Integrated FM Feed

Green IT finalists

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:13:18 GMT

Integrated fm and Sustainability iQ have been selected as finalists in no less than three categories of the Green IT Awards 2010. These are Integrated fm in ‘One to Watch – Company’, and Sustainability iQ in ‘One to Watch – Product’ and ‘Environmental Accounting Software of the Year’.

Online voting is open until 22nd April and voting takes no more than 20 seconds, so anyone who wants to vote in these Awards (ideally for us) can go to www.greenitawards.com and click on ‘Vote Now’.

Integrated fm and Sustainability iQ were nominated by our clients, business partners and the Green IT readership.

Click here for more information about Sustainability iQ

Integrated fm at The Facilities Show 2010

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:13:16 GMT

Visit us on stand B121 at the Facilities Show (NEC 11-13 May), where as well as featuring our new Sustainability iQ solution for managing sustainability and CSR data, we will demonstrate the latest productivity tools in the fm facts V8 suite of CAFM modules.

fm facts goes way beyond just ‘doing the job’ to boost efficiency, reduce duplication and drive costs from FM processes. And now these advanced modules can also share information with Sustainability iQ - the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability – read on for more information

In fact, sharing information between systems to save time and drive down costs will be a key theme of the stand, ranging from Helpdesk, Room/Resource Management and Asset Management through to Property Management and Sustainability data. Intranet functionality, Hosted CAFM and Mobile fm will also be represented on the stand.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Implementing a CSR policy

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:51:10 GMT

This guide is designed to provide a practical framework for planning, implementing and developing a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy that can be adapted by organisations to suit their individual needs. It provides a step-by-step approach to designing a CSR policy, or enhancing an existing policy, highlighting the practical issues that need to be addressed and how to measure and report on CSR performance.

Being clear about CSR

‘Above all, a CSR policy needs to be built on a firm economic foundation so the organisation can sustain its CSR activities without detriment to its own financial health. In fact, a well designed CSR strategy will improve the
organisation’s financial performance!’

Easy guide to Managing Sustainability

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:51:08 GMT

There is a great deal of information available about sustainability and what makes for a sustainable organisation. However, there is considerably less guidance on the practical, everyday management of a sustainability strategy in a real working environment.’

Yet it is becoming clear that the management of sustainability in general, and carbon in particular, is rapidly becoming as important to many
organisations as their financial management – and will require the same attention to detail.

Property Management - Enhanced control for facilities, property and estates managers

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:32:09 GMT

As estates management and facilities management become more closely aligned, there is increasing need for a management strategy that separates the day to day FM detail from the financial health of the estate. Furthermore, this information has become increasingly important to the entire enterprise, feeding into both financial and sustainability strategies.

In parallel, there is a general expectation at management level that information should be up to date and reports should be generated within relatively short periods of time.

The situation is particularly challenging for organisations that have many sites, or manage many sites for landlords. They have to deal with information about building leases and tenant/departmental information across a wide range of assets. These assets may be sites, individual buildings on each site and floors in each building and zones in each floor. And then there are legal issues, cost management strategies, cost apportionment and investment issues to be dealt with.

Integrated fm launches world’s first truly auditable CSR management system

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The newly launched Sustainability iQ from Integrated fm is the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability, specifically designed to harvest, validate, audit and publish all the data needed to formulate and implement a sustainability/CSR policy

Sustainability iQ is a powerful new online tool able to collate environmental and other sustainability data from a wide range of sources, delivering massive savings in management time. In fact, what would once have been months of work can literally be reduced to just minutes.

Built on over 20 years experience of managing operational data, Sustainability iQ is fully web-enabled and highly configurable to suit each organisation’s processes, as well as industry-wide standards (e.g. Defra, Accounting for Sustainability). It can import data from everyday FM software (e.g. help desk, asset management, bookable resource management), directly from supply chain partners’ systems, and from spreadsheets – with the ability to input data direct into the system as well. All data is validated and made available for fast evaluation and reporting, with a full audit trail of origins and any changes.

