Over recent years there has been a spike in remote and hybrid workforce businesses to embrace a more digital landscape. As a result, buildings must adapt to a working environment that’s more decentralized. Shifting to cloud-based applications is at the heart of efforts to modernize across the board through digitization. In terms of complete facility upgrades, this means implementing an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS).
Many facilities will likely upgrade to an integrated system in the coming years. The technology is better suited to the operational demands of the digital age. IWMS enables organizations to manage energy use and building performance to meet modern regulations and ESG targets, allocate space and assets effectively, and control costs. Specifically, it brings an added capacity for automation, data-driven decision-making, and mobile device compatibility. In fact, the IWMS market is projected to reach $8.4 billion by 2030.
By implementing an integrated workplace management system, facilities can foster better internal communications, cut operational costs, and streamline the overall management of a workspace. That being said, these benefits are contingent on a successful deployment. Let’s look at some critical factors to consider during the implementation process.
Assessing Organizational Needs and Objectives for an Integrated Workplace Management System
When restructuring workplace management, facility managers should first evaluate the desired outcome of the change. Then, use this aspirational outcome to determine the most impactful solutions after an infrastructure upgrade.
To foster a meaningful operational shift, the goals and objectives of the transition should determine how you implement IWMS solutions. This way, the result will likely produce more positive targeted results rather than simply undergoing a system upgrade for its own sake.
At the start of the planning phase, get specific about the unique goals the upgrade aims to reach. A workplace struggles to optimize its space use in a hybrid working environment. New infrastructure should target this issue by integrating a dedicated software solution. For instance, an integrated workplace management system can gather data on current use and help managers restructure the space to meet new trends.
Of course, the restructuring plan should also mitigate any operational pain points that may currently be plaguing a workplace. Suppose current building security protocols are overly cumbersome to navigate. Or perhaps these protocols are no longer robust enough to meet the existing needs of a working environment.
In these cases, you should implement an access-specific integrated workplace management system. It can streamline the daily hassle of navigating a building’s access security while strengthening controls to meet modern standards.
Selecting the Right IWMS Solution
Once you’ve clearly outlined the digital transformation goals, the next step is to cross-reference them with potential IWMS software options. At a glance, the number of choices might seem overwhelming. However, you can narrow them down by only considering the software with features that match the facility’s specific needs and requirements.
Property managers should take time in researching the correct system for their needs. By choosing wisely at the start of the process they will benefit by saving time and money in the long term.
To further narrow down the list of workplace management software options that fit your facility’s basic requirements, you should consider several other factors as well:
- How easily the new software could integrate with existing systems
- The ability of the IWMS solution to scale up to meet growth goals
- How user-friendly the solution is for staff members
After all, excessive complexity or the need for extensive training could hinder your operational efficiency.
Ensuring Data Accuracy and Integration
Considering the importance of data in workplace management, it’s hard to overstate how critical it is to ensure accuracy through a system upgrade. Corrupt data sets will yield inaccurate results, which could then lead to errors in operational decision-making. The consequences of relying on inaccurate data sets could be costly.
With this in mind, the integrity of data sets should be paramount. Establish data governance protocols to maintain the accuracy, consistency, and integrity of IWMS data.
Creating a cohesive system to avoid data silos that can skew analysis is equally important. To this end, IWMS solutions must be able to integrate with other relevant systems seamlessly. Solutions like Sentry Interactive’s, Sentry Mobile Access, provides a good example of an access control as a service solution that can facilitate an open integration into a wider workplace management system through open API and SDK. This solution maintains the highest level of access data and the security of access data accuracy by streamlining data flow, enabling real-time collaboration, and overall helping to improve IWMS efficiency and decision-making.
Finally, it’s critical to evaluate the IWMS solution’s availability of application programming interfaces (APIs) and data exchange capabilities. For instance, how well is data shared between the IWMS and other software solutions? This will impact the synchronization of different data sets that are sourced within applications.
Considering the Impact of an Integrated Workplace Management System
Planning and implementing an integrated workplace management system is a matter of aligning a facility’s goals with the features and capabilities of available solutions. Then, managers can begin narrowing down the options by looking into specific factors like user-friendliness, integrations, and scalability. Of course, the final consideration should be maintaining the integrity and cohesion of data sets within the system. This requires specific governance protocols and the availability of APIs to synchronize separate sets of data.
Facility managers need a smart solution like Sentry Mobile Access, mobile access software that can integrate with third party IWMS software plus legacy sytem hardware with no disruption to infrastructure, to increase their IWMS system capability to mobile access.
Sentry Interactive is a leading provider of advanced cloud-based access management solutions. The Sentry Mobile Access Solution can integrate seamlessely into IWMS systems to complete a modern workplace through robust cloud workplace management infrastructure.
Contact us today to learn more about our available smart access solutions and how they can upgrade your integrated workplace mangement system to include smart access.
