10 Keys to a Successful IWMS Integration: pt. 5: Understanding Your Business Process

This week we are excited to bring to you part 5 of our series, 10 Keys to a Successful IWMS Integration: Understanding your Business Process. If you haven't read the previous article, read Part 4: Standards here.

Business processes are a set of structured activities or tasks that will accomplish the goals a company has.  All successful companies have a business process implemented that they consistently follow.

What does a business process have to do with IWMS?

An IWMS contains workflows for carrying out various, organization-specific processes.

Each IWMS has levels of capability and customization, which can be tailored to meet a specific organization’s business process. Therefore, in order to most successfully implement an IWMS into your organization, it is crucial to examine and refine your current business process, then select a system that is powerful and flexible enough to not only fit into your current business process, but to optimize it!

Though many IWMS systems are flexible enough to accommodate a business’ current processes, others require businesses to change their process in order to fit the capabilities of the system.

Example 1: Work Orders

Computerized Maintenance Management System) maintains a computer database of information about an organization's maintenance operations and work orders.  Some work orders are preventative maintenance, which means they are generally a scheduled event fired off on a set increment (3 months, 1 month, 1 week, etc).  When the scheduled work order is initiated, a specific business process, or workflow, will trigger. One such workflow might be that the work order is sent to a dispatcher, who would then pass it off to the proper supervisor, who would then assign it to a craftsperson to accomplish the job.  Once the craftsperson has completed the job, s/he will
update it in the system, which will indicate that the job is complete. Then finally, the supervisor will review the job and send it to Accounts Payable to be closed out.

On the other hand, a less complicated workflow might have the work order sent directly to the craftsperson, notifying the supervisor but bypassing the dispatcher. So the work can begin immediately.

Within a flexible IWMS, the workflow should be able to be modified so that it suits however simple or complicated your business process is.

Example 2: Required Estimate & Approval

Consider an activity for which an estimate and approval is required. In many cases, this means that:

1. A work request is generated 
2. A threshold is met that triggers the need for an estimate
3. The estimate request is routed to the estimator
4. The estimate is completed and routed to the approver
5. The approver accepts the estimate and routes the request to the supervisor
6. The supervisor routes this to the craftsperson

When this happens, the estimate often generates a second approval, which is dropped into a similar dispatching process as described in example one before, requiring various hand-offs and approvals.  

In both of the above examples, a more flexible IWMS could help work on an activity to commence (and likely finish) even sooner.

Having a firm understanding of your business process allows you to select an IWMS that is flexible enough to meet your company's needs.  A successful IWMS implementation will accept your business process in such a way that the system can be modified so there is very little disturbance to the work force.









If you have bought a system that is not robust enough to meet the needs of your company's business process, you may have to alter the what is currently in place or look to another IWMS system.

The benefits of selecting a flexible IWMS are clear - it can easily make any organization more efficient and alleviate unnecessary responsibilities.  However, the vital aspect of every successful IWMS implementation is to first familiarize yourself with  your current business process.  Doing so will allow you to adopt a system that can meet or (ideally) optimize workflows and streamline your entire enterprise!



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Managing Your Facilities in a Modern World

I love my smart phone.  I have friends who still use flip phones.  When I ask them about it, I’m always a little careful.  People who use flip phones can be a little touchy.  If I ask why they don’t use a smart phone, they invariably tell me that the flip phone does everything they need; that they’re used to it; that they don’t need the complexity…bells and whistles…of a smart phone.  If I’m riding with them and use my phone to navigate, or use it to divide the tab at a restaurant, they’re very quiet.

I love Integrated Workplace Management Systems, ARCHIBUS specifically.  I know people who still use spreadsheets and a loose collection of other applications to manage their facilities.  They’re a little like my friends who use flip phones.  They say that spreadsheets do everything they need.  They’re familiar with spreadsheets.  They say they don’t need the bells and whistles that IWMS offers.  Fair enough.

A few months ago, I was visiting with a potential client to talk about implementing a comprehensive Personnel and Occupancy system.  We had a committee of people in the room.  Most were in favor of moving to ARCHIBUS.  A smaller group didn’t see the need.  That smaller group was comfortable with the current system of shared spreadsheets they had in place.