Sustainability iQ enables reporting by service type (utilities, waste etc) and/or service line (heating, lighting, glass recycling, paper recycling, etc.) – collated by department, building, region or entire global portfolio – over any time period, while also taking account of seasonal variation. It can also be compared directly against corporate sustainability targets (e.g. electricity consumption, carbon emissions, travel mileage).

A digital dashboard facilitates reporting at all levels from macro overview down to granular detail, populating pre-prepared report templates for even greater time-savings. Reports can be generated in a range of formats, including PDF and Excel.

Each user is assigned a defined role with pre-determined permissions and guided through the procedures by the software’s inbuilt logic, so that processes are adhered to at every stage. Crucially, the software records every action in the background, creating a detailed audit trail that can be examined and reported on at any time, ensuring complete control throughout the process.

Seeing the full sustainability picture

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Dealing with ‘embedded carbon’ throughout the supply chain is a major challenge to many organisations seeking to manage their sustainability effectively, according to Integrated fm, developers of the Sustainability iQ solution for managing sustainability data.

“If you’re taking sustainability management seriously, it’s necessary to look not just at your own carbon emissions but also those from the manufacture of the products your organisation consumes,” notes Integrated fm’s Steve Dingley. “All products have some embedded carbon but by assessing the sustainability performance of suppliers it’s possible to minimise your own carbon footprint through judicious product selection.

“However, that also means you have to gather accurate data from a much wider range of sources and bring it all together with your own data to produce meaningful reports. This is a major challenge for many organisations and our work with many companies has shown that attempting to modify general Management Information Systems, or generic products such as spreadsheets, simply won’t deliver the required functionality,” he added.

Sustainability iQ is a highly configurable and fully scalable online solution that is able to collate environmental and other sustainability data from a wide range of sources throughout the supply chain, delivering massive savings in management time. As such, it is the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability, specifically designed to harvest, validate, audit and publish all the data needed to formulate and implement a sustainability/CSR policy

Built on over 20 years experience of managing operational data, Sustainability iQ is fully web-enabled and highly configurable to suit each organisation’s processes, as well as industry-wide standards (e.g. Defra, Accounting for Sustainability). It can import data from a wide range of sources, including FM software, supply chain partners’ systems and from spreadsheets – with the ability to input data direct into the system as well. All data is validated and made available for fast evaluation and reporting, with a full audit trail of origins and any changes.

Sustainability iQ enables reporting by service type (utilities, waste etc) and/or service line (heating, lighting, glass recycling, paper recycling, etc.) – collated by department, building, region or entire global portfolio – over any time period, while also taking account of seasonal variation. It can also be compared directly against corporate sustainability targets (e.g. electricity consumption, carbon emissions, travel mileage).

A digital dashboard facilitates reporting at all levels from macro overview down to granular detail, populating pre-prepared report templates for even greater time-savings. Reports can be generated in a range of formats, including PDF and Excel.

Going green with the right information

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

‘Going green’ and minimising impact on the environment through sustainability and other CSR measures is definitely a powerful marketing tool, but only if the sustainability data is sound and validated! So says Steve Dingley of Integrated fm, developers of SustainabilityiQ - the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability.

Dingley also notes that making claims based on incorrect data can be very damaging to an organisation’s reputation.

“There are now many leading companies and public sector organisations that are, quite justifiably, publicising their sustainability initiatives – and to good effect. However, if the data that they base their claims on is later found to be inaccurate, good publicity could very quickly turn into a PR nightmare,” he suggests.

“Before developing SustainabilityiQ we carried out a lot of research and worked closely with one of the world’s leading consultancies. It was, and still is, very clear to us that any sustainability data needs to offer the reassurance of industry-wide standards (e.g. Defra, Accounting for Sustainability,). In fact, SustainabilityiQ is the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability.

“Fundamentally, you can’t minimise your impact on the environment if you can’t accurately measure it – and validate those measurements to an acceptable standard. And that’s not an easy thing to do. Data relating to sustainability issues tends to be housed in many locations, in a variety of formats so bringing it all together in a common format for analysis and reporting can be a nightmare without the help of specialist tools.

