Digital players

FUTURE OF FM DIGITISATION

With COVID-19 vaccines being gradually rolled out, many organisations are looking to implement technology solutions to help plan for the return to the office, and for his part Alloni of Mitie believes that investing in technology will not only enable FM providers to manage customer’s buildings more efficiently, but also play a key role in improving energy efficiency to help clients achieve their net zero goals. This technology goes beyond the office too.

Says Alloni: “At Mitie, we deliver services for critical sites, including manufacturing plants, that require consistent environmental conditions – such as temperature and CO2 levels – to ensure the quality of the products. For instance, by using remote monitoring solutions, we can keep a close eye on these conditions and remotely manage equipment on site to quickly respond to, a change in temperature for example. This has been key in helping our clients maintain production times and consistency in the quality of their products.

Steve McGregor predicts that It is the agile well-run suppliers with a strong technology strategy and an unrelenting focus upon technology-enabled change for the benefit of their customers that will prosper.

“It takes stamina, courage and significant investment and 100 per cent leadership support to drive development collaboration all the way through the business.”

At Incentive, McDonnell maintains that FM will still have the same objectives which is to deliver safe, secure, efficient environments that people have a great experience in, whether that is visiting as a guest or occupying on a more permanent basis.

“The increase in importance of deploying digitalisation and artificial intelligence will only realise its true value when it complements and becomes a part of the physical delivery and how that interacts with processes and ultimately people.”

Not everyone has the resources of an organisation the size of Mitie, so warns Lilley of Eric Wright, despite the benefits of a digital transformation journey, there are many challenges to be considered.

“There are, of course, pros and cons in the perusal of a digital transformation journey and it requires a considerable amount of discipline to keep solutions simple and not overcomplicate, just because you can.”

However, he warns that: “Organisations that do not digitise will slowly fall below client expectations, and one day, they will preclude themselves from business opportunities. No one knows when that day will be, and this uncertainty provides a layer of comfort to support inaction.

“Investment in digitisation might erode the next quarter’s profits; but are you willing to lose tomorrow’s profits because you did not invest today?”