Are you on the hunt for the best facility management software?
While facility management software promises a lot, reaping the potential benefits largely depends on the requirements of the company, industry-specific factors, and most importantly, the capabilities of the software
The aim isn’t to come away with just a solution—it’s to deploy facility management software that streamlines your day-to-day operations today, tomorrow, and in the future
Although it’s good to consider a broad range of parameters, too many considerations may also paralyze the decision-making process
I’ll guide you through how to choose the right facility management software for your growing business
But before we can begin, you need to consider two things before making a purchase decision for facility management software
Before you start the search for a facility management solution, you must consult with numerous stakeholders in the firm’s operations
Consult with employees who work in your facility management department or others who work with your third-party companies
Their in-depth feedback and insights are important, as they will know what is important to enhance operations and how to cope with the consequences of equipment failure
Once you assemble the facility management team, decide the features you’ll need to successfully digitize your facility management landscape
If you’re looking to replace your current existing facility management system, consider the tasks that your current system is lacking while taking note of any features that you don’t find useful
I suggest you pick 3 to 4 different companies to make comparisons
1. Is facility management software mobile-ready?
The finest facility management applications are mobile-friendly. With such software, facilities managers can efficiently assign tasks and deadlines to field employees or contractors
Field employees then can receive notifications on their mobile phones ( be it iOS or Andriod) and can respond accordingly. This eliminates the need to meet them face to face and also reduces time on approvals
This eliminates the need to meet face to face or waste time on unneeded approvals. Besides, using mobile apps allows employees to use their smartphones to photograph any damage
2. Is facility management software customizable to fulfill unique requirements?
In today’s fast pacing environment, it has become important for organizations to opt for facility management software that fulfills their unique, industry-specific requirements
With customization power in hand, companies can customize their features as per their particular needs or requirements
Besides, they can also add or remove features as per their clients’ needs. Existing features can also have new configurations and updated logic applied to them
This is the reason why having the power of customization has become the number one priority for executives and managers
With customization, businesses fulfill the need for facility management software need as per usage. Such a selection also helps them to save time, energy, and resources
Hence, for FM organizations, having software that fits precisely is important rather than investing in the traditional, all-in-one software
3. Does the vendor offer support and training?
It is extremely important for facility management companies to find a vendor that provides complete support and training
Employees should be able to ask direct questions to the vendors that can solve software-related problems, which in turn can save hours of time and effort
Always look for vendors that provide training demonstrations and learning opportunities that help you to understand their platform
Go for the partner that’s vested in your success and that assists you to achieve it by continuously sharing and innovating those innovations
4. Can the facility management software be integrated with third-party systems and generate automated reports?
In today’s interconnected and data-driven environment, it is important to look for software options that can easily connect with your company’s existing software
You have to choose a software that’s compatible with your own or compatible with the way your organization conducts business
This means that all employees from the ground-floor maintenance techs to C-level managers need to effectively use your facility management software on a daily basis
No matter how advanced facility management software is, it will only be of value if employees are willing and able to use it. System uptake by all employees will be dramatically increased by choosing the user-friendly CMMS software
6. Can your FM software scale as your business grows?
Change is the only constant thing in the business world. Thus, you must find facility management software that can adapt to the company growth including increasing users, sites, features, etc
For instance, facility management experiences ongoing changes like the introduction of new equipment requiring daily maintenance or the addition of new customers sites to manage
In this case, facility management should be able to handle these challenges. Anticipate that your firm will likely evolve and that your software must evolve with you. Assure that all the details of the FM software’s expansion capabilities are laid out ahead of time
7. What’s the software’s budget or cost structure?
Before you decide on your next FM platform, allocate a budget for it. Conduct thorough research on numerous FM software options and their price structure. This also includes looking at cost structure
Ask questions to vendors like can you license the software month-over-month or annually? What is the cost per user and what if you want to add new users? What are the pricing terms? Is there any discount available for bulk users?
Identify how much an investment in facility management software will cost over the first six months and a year and where that cost fits into your budget. This is the foundation for the final question you need to ask
8. Is the vendor providing cloud-based facility management software?
Selecting a cloud-based facility management system offers numerous advantages for your and your team. It enables you to work from anywhere, at any time, on any device, and they are less expensive to implement than on-premises solutions
Moreover, cloud-based facility management software is secure, helping you protect your mission-critical data. Besides, they have very short implementation times, and updates are made available, with no installation necessary
9. What are the security and data protection standards?
In today’s data-driven world, adopting your facility management software can leave you vulnerable to data breaches and lead to downtime
An overwhelming number of these breaches are in the facility management industry may affect your business operations
If you are looking to manage facility data across multiple locations, you must look for a solution that streamlines all your existing processes without increasing your risk of sensitive data
You must go for software that keeps your sensitive data in a secure cloud-based environment and can be easily recovered in the case of a disaster
10. Is the software friendly for ease of adoption and implementation?
According to a McKinsey study, a whopping 70% of all digital transformations fail. The major reason behind the failure of such an initiative is hard to implement facility management software
If you successfully want digitally transform the company, you need software that is easy to adopt. You can also go software that can be implemented in a phased manner – Axonator calls it the Micro-App strategy
With all the factors ticked marked in your checklist, I’m sure you can now select the right software solution for your organization
And to give you a head start, we have just the right solution that you can implement and start working from day one
Check out Axonator Facilities Management Software that can be easily molded as per your unique requirements
Now, before you go, you can tell us the very thing that you look into any facility management software. Is it:
1. What is Axonator’s MicroApp Strategy?
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