Built on over 20 years experience of managing operational data, SustainabilityiQ is fully web-enabled and highly configurable to suit each organisation’s processes. It can import data from a wide range of sources, including FM software, supply chain partners’ systems and from spreadsheets – with the ability to input data direct into the system as well. All data is validated and made available for fast evaluation and reporting, with a full audit trail of origins and any changes.

Extending DECs poses data challenge

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The probability that the government will extend Display Energy Certificates (DECs) to all non-residential properties will put further pressure on building operators to measure and improve their energy consumption. In the case of extensive property portfolios simply managing the vast amount of data will be a severe challenge.

“Managing energy and other sustainability data is one of the areas of sustainability that is often overlooked until the last minute,” warns Steve Dingley of Integrated fm, developers of the recently launched Sustainability iQ. “People are quick to recognise that they can reduce energy consumption but they then have to tackle the challenge of harvesting accurate, audited energy data quickly enough to act on it.

“The need to produce DECs will add to the pressures on timeliness and accuracy. On the plus side, DECs will also help building operators better understand their energy consumption and identify area for improvement,” he added.

Built on over 20 years experience of managing operational data, Sustainability iQ is the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability. It is fully web-enabled and highly configurable to suit each organisation’s processes, as well as industry-wide standards (e.g. Defra, Accounting for Sustainability). It can import data from a wide range of sources, and all data is validated and made available for fast evaluation and reporting, with a full audit trail of origins and any changes.

Measuring up to the CRC

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

“It is estimated that around 20% of the 5,000 or so organisations participating fully in the Carbon Reduction Commitment programme will have been audited by April 2012,” warns Steve Dingley of data management specialists Integrated fm,. “And there is a very real danger that many of these organisations will not complete the necessary steps for measuring, validating and managing their energy data in time,” he adds.

Dingley was speaking at the official launch of the company’s latest product, Sustainability iQ - the world’s first truly auditable management system for CSR and sustainability.

“Our research with a number of private and public sector organisations shows that the ability of many organisations to implement an effective energy management strategy is severely limited by a number of factors. Even if they know what data they need to capture, they will probably have to implement processes for gathering that data from diverse sources and in different formats.

“In addition, there may be no data auditing process in place – and without that the data will lack validity and credibility. In fact, it was because of these challenges that we worked closely with one of the world’s leading consultancies to develop Sustainability iQ,” Dingley continued.

Built on over 20 years experience of managing operational data, Sustainability iQ is fully web-enabled and highly configurable to suit each organisation’s processes, as well as industry-wide standards (e.g. Defra, Accounting for Sustainability). It can import data from a wide range of sources, and all data is validated and made available for fast evaluation and reporting, with a full audit trail of origins and any changes.

“The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is going to be a major challenge to many larger organisations and a key element of managing and improving energy consumption and minimising environmental impact will be the ability to measure existing energy performance in real time. This is one of the many CSR areas that Sustainability iQ can help with,” Dingley concluded.

Interactive client day a great success

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:20:18 GMT

Integrated fm’s latest Client Day, held in London on 11th November, proved to be a great success and received very positive feedback from delegates. In fact, a post-event survey of delegates showed that 100% felt they had learnt something new during the day and all said they would also recommend such an event to colleagues.

The day’s programme was designed to enable delegates to provide feedback about their own experiences with the fm facts suite, share best practice with each other and learn about Integrated fm’s latest developments. Opinion was also canvassed on the future direction of CAFM products and the functionality that will be required by tomorrow’s FMs. This information will be fed into Integrated fm’s product development specifications.

Plans are now being put in place to develop further Client Days that will focus on key issues affecting all FMs and look in more detail at the requirements of specific organisations.

Suffolk County Council harnesses fm facts to improve customer service

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A long-standing relationship between Suffolk County Council and Integrated fm has seen the two organisations working closely together to continually refine the use of CAFM and improve the service to internal customers. These software modules include Resource/Room Booking, Visitor Management and Helpdesk - , the latter being hosted on Integrated fm’s Hosted CAFM Software as a Service facility.

