Building and Maintenance
Finding common ground PDF Print E-mail
Written by Rick Bertasi, 2007   

Integration of property services is the way forward for big corporates looking for global solutions, says Rick Bertasi. But will real estate and FM ever speak the same language?  

What are the benefits of integrating FM and real estate?

What technologies are available to facilitate this integrate?

When it comes to business, the world is getting increasingly smaller. More and more organisations are managing their business across multiple borders and, as a result, demand for global service providers is also increasing.

Global business dynamics are changing. As the centres of economic activity shift over the next few years, the global consumer landscape will alter too, as technology continues to transform the way people live and interact. In order to secure greater value from growing property portfolios, global corporations are looking for new ways of working. Historically, FM and real estate were managed as separate silos, but today they are increasingly integrated. Focus is moving away from reducing costs and towards achieving better value from properties and from the services that support them. The response to new needs is optimised by integrating FM and real estate to work in harmony, not isolation.

The integration of these two areas allows companies to increase utilisation of their property assets, to leverage service consistency and supplier continuity, and to increase assurance that their business objectives will be achieved.

It's no surprise that we are also seeing an increasing demand from global customers for reliable suppliers who can deliver property solutions to support their workspaces, employees and business processes anywhere in the world.

A global response


Key to making this a success for customers will be the provision of strategic solutions that achieve the ideal mix of global management and regional delivery. Through this approach, organisations still receive services from local providers, thereby supporting the economies in which they operate.

At the same time, they are managed globally with the standard of delivery increased through global improvement and innovation development. By achieving a consistent level of service in both existing markets and new territories, global corporates are able to gain significant business advantage and increased value.

By integrating FM and real estate, corporations have a single point of contact for all their property needs, from portfolio and financial planning, lease and transaction management, to data management, design and construction and ongoing FM. Delivering across all these areas, service providers can better understand customers' business challenges and objectives, and respond quickly and effectively to ensure the property strategy is fully aligned to business objectives.

Resources can also be leveraged so there is no duplication of management infrastructure for oversight of the integrated offering. As a result, end-to-end workplace support can be delivered whenever and wherever required, often in a more cost-effective manner than if procured separately.

Agilent Technologies was one of Johnson Controls' first customers to evolve an FM contract into a fully integrated offering. This contract now encompasses real estate advisory services and portfolio management, as well as complementary services such as design, construction and innovative technology solutions to improve the value of Agilent's real estate and enhance the response to its workplace needs.

Agilent opted for the integrated model after exploring a number of different options and finding integration to be the most cost-effective, efficient and strategic solution for its portfolio. Agilent's decision has proven to be a wise one; operational efficiencies and incremental savings have already been achieved.

Maximising benefits in a changing environment


For companies serving global clients, it is important to keep abreast of how global business trends are changing and to be able to identify how they will impact the workplace for occupiers. Businesses need the flexibility to be able to restructure rapidly and embrace a fast-changing, competitive environment.

Increasingly, organisations are looking to centralise services to reduce risk and maximise benefit from economies of scale. At the same time, costs of occupancy are rising as businesses have to comply with new legislation and corporate governance standards.

Organisations are seeking reassurance by ensuring continuity of supply over a whole range of services and activities. Optimising workspace is becoming increasingly prevalent and accurate, real-time management information will be required to report on all aspects of workplace performance.

In order to provide corporates with the real-time information needed to make informed decisions on workspace, technologies are increasingly offering the solution. Space utilisation technology, such as Johnson Control's VISIBLE Living Lab, identifies how space is occupied in real-time: how users interact within it and how space can be best designed to meet the aims and objectives of the occupier. It captures employee movements using anonymous radio frequency ID smart tags and delivers a graphical assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the layout and utilisation of workspaces.

This CoreNet award-winning technology helps organisations, and the FM industry, to best utilise workspace environments. As such, it is also applicable at an enterprise level delivering an IT solution for real estate. Analysis of a company's existing use of space will assist property decisions for relocations, expansion or lease negotiations by providing the evidence of what a company really requires from its workspace.

It is clear the approach to FM and real estate among global corporations is shifting. Increasingly, the need is growing for single-source providers that fully understand where business is going, ensuring that business aims and property work as one. As a result of new, emerging needs and fresh views like these on service delivery, corporates can be confident that they are getting the best value from their workplace investment.

About the author

Rick Bertasi is Vice President and General Manager of Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions, EMEA. Please visit www.johnsoncontrols.co.uk/

 
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