Each building on their large campus had an administrator who was responsible for maintaining the personnel locator spreadsheet and keeping it up to date.  They communicated by email or phone calls to coordinate their efforts, to be sure everyone had an appropriate work space and that there was no duplication.  We gathered the spreadsheets from a small sample of their buildings to do a pilot project, to show them how ARCHIBUS might help them.  When we loaded the data from the spreadsheets into ARCHIBUS, we got some interesting and surprising results.

Some enterprising staff members had taken advantage of the multiple sources of truth for employee locations.  Some had more than one desk or office in a building.  Some had offices in multiple buildings.  Without a single source of truth…an integrated Personnel and Occupancy system…it was impossible to stop people from assigning themselves the luxury of multiple offices.

Now, the Integrated Workplace Management System is fully implemented.  Some of those people still have more than one work space.  They have the political clout or the actual need for that flexibility.  But the space is managed and allocated to meet the goals and purposes of the organization, with consideration for the needs of individuals, of course.  The organization’s investments in real estate, maintenance, and energy are being managed more effectively.  It’s easier to find people, to make connections, and collaborate.

My impression is that, in some ways, Integrated Workplace Management Systems and smart phones have a lot in common.  They help us manage our resources thoughtfully and purposefully in the face of complexity, change, and limited resources.  It’s possible to get along without IWMS or without a smart phone.  But why would anybody do that?

This week's article was brought you you by one of our Executive Staff, Tawn.  Tawn is an incredibly valuable member of RSC.  He has 30+ years of experience in Architecture provide insight few have.  His ability to communicate thoughtfully and thoroughly is one of his best assets

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10 Keys to a Successful IWMS Integration: Pt. 3

We are excited to bring you our third part to this ten part series. If you haven't seen the previous article, read about the second key, Appropriate IT Collaboration. Today we will discuss the third key to having a flawless IWMS implementation: ownership.

What do we mean by "ownership"?

In an IWMS, there are many types of data.  This data originates from different departments within a company.  "Ownership" is who owns that data, or who from each respective department is responsible for inputting and keeping the data up to date. Every department must have someone in charge of this, not only for reasons such as confidentiality, but also organization while inputting and modifying the data in later dates.

The IWMS shows financial information, employee information, lease information, geographic information, technical information, and much more. Not one single department holds all the information for IP addresses, buildings, desks, chargeback, internal contact, etc. We at RSC encourage the departments responsible for these varying sources of information (IT, Corporate Real Estate, HR, Finance, etc.) maintain stringent ownership.  If you’re in IT, and notice John Doe is not in the IWMS, it is NOT your responsibility to update the record to include him.  It IS your responsibility to contact HR and encourage them to update or sync their data to ensure all employee information is current. Part of this ownership is running an employee synchronization on a regular basis as changes occur within a company.

What happens when ownership is established? What happens when it isn't?

When a strict ownership of data is created, there is no confusion when it comes to reporting.  If any information seems inaccurate or flawed, everyone knows who has stewardship over what pieces of information and who is ultimately responsible for the data. The data then stays pure.  With clean data and clear business processes on who manages what data, it is possible to get a 95-98% accuracy rate on all data.  When the data is accurate, the reports are accurate.  When reports are accurate, a company is able to make better strategic decisions. Conversely, when ownership is not defined, data pours in from multiple areas.  The data may have duplicates or inaccuracies.  Without strict ownership of data, maintaining clean, organized, and accurate data is extremely difficult and creates bad reporting, which, consequentially, creates mistrust of the IWMS.

For these reasons, RSC firmly believes ownership is the third most important key to a successful IWMS implementation.  An IWMS that cannot be trusted will not benefit your company. Successful reporting and results from and IWMS starts at the beginning stages of implementation when the data is being added to the IWMS and everyone fulfills their role in keeping the data up to date from then on. 

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10 Keys to a Successful IWMS Integration: Pt. 2

You may remember that, about a month ago, we shared an article with the first key to a successful IWMS integration: having an internal champion.  This month we are thrilled to share with you part two of this ten-part series, appropriate IT collaboration.

Different Worlds Are Involved In an Integration

 When an IWMS is being installed and integrated, several departments are involved within the company that is being integrated. The departments that are usually most closely associated with this are either Corporate Real Estate (CRE) and/or the Facilities Management Department (FM). Appropriate IT Collaboration requires that these internal departments communicate effectively with the IT Department.  When both departments work together and understand one another, the IWMS runs optimally.