Prior to introducing fm facts Resource Management, meeting rooms and other resources were managed on a building-by-building basis, using a mixture of spreadsheets and calendars. It was clear that this didn’t make optimum use of the meeting spaces available across the Council estate.

“We are now managing around 300 rooms in 14 buildings through the Resource Management software, along with catering, audio visual equipment, pool cars and oasis points,” explained James Nunn, the Council’s Central Services Supervisor. “The visibility of all these resources from a central point ensures we make maximum use of the resources we have and, therefore saved money which would otherwise have been spent on outside venues. We expect to see further benefits and cost savings as the system is rolled out to other buildings in the portfolio,” he added.

As well as facilitating efficient management of these resources, the Resource Management software has been configured to incorporate mechanisms that ensure items such as catering are authorised by budget managers. In addition, it tackles complex issues, such as restricting the use of rooms where only identified staff are permitted to book.

“A key element of our relationship with Integrated fm is their commitment to ensuring the systems meet our requirements. If the software doesn’t do something we want it to do as standard, they will always suggest possible ‘work arounds’. The technical support has been excellent,” James Nunn enthused.

More recently, the Visitor Management module has been introduced at the Council’s headquarters and other buildings and is being used to manage both ‘drop-in’ visitors and pre-booked meetings. Again, the Council has plans to roll out the software to other parts of the estate.

The fm facts Helpdesk has also been introduced, using Integrated fm’s Software as a Service (SaaS) hosted CAFM, where the software is hosted on remote, secure servers and accessed through a web browser. The service is paid for through monthly payments, so there has been no impact on the Council’s capital budgets. In addition, all IT-related aspects, such as software upgrades and security, are taken care of by Integrated fm so the Council’s FM staff can focus on their core tasks.

“I have no doubt that the relationship between the Council and Integrated fm will continue to flourish within the spirit of partnering that has been established. With the help of Integrated fm we will continue to improve our service to internal customers, as well as driving down operational costs,” James Nunn concluded.

Integrated fm helps to support primary care in Birmingham

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Integrated fm’s 24/7 fm outsourced help desk service, combined with Mobile fm mobile communications, is helping NHS Birmingham Shared Services (BSS) to increase efficiency and improve customer service.

NHS Birmingham Shared Services provides a range of support services, including estates and facilities management, to the three Birmingham Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). It handles over 22,000 reactive calls and around 7000 planned preventative maintenance (PPM) tasks a year over some 250 sites which include community health centres, clinics, a dental hospital and two elderly services hospitals in Birmingham.

The recent move to an outsourced help desk followed the agency’s move to a remote hosted service with Integrated fm’s Helpdesk module. Rather than the software being purchased outright and installed on local systems, the software is hosted on a remote server and accessed via a web browser.

“Moving to a remote hosting solution means that we no longer have to spend time on managing software-related issues such as upgrades and security as all that is taken care of,” explained Clive Rex, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities with NHS Birmingham Shared Services. “In addition, it means we are always working with the latest software versions for no extra outlay and we do not have to upgrade our hardware to handle new programs so there is less investment in rapidly depreciating assets,” he added.

Subsequently, NHS Birmingham Shared Services decided to outsource the entire help desk function to the dedicated 24/7 fm help desk resource managed by Integrated fm.

“Previously we were operating five different help desks serving different sets of people and staffed by people who also had other responsibilities,” Clive Rex continued. “Consequently, the service we gave was not as consistent as we would have liked.

“Now, we have a single ‘phone number for customers to use, the response is more efficient and completely consistent and we can accurately boast that we never miss a call. It also means that our FM staff can focus on more strategic issues without being distracted by help desk issues,” Clive Rex explained.

Mobile fm

The estate is very complex with many types of buildings ranging from converted houses to purpose-built healthcare facilities and community hospitals with a wide assortment of assets that have different planned maintenance requirements.

