Typical facilities software vs #1 facilities management software

There are a number of facilities management software companies out there. Many are focused on the commercial sector, but one offers an integrated facilities management solution that is tailor-made for colleges and universities: AssetWorks.   

And AssetWorks’ team of industry professionals averages over 15 years of experience in higher education and facilities management. So, they understand the challenges that institutions like yours are facing, and they can also help you decide which of their family of ReADY, AiM, and Go products can help you meet your unique facility and asset management needs from start to finish.  

This explains why AssetWorks is the #1 facilities management software in higher education, with more than 1 billion square feet managed. It also explains why AssetWorks has a 98% customer retention rate.  

Now, all this is good for you to know. But, according to Gartner, the typical buying group for a complex solution like facilities management software involves six to 10 decision makers, each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must “deconflict” with the group. 

At the same time, the set of options and solutions buying groups can consider is expanding as new technologies, products, suppliers and services emerge. These dynamics make it increasingly difficult for your college or university to make purchasing decisions. 

So, to help make it easier for you to navigate the purchase process, let me share some information that can help you make the case for selecting the #1 facilities management solution in higher education instead of the typical facilities software used in the commercial sector. 

Real Estate & Lease Management 

Your facilities are complex. So, the real estate and lease management capabilities in the AssetWorks’ platform gives your organization a unified view of your entire campus, enabling you to track and manage your portfolio of people, places, and things all in one platform. From financial accounting to automatic lease management to strategic planning, our intelligent solutions make your everyday responsibilities a little less daunting. 

Space Management 

You don’t work in a silo, and neither should your facility management software. Managing space data isn’t a one-person job; it’s a collaborative effort by your entire organization. So, the space management capabilities in the AssetWorks’ facilities management software are explicitly designed for research-focused institutions. They enable you to visualize occupancy, manage growth, and make better informed decisions. It also makes planning for the future easier than ever before.  

Operations & Maintenance 

Rather than fighting fires, implement the operations and maintenance capabilities in AssetWorks’ platform to prevent potential problems. Since our integrated system offers you information about your entire campus, increased visibility means that O&M runs smoothly, and issues can be addressed before they become a problem. From built-in sustainability tools to lease management, our solution handles all of your O&M needs in one integrated platform. 

Construction Project Analysis 

If your campus is growing, then invest in the construction project analysis capabilities in AssetWorks’ facilities management software. Our construction financial management solution ensures that projects come in on time and under budget. It also enables you to manage facility transitions from construction to operation, enjoying the benefits of a fully integrated solution that unifies project data with contract management, operations and maintenance, and asset and assessment data. 

Assessment & Needs Analysis 

You can also use the assessment and needs analysis capabilities in the AssetWorks’ platform, which integrates with operations and maintenance as well as capital planning and project management capabilities. This enables you to store both asset lifecycle and deficiency data in the same platform for increased quality of information and more credible data. No more half accurate snapshots — get the full picture for a stronger multi-year plan. 

Utility Management 

It’s difficult to analyze utility bill line-item details, and it’s cumbersome to manage your campus’ entire utility ecosystem with multi-vendor or home-grown energy management solutions. So, use the utility management capabilities in AssetWorks’ facilities management software to allocate your utility service provider invoices to your internal cost centers, reconcile your utility bills with your internal metering, and leverage space management data to allocate your costs by occupancy.  

Integrated Solutions 

All of AssetWorks’ products are designed to work together seamlessly — and they’re proud to offer their higher education clients an unmatched level of agility and flexibility for each one’s entire portfolio. 

Some see this combination of capabilities in AssetWorks’ all-in-one facilities management solution and call it an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS). And there’s nothing wrong about continuing to call it that. In fact, I called it that in my first post for this blog, which was entitled, “What is the Best IWMS Software for Higher Education?” 

But, the typical IWMS combines five core functional areas: 

• Real estate management. This area involves activities associated with the acquisition (including purchase and lease), financial management, and disposition of real property assets. Common IWMS features that support real estate management include strategic planning, transaction management, request for proposal (RFP) analysis, lease analysis, portfolio management, tax management, lease management, and lease accounting.
• Capital project management. This area involves activities associated with the design and development of new facilities and the remodeling or enhancement of existing facilities, including their reconfiguration and expansion. Common IWMS features that support capital project management include capital planning, design, funding, bidding, procurement, cost and resource management, project documentation and drawing management, scheduling, and critical path analysis. 
• Facilities management. This area covers activities related to the operation and optimized utilization of facilities. Common IWMS features that support facility management include strategic facilities planning (including scenario modeling and analysis), CAD and BIM integration, space management, site and employee service management, resource scheduling, and move management. 
• Maintenance management. This area covers activities related to the corrective and preventive maintenance and operation of facilities and assets. Common IWMS features that support maintenance management include asset management, work requests, preventive maintenance, work order administration, warranty tracking, inventory management, vendor management and facility condition assessment. 
• Sustainability and energy management. This area covers activities related to the measurement and reduction of resource consumption (including energy and water) and waste production (including greenhouse gas emissions) within facilities. Common IWMS features that support sustainability and energy management include integration with building management systems (BMS), sustainability performance metrics, energy benchmarking, carbon emissions tracking, and energy efficiency project analysis. 

These five core functional areas make perfect sense, since many IWMS vendors are focused on the commercial sector, and their customers are corporate occupiers, real estate services firms, facilities services providers, landlords, and managing agents.  

But, the needs of higher education institutions are often different, which is why AssetWorks’ facility management software integrates six core capabilities. So, it goes above and beyond the typical IWMS.  

And their team and leadership is dedicated to continued innovation to address the unique needs of facility and real estate managers in the higher education sector. So, they go above and beyond the typical facilities management software companies, too. 

Contact one of AssetWorks’ experts in facilities management software 

Now, if you’re interested in learning more about how AssetWorks can help your higher education institution, then contact one of AssetWorks’ team of veterans and see how their combination of expertise in facilities management and experience in the education industry can help your college or university navigate a very complex purchasing decision. 

I’ve not only met them at meetings, I’ve also interviewed them, too. Depending on where your campus is located, you may want to read their strategic insights and tactical advice before you talk with him. Here are the relevant blog posts: 

US and Canada: 

• 5 reasons why you should contact Marshall McSpadden for IWMS solutions. 
• You need to call Ken Jordan about a facilities management system. 
• Why you should contact Brian Carlson about facility management software. 

UK and Ireland: 

• Why you should ring up Paul Sharp about facilities management systems. 

Australia and New Zealand: 

• Why you should call Tony Stack about IWMS software in Australia & New Zealand. 

I hope this information helps you make the case for selecting the #1 facilities management solution in higher education instead of the typical facilities software used in the commercial sector. The next step, of course, is up to you. 

About Greg Jarboe 

Greg Jarboe is the president and co-founder of SEO-PR, which has provided services to the University of the Pacific, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and Dickinson College. Greg has been an instructor in several Rutgers Business School Mini-MBA programs. 

In addition, Greg is the author of YouTube and Video Marketing and the co-author with Katie Paine of the Communications Measurement eBook for Higher Education. Before co-founding SEO-PR in 2003, Greg was VP of Marketing for WebCT, where he helped to triple the company’s installed base from 700 institutions in 36 countries to 2,172 institutions in 75 countries.