Facilities management companies that are truly data-centric—who know how to collect and apply data to solve business problems—will rise to the top.

Once seen as a cost center, the perception of facilities management has changed recent years. Companies have grown to recognize the considerable business value and operational insight that the efficient management of their facilities represents.

The transformation began with new technologies that allow facilities management companies to collect and use data to enhance services and deliver business insights. That transformation has only accelerated as COVID-19 has forced businesses to find new ways to operate remotely and manage facilities more strategically and efficiently.

The impact of advancing technology and rapidly evolving business realities has changed the landscape for facilities management, and the sector is facing big challenges as well as incredible opportunities. I have described CEOs before as people who are riding a lion, and the leaders of facilities management companies definitely fit that description today. If they can hang on, they’re in an incredibly powerful position. If they can’t, they risk getting eaten alive.

As an entrepreneur and advisor in the facilities management space, I see several emerging areas where facilities management companies can get in front of the changes impacting the industry and their customer base. By leveraging technology that delivers valuable operational insights to customers, facilities managers can go from being vendors to indispensable business partners.

 

Start thinking about yourself as a data provider

Demonstrating optimal value to your customers requires a change in mindset. Instead of seeing yourself primarily as a service delivery company, the delivery of data insights must become central to what you do. It’s no longer enough to manage your operations using spreadsheets and other basic  tools: you need to embrace advanced data management and analytics tools. Facilities management companies that are truly data-centric—who know how to collect and apply data to solve business problems—will rise to the top. Their services will become truly “sticky” because they become integral to not only the customer’s operations, but to their ability to make strategic decisions.

Start thinking about how the customer data you collect could be applied to business problems. And don’t assume you know the problems your customers are trying to solve. Make a point of asking them these questions so that you can hear about their challenges in their own words.

Most customers struggle to collect and use data to address problems, find efficiencies, and conduct more accurate operational forecasting. These are all areas where facilities management companies can deliver value.

 

Give customers visibility into their business

Years ago, I was sitting in a meeting with one of the largest data-center companies in the world, and its executives kept talking about their inability to access data from the field. Despite their considerable access to capital, they couldn’t implement a system to mine that data, because their size made the process too slow and cumbersome. But as their facilities management company, we were in a position to be able to do it for them. We took the initiative and created a software program that enabled them to export their financials and examine their failure rates inside a customized portal.

In a meeting with another customer, I learned that they were frustrated by an inability to track turnaround on equipment repairs. This seemingly minor blind spot turned out to be very important to the team we supported. Not only was there a considerable amount of risk with potential outages, but their personal bonuses were affected if repairs were not completed within a specific timeframe. We adapted our software so that the customer received an alert when equipment went down, along with an ETA on repairs. For us, this was relatively easy data to collect, but for them, it delivered significant value because it impacted compensation.

Most companies struggle to collect and use the data they need to address problem areas, find new efficiencies, and conduct more accurate operational forecasting. These are all areas where facilities management companies can deliver value by supplying data around failure rates, the cost of operations, energy expenditures and more.

Case in Point: In February 2021, LLR completed an investment in Salute Mission Critical. Salute leverages field service technology that supports data center facility managers in ensuring operational success. The technology enables visibility into and management of Salute technicians’ operational processes, 3rd party maintenance progress and SLA compliance. By leveraging technology to deliver greater visibility into facility staff work product, Salute drives greater peace-of-mind for facility managers that are concerned with the risks of potential outages and the high cost of downtime.

The data you collect from your entire customer base can be equally valuable for businesses to learn from and benchmark themselves against their peers.

 

Give customers visibility into their industry

The data that facilities management companies collect for individual customers is valuable, but the data you collect from your entire customer base can be equally valuable as a way for businesses to learn from and benchmark themselves against their peers. Data that you collect and aggregate in this way can be used to provide insights that support a customer’s operational and financial decision-making.

For example, when my former company serviced multiple mission-critical facilities, we noticed that the motor for a piece of equipment with a specific model number had a high rate of failure across multiple sites. Individually, the rate wasn’t high enough to merit notice, but in the aggregate, across our entire customer base, it stood out. We went back to the manufacturer and shared these failure rates with them—rates that they, themselves, were unable to collect. With this data, the manufacturer was able to track the problem back to a defective fan blade that vibrated and took the motor out. That discovery triggered a recall that enabled us to replace the faulty part across our customer base for free and save them the costs of repairs and downtime.

In another case, we helped a large, public telecom customer set an accurate, multimillion-dollar operating budget that spanned two years and tens of thousands of assets. They had recently acquired two companies that calculated CapEx and OpEx differently, and they couldn’t figure out how to align the calculations to cover the consolidated organization. Using the data from our customer base, we looked at equipment that was located in sites similar to theirs and estimated their failure rates and the cost of emergency calls and repairs. The resulting budget was so accurate, the company ended up coming under by 2%.  Being able to deliver that kind of value makes your services extremely sticky and elevates your status from a service provider to a true partner.

This type of aggregated data also lends itself to the development of high-value white papers and other resources that identify operational benchmarks and anomalies. That documentation can be used in marketing and customer success efforts to help your prospects and current customers find solutions, set the strategy and stay one step ahead of the competition.

Here’s the bottom line.

In the years ahead, technology will become a key differentiator and competitive advantage in the facilities management space. The companies that become leaders will be those that invest in technologies that enable them to collect and share valuable operational and financial data. It’s no longer enough to excel at service delivery. Facilities managers need to become strategic partners that help their customers to solve their toughest business challenges and become integral to their long-term success.