A further complexity is that the buildings or parts of buildings are the responsibility of different Primary Care Trusts, some buildings are owned outright and some are leased – and in some cases areas within buildings are sub-let with NHS Birmingham Shared Services acting as the landlord’s agent.

NHS Birmingham Shared Services has also been operating Integrated fm’s Asset Management module for several years and during this time the system has been enhanced in the light of experience and the agency’s changing needs. The recent addition of Mobile fm to enhance the control of field operatives is the latest of many developments in this area.

“As well as taking on existing CAFM products, we have worked together in co-developing new products based on our feedback, aspirations and requirements – in some cases sharing the development costs. Consequently, this is a partnership based on mutual benefit,” Clive Rex noted.

For instance, in order to help manage the complexity of the relationships within the portfolio, a property management system was introduced to provide a central repository for the data relating to each building, bringing all of this information together in the same format.

“The key advantage of this is that it provides a combination of effective day-to-day management and a strategic overview of all operations across the estate,” Clive Rex observed.

In introducing Mobile fm to the Asset Management operations the efficiency of both reactive and planned maintenance have been further enhanced. The system uses hand-held devices carried by operatives in the field linked to the central help desk system, so that reactive and planned tasks can be issued to technicians in real time. Progress reports and job closures are also completed across the system.

A further refinement of the system is that requesters automatically receive emails acknowledging receipt of reactive tasks, providing progress reports and informing them when jobs have been completed.

“Introducing Mobile FM has been very successful and helped to streamline our maintenance operations considerably. Not only can we respond faster and make more effective use of the workforce, we are also feeding information back to requesters in real time so that the overall service levels have been greatly improved.

“In addition, this access to real-time data gives us a more meaningful picture of operations and enables us to produce more accurate reports,” Clive Rex explained.

Long-standing relationship

These latest innovations mark a long-standing relationship between the two organisations that dates back to the mid-1990s.

“The partnership between our organisations has been built on the trust we have developed in Integrated fm’s products and people,” Clive Rex recalled. “Our organisation has experienced several iterations over the years and, in line with these changes, Integrated fm has helped us to work smarter and more efficiently to fine-tune and improve the service to our internal customers,” he continued.

“This relationship goes far beyond the simple supply of software to incorporate a spirit of understanding of each other’s priorities and objectives, and working in harmony to achieve them. It is a partnering relationship that has stood the test of time and continues to help us drive cost from our business while adding value to the services we deliver to internal customers,” Clive Rex concluded.

Interactive boost for rooom

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Integrated fm has introduced a host of new features to its Interactive Rooms system, making it even easier to books rooms ‘on the fly’ while also improving integration with the central fm facts Resource Booking software.

Interactive Rooms uses touch-screen displays outside each room, providing at-a-glance information on whether the room is in use or has been booked, and enabling bookings to be made via the screen. New features include ‘meeting activation’ and ‘meeting finished’ buttons, with automatic cancellation if the system is not activated within a pre-set time of the booked start time. Meeting times can also be extended via the screen if the room is still available.

Crucially, all changes made via the Interactive Rooms screens are also synchronised with the Resource Booking software, so it is kept up-to-date for people booking rooms via the intranet or by ‘phone.

As a result, internal customers have more choice in how they book their rooms and can be more spontaneous with unplanned meetings - while maximum use is made of all of the rooms in the building.

Information on the screens can be customised by the FM department and can include a booking code, the name of the requester and any visitors, start and end times of the meeting and the title of the meeting. This latter feature also enables attendees to confirm they are at the right room for their meeting before entering the room.

Interactive Rooms uses an intuitive interface, so that the system is very easy to use with no need for staff training.

Booking up

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Now in its fourth year, the FM Index KPI Survey, compiled by FMJ and Integrated fm, continues to build a picture of trends and key data in the FM sector. This month we look at bookable resources.

The fourth FM Index KPI Survey was carried out in July 2009 and respondents were asked questions about a range of subjects including booking of resources, help desk management, move management and communications with mobile workforces.

