinking space design and IT integration. It also means that facility managers and HR must coordinate around requirements to ensure that the employee’s own workplace is appropriate for the work, and that data security and compliance matters are adhered to, according to corporate guidelines.
The remaining trends include:
- A greater focus on corporate resiliency – something which goes far beyond disaster recovery and restoration from an IT perspective.
- Use of AI and ML in decision-making enhancement of facilities management tools.
- Increasing use of increasingly granular data that can be captured from IoT devices – and correlated with other corporate data in ways not previously possible, or even imagined.
- The discussion of PropTech (property technology) becoming commonplace. The expectation is that currently-used technologies, as well as blockchain, drones, virtual and augmented reality, etc. will find their way not only into property management, but into the financial management of buildings.
- Accelerating convergence of Operational Technology and Information technology (OT/IT).
- Expanding legislation related to employee mental health, and a growing awareness of the correlation between supported employees, employee engagement and productivity.
- Increasing legislation related to sustainability and corporate compliance related to ESG.
We’ll provide more information about these trends in future communications. As part of our research, we are putting together an advisory panel to determine best practices related to ensuring solid collaboration between Facilities and IT. If you would like to participate, or would be willing to have a quick conversation with me to share your insights, please call me at 416-424-4233 or send me an email: [email protected].
*The fist building thermostats were introduced in the 1880s. The Internet of Things, a concept introduced in 1997, took off in 2010.