Ever since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which directs reporting accuracy,  IWMS integration has become an area of more importance than before.  This shift in importance on a corporate level has made IWMS a tier 1 software within many companies.  When a system becomes a tier 2 or tier 1 within a company, IT controls where it is installed and who has access to it.  In this case, IT will also control the tailoring and customization of the IWMS.  

Challenges In Communication Between the IT World and the IWMS World

One of the most common scenarios that can create miscommunication within an IWMS implementation is the differing vocabulary that is used between departments. The vocabulary between the IT world and the IWMS world can cause confusion because they each have their own acronyms, vocabulary, and jargon. At times, this can feel like people from different countries using their respective native tongues to speak to each other; neither person will understand the other because of the language barrier. There must be at least one person that can speak both languages in order to facilitate the conversation and accomplish what both parties desire to accomplish. In this same way, communication between IT and IWMS worlds can be facilitated by someone who is familiar with both worlds and their respective jargon.

Aside from any "language" barriers, IT also has a rigid upgrade and tailoring process.  This process can often be viewed as slowing down an implementation, which is not the case.  IT's attention to detail minimizes risk and protects the costs of IT support, unnecessary downtime, and the software.
While the process is time consuming, the protection it provides is irreplaceable and necessary. The best way to have a completely successful integration is to communicate effectively between all worlds so everyone can feel comfortable about the implementation.

Another common scenario is the conflict that can occur between departments' goals. Many IT departments have their own "road map" in order to determine what types of technology they will and will not support.  As with any business decision, they have a direction on which they will focus and methods with which they intend to support their decision. IT's goal in this is not to be difficult or make an integration more complicated.  They are simply trying to protect their road map and provide a cost effective IT environment, just as any good Cost Center would. From the moment the roadmap is created and onwards, someone must ensure the IWMS fits into and can be supported by IT's road map, or that the IWMS is supported by the 3rd party vendor.

What Does Appropriate IT Collaboration Look Like?

In order to communicate effectively between different worlds, or departments, we suggest having an internal staff member work as a middle man. This person can be your assigned Internal Champion, a business analyst, or anyone who is able to breach the gap in communication between the two worlds. Putting a team member in place that can do this is one of the essential steps to ensuring that your IWMS is integrated smoothly and can accomplish everything that it was put in place to accomplish. In addition to this, communication will be more effective and completing tasks will be more efficient.

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10 Keys to a Successful IWMS Integration: Pt. 1

There are 10 essential keys to facilitate a successful Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) implementation that we at RSC have found to be helpful through experience.  Each will be discussed at length over the next few months.

This week's subject is RSC's first key to a successful integration: having an Internal Champion.

So what is an Internal Champion?

An Internal Champion is an employee who oversees the implementation of an IWMS.  Some of his or her key responsibilities are publicizing and promoting the IWMS application throughout their company, negotiating between their company and IWMS' sales team, and ensuring cooperation between departments.

How does having an Internal Champion benefit a company?

Unfortunately, an IWMS is often under-utilized for varying reasons: the company as a whole may be unsure of how to utilize the system to achieve it's goals, the company may be unfamiliar with how the the system works, and many, many more reasons. Each company is different and has its own unique challenges. The Champion breaches these challenges and ensures that their company's IWMS is in line with company goals and functions efficiently.  The Champion must manage the appropriate approach and timing of each newly added function of an IWMS system. In this sense, the Champion commits to clearly explaining to the IWMS' sales team why the company may or may not be ready to integrate a new module to the IWMS.

In the pie chart mentioned a few posts back, we explained that when an IWMS is first being integrated into a company, there are three areas that need to be considered and managed: the company's own business process, their political arena, or, in other words, the driving reasons and forces behind a company's requests and needs, and the technology that will be most effective. The Internal Champion would act as an ambassador between internal departments and between the IWMS sales team and his or her own company by knowing and being aware of each of these areas and the driving force each one has. The Champion would then be able to explain and negotiate between each department and then represent the company accurately when implementing the IWMS.

Assign an Internal Champion

An Internal Champion is one of the key steps in implementing an IWMS successfully, and, consequentially, will lead to a flourishing IWMS that gives accurate reports and aids employees in locating, managing, and tracking.


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