When we reported on bookable resources a year ago, we noted some interesting trends in the types of resources that are bookable through the help desk, and where there is increasing demand for the application of this functionality. This year’s results confirm that there is a growing desire to be able to book a wider range of resources. It also indicates which resources, in particular, are growing in demand.

“The ability to quickly and easily book resources such as meeting rooms through the help desk has been a clear benefit for some years and it’s clear that internal customers are now demanding the same functionality for a wider range of resources.”

                                                  Steve Dingley Managing Director Integrated fm

Last year we noted that organisations seemed to have reached a plateau in terms of the allocation of space to hot desks, so it’s unsurprising that we are now seeing an increased demand for the ability to book these resources, rather than relying on pot luck. Consequently, there has been a marked increase in the percentage of organisations that make hot desks bookable.

Able to book hot desks

2007      2008      2009
7%          26%      66%

There has also been significant increase in the percentage of respondents offering booking facilities for video conferencing, rising from 42% in 2008 to 91% in 2009. Increased demand for video conferencing facilities was reported by 26% of respondents in 2008 and 40% of respondents in 2009. It seems likely that a combination of a need to reduce costs and a desire to reduce carbon footprint is favouring video conferencing over travelling for face-to-face meetings.

As noted above, we have also seen an increase in the types of resources that can be booked, along with indications of demand. Other bookable resources that were mentioned by a minority of respondents include porterage and function rooms.

It’s good to share

We also asked about the percentage of the portfolio allocated to various facilities. These showed that the percentage of non-bookable office space has remained fairly constant since last year, but there has been a slight increase in space allocated to conference, meeting and training rooms. Interestingly, there also appears to be slightly more car parking space available. Hot desks and break out areas have declined slightly.

In the next issue of FMJ we’ll be looking in more detail at how resources are managed.

Time is money

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:28:26 GMT

Recognising that ‘time is money’, Integrated fm has been focusing its product development on CAFM solutions that help users boost efficiency, reduce duplication and drive costs from FM processes. The result is the comprehensive fm facts V8 suite of integrated CAFM modules, backed by mobile solutions, that are able to share information with each other – whether installed on the user’s computers or hosted remotely on secure servers (Hosted CAFM or Software as a Service) and financed through a monthly fee.

In fact, Integrated fm has pioneered Hosted CAFM services in the FM sector since 2000 and fine-tuned the technology to harmonise with FM operations - and currently has over 150,000 users accessing the service every day. With no capital purchase required, Hosted CAFM is proving ideal for organisations with severe restraints on capital budgets as the cost can be met from revenue budgets.

The fm facts suite also offers extensive integration between modules and with mobile devices, as well as intranet functionality to enable internal customers to access FM services such as help desk, room booking and visitor management online. All modules also feature sophisticated reporting tools to make it quicker and easier to gather and assimilate key FM information.

These features are all included in the recently launched Environmental Management Reporting module, which generates management sustainability reports instantly from data harvested from a wide range of internal sources, as well as external sources in the supply chain.

KPI round up

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The latest FM Index KPI survey, compiled by FMJ and Integrated fm, has revealed some interesting trends in the FM sector. In this last report from the 2008 survey we bring together some of the key data

Over the last few months we have reported on a number of issues affecting FMs who were surveyed during 2008. A lot of things have changed since then and the results of the 2009 survey are currently being compiled for future reports. In this issue we take a look at some of the most significant factors that have been raised so far.

One of the things that was very apparent from last year’s figures is the growing use of mobile technologies to communicate with operatives in the field, with a 22% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, 48% are using automated messaging through their help desk, so it will be interesting to see how this figure has changed in 2009.

In fact, use of mobile devices is just one indicator of the growing use of communication technologies within FM departments. There has also been a significant and maintained increase in the use of the intranet in conjunction with the help desk to improve communication with internal customer, as shown in the three year trend:

Intranet enablement of help desk

2006       2007       2008
33%          55%          69%

There has also been a broadening of the use of the intranet, with 42% of respondents using it for booking rooms and other resources through the help desk, as well as for logging help desk requests. In parallel, it’s clear that people are making use of this type of facility to book more than rooms (see Table 1). One respondent even uses it for booking health and safety equipment and personal protective equipment so the scope seems to be limited only by the imagination.

“Time and again we see that communication lies at the heart of good customer service, whether it’s to increase efficiency of responses to help desk requests or improve the interface between the FM department and its internal customers.”

                                                Steve Dingley Managing Director Integrated fm

Introducing a level of automation into the management of help desk requests has also been shown to reduce the number of costly and time-wasting duplicate calls and this was borne out by the 2008 survey. Of all respondents (with or without help desk software) the average proportion of duplicates was 6.5%, whereas those using help desk software experienced only 4.5% duplicates and where the help desk was linked to the intranet this fell to 3%.

Interestingly, the average number of help desk operators employed had risen in 2008, compared to the previous year, and this seemed to be related to organisations doing more through their help desk. As well as booking resources, these ‘extras’ include issuing planned maintenance tasks and managing project-related tasks.

We also looked at how many planned jobs were actually completed. Only 13% of respondents are achieving 100% of targeted jobs but 53% are actioning more than 75% of their planned jobs.

Here, there is a clear relationship between the method of managing PPM and the ability to deal with more than 75% of PPM jobs. Manual methods are at 32%, in-house software is in line with the average at 53% while of those using proprietary software, 69% achieve more than 75% of their PPM targets.

In the next issue of FMJ we will begin reporting on the results from the 2009 survey.

Taking control of Environmental Management - fast

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Environmental Management Reporting is a powerful new online tool from Integrated fm, specifically designed to assist FMs and estate managers in harvesting, analysing and reporting on environmental and other sustainability data from a wide range of sources. As such it saves vital management time and improves the accuracy of date, whether it’s for compliance with legislation or to meet internal CSR requirements.

Early use with a leading global consultancy has shown that what was previously months of work can literally be reduced to just minutes.

Environmental Management Reporting is fully web-enabled and highly configurable to suit each organisation’s processes, as well as industry-wide standards (e.g. Defra, Accounting for Sustainability, AA100AS). It can import data from everyday FM software (e.g. help desk, asset management, bookable resource management), directly from supply chain partners’ systems, and from spreadsheets – with the ability to input data direct into the system as well. Here, all data is validated and made available for fast evaluation and reporting.

Environmental Management Reporting enables reporting by service type (waste, utilities, etc) and/or service line (glass recycling, paper recycling, etc.) – collated by department, building, region or entire global portfolio – over any time period, while also taking account of seasonal variation. It can also be compared directly against corporate sustainability targets (e.g. electricity consumption, carbon emissions, travel mileage).

A digital dashboard facilitates reporting at all levels from macro overview down to granular detail, populating pre-prepared report templates for even greater time-savings. Reports can be generated in a range of formats, including PDF and Excel.

Each user is assigned a defined role with pre-determined permissions and guided through the procedures by the software’s inbuilt logic, so that processes are adhered to at every stage. Crucially, the software records every action in the background, creating a detailed audit trail that can be examined and reported on at any time, ensuring complete control throughout the process.

Managing in the regions

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In its second regional analysis the FM Index KPI Survey, compiled by FMJ and Integrated fm, investigates the variations in PPM and workforce management.

In the last issue of FMJ we looked at the regional variation in the management of help desks and customer satisfaction surveys. We also asked respondents to the FM Index KPI survey about another key area for FMs - the management of planned preventative maintenance (PPM). These results are discussed below.

For the purposes of the survey, respondents were asked to opt for the region where their head office is located. For reasons of statistical accuracy, those areas that tend to generate fewer responses, such as Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and overseas/other are treated as discrete regions.

Methodologies for managing PPM were divided into manual methods, use of in-house software such as spreadsheets and use of specialised proprietary asset management software. Across all respondents, 36% of respondents are using manual methods, 20% use their own software methods and 39% are using proprietary software.

Broken down by region there is considerable variation in these figures with the highest use of manual methods in Northern Ireland at 50% and the lowest in Wales with 0%. In fact, Wales had the highest percentage (67%) of those using in-house methods, while the highest regions for use of proprietary software were the East of England, the Midlands and Northern Ireland – all with 50%..

In order to gain a view of how effective PPM methods were, we also looked at those organisations dealing with more than 75% of their PPM jobs. For the entire sample, 53% of respondents were achieving this, with some regional variation either side of this figure. For example, the highest performing region was Scotland with 64% of respondents completing more than 75% of PPM jobs, while the lowest figure (36%) was from the overseas/other category.

Managing the workforce

In addition to PPM we asked about workforce-related issues such as whether there is a mobile workforce and, where there is, how they are communicated with. We also looked at the level of outsourcing of FM activities.

On average, 70% of our respondents operate a mobile workforce and the most common method of communication with them (57%) is by mobile ‘phone/PDA. This area, in relation to the entire sample, was covered in more detail in May’s issue of FMJ.

“Harnessing the flexibility of mobile communications for managing operatives in the field is now becoming a ‘no brainer’ for many organisations. As well as the inherent time savings, there are real benefits to working with real-time data in terms of generating meaningful reports and keeping internal customers better informed.”

Steve Dingley Managing Director Integrated fm

Looked at regionally, those with a mobile workforce range from 33% (Northern Ireland) up to Wales (100%) – though there were relatively few responses to this question from Wales so this is probably something of a statistical aberration. Similarly, the use of mobile ‘phones/PDAs varied considerably from 25% in Scotland (where two-way radio was the most common method) to, again, 100% in Wales.

The other area we looked at was outsourcing, simply asking if any FM was outsourced or not. For the whole survey, 42% of respondents had some outsourcing and this ranged from 43% in the East and South East of England to 81% in the Midlands.

Taking the tour

info@integratedfm.co.uk — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In the first of two ‘tours of the UK’ the FM Index KPI survey, compiled by FMJ and Integrated fm, takes a look at regional variations in help desk usage and customer satisfaction.

In previous FM Index survey reports from the 2008 survey, we’ve focused on national results but in this report we are looking at regional variations of key FM parameters such as help desk usage and customer satisfaction.

As 64% of respondents have more than five buildings in their portfolio, the geographical location of each has been defined by the region where the head office is located. For reasons of statistical accuracy, those areas that tend to generate fewer responses, such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, are treated as discrete regions.

The highest number of respondents were in the south east of England (42%), considerably greater than the next highest – that of the south west of England at 13%. The fewest respondents were from Northern Ireland at just 2% of the sample.

As the help desk is the focal point of many of the interactions between FM departments and their customers, we looked at some key help desk criteria. Of those organisations that operate a help desk (69% of the total sample), we also looked at whether they use help desk software (77% of total sample with help desk) and, where they do, if that software is accessible by internal customers via the intranet (69% of total sample using help desk software).

The highest proportion of respondents using a help desk were based in Wales, while the lowest proportion was in Northern Ireland; though of those using a help desk in Northern Ireland, 100% of them are operating help desk software - though not accessible via the intranet. The highest numbers of intranet-enabled help desk users were in the south west of England and the overseas/other category.

“Comparing these figures to last year, it’s clear there has been an overall increase in the use of help desk software – and sharp growth in the use of intranet functionality in parallel with help desk functions such as requesting tasks and booking resources.”

Steve Dingley, managing director, Integrated fm

Customer satisfaction

There is often a close link between the efficient operation of the help desk and the level of customer satisfaction, so we also looked at any regional variations in customer satisfaction. Respondents were asked about the results of any recent customer satisfaction surveys they had done and asked to detail what percentage of internal customers had rated FM services as average or above. Of the 43% of the total sample that had surveyed their customers recently, the Midlands region scored the highest with 60% of those surveyed marking them as average or above.

At the other end of the spectrum was Northern Ireland, where zero percent of respondents had achieved that rating, though very few had carried out surveys so this was a small sample. The full results are shown in Figure 3.

In next month’s issue of FMJ we’ll take a look at any regional variations in the management of planned preventative maintenance and the levels of FM outsourcing.

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