The need to improve control over assets and spaces and to manage more and more information has made it necessary for the computer applications used in facility management to have evolved alongside the concept and tasks that are part of the discipline.

Initially, facility management focused almost exclusively on maintenance management. For this reason, it is not surprising that the first software related to building management (Computer Aided Maintenance Management) responded only to these needs.

As facility management has evolved and expanded into other concepts such as the operation of buildings, replacement management or control of the life cycle of assets, among others, the software intended for these tasks, to respond to these demands, also evolved, giving way to computer-assisted infrastructure management applications; more complete and complex programs that, in addition to maintenance management, allow other elements to be managed such as asset life cycle management or replacement management.

Current trends take the concept of facility management further, separating it from the building and reaching what is called infrastructure management, where not only the building is managed but also everything that is inside it, even infrastructure that is not part of any building.

The different application concepts in the world of facility management can be transferred to multiple environments without necessarily being located in a complex or building. Thus we find infrastructures such as parks, roads, open areas and a large number of spaces that may require good management of preventive and operational maintenance, capacity control and all those units capable of offering a service.

The evolution of facility management (FM) systems is the evolution towards the so-called Infrastructure Management (IM) systems, thus opening the management capacity to the entire variety of elements and assets that can be available.

Linked to the concept of infrastructure is the concept of services. When analyzing the typology of the different services, those that arise from the need of the asset and its condition are first detected. In this regard, the objective is that each asset is in its best condition so that it can be operational and available in optimal conditions for as long as possible.

Secondly, we find services linked to users based on the needs that people who use an infrastructure may have. In this way, preventive maintenance is caused by the need for the asset to be maintained while incident management aims to respond to a malfunction of an asset that in most cases is affecting the user.

This relationship between user and service is what is called user services, where the driver is not the infrastructure but the person who uses them. Currently, the new generation of management systems already take into account the three concepts, management, infrastructure and service, hence the ISM (Infrastructure and Services Management) are born, information systems that are concerned both with the management of infrastructures and the services that can or should be provided in them.

The proliferation of information systems causes management tasks to become more numerous, both in terms of quality and quantity, as solutions appear capable of adapting more and more to different environments and realities.

Each organization manages its infrastructure depending on the tools available, but one of the basic needs of facility management and infrastructure management systems is detailed knowledge of the surfaces that are being managed.

To meet this need, there are a large number of applications and platforms that allow different spaces to be designed depending on their surface and to locate the assets and technical locations found in each of them.

In the field of facility management or Infrastructure Management, the use of a planimetry system is very necessary for correct management. Depending on the type of infrastructure managed, a wide variety of CAD or GIS systems can be selected. A CAD system is appropriate when building plans and structural elements are necessary, while GIS is the best option in terms of managing georeferenced surfaces. Therefore, infrastructure or service management information systems must have the capacity to deal with both problems, as well as compatibility with the different solutions and standards for each of the two systems: CAD and GIS.

Still, a solution compatible with CAD and GIS systems is not the only answer to outstanding management. There are other methods that, although they are not as precise depending on the level of management required, are sufficient for infrastructure management. Sometimes the surfaces and infrastructures are not drawn on a planimetry system, and the management model used does not require it either. Sometimes only with an image is it possible to respond to specific needs.

Traditionally, the technological departments of organizations have had great independence to manage the different assets belonging to their division in the way they considered most appropriate, due to their complexity and specialization.

But currently, the high evolution of technological environments has made it possible to put the assets of the technological departments at the same level, putting all available assets and infrastructure at the same level. Thus, it is necessary to carry simple assets such as tables, chairs, etc. such as having a computer, a network or a server.

Because these assets must function correctly, and comply with a series of standards and service agreements, their management does not present major differences with other typical assets managed through facility management, such as furniture or other physical elements of the company.

These similarities can cause a clash between infrastructure management and the management of technological departments. The higher entity must be the manager of the complex or infrastructure since conceptually the technology equipment is nothing more than a part of the components that the building manager must manage.

In general, technological infrastructures depend on the structures of buildings, so any intervention carried out on them will affect the technology. Even in the design of buildings, infrastructures are usually defined that must be maintained by the building manager and that provide service to the technology, such as UPS systems (Uninterruptible Power Supply), generators, telecommunications connections or inputs, among others.

Traditionally, the center of facility management systems has been the asset, as the axis around which all services revolve, so that the asset is available and in good condition.

This approach has changed in recent years, moving the focus of facility management from the asset to the user. The change has made it possible to put the users of the building or complex in the spotlight, so that the purpose of facility management is to have assets that offer an adequate and satisfactory service to their users and not only to ensure their proper functioning.

This change in perspective is responsible for the current need to create complete service catalogs that allow users to have all the services that can be offered and supported by the infrastructure. In this way, there is a series of innovative services such as room reservations, catering requests, parking space management, moving and transfer requests, key management, visitor management and a long etcetera that varies according to the possibilities of each organization. The costs and resources used to fulfill the different requests must also be monitored.

Subsequently, it is necessary to carry out an analysis of user satisfaction with the services received. This highlights the need to have fluid communication flows and a system that takes continuous measurements to guarantee the security of the service and the ability to participate in continuous improvement cycles.

Facility management is a discipline that has been immersed in a multitude of changes since its inception due to the support it offers to organizations to facilitate cost reduction and maximum use of assets and spaces.

The reduction of costs, within the FM environment, is promoted through investment in improving management. Precisely within the business sector, a significant volume of costs is represented by the use of spaces, the maintenance of assets, energy consumption and wear and tear on infrastructure. Thus, the optimization of all these elements is key in the cycle of improving economic performance.

Maintenance processes are increasingly important to extend the life cycles of assets and avoid failures and incidents that cause high costs to organizations, both due to the downtime of the asset and the cost of repair, which is always higher than maintenance costs.

In this way, in addition to the usual preventive and corrective maintenance processes, tools are beginning to be developed that allow defining operational maintenance plans (which develop tasks that allow an asset to be kept not only functioning, but also in an optimal state) or state-based maintenance (which initiates maintenance plans depending on the state of the machine and not at an arbitrary periodicity) that allow the life cycles of the assets to be lengthened, reducing the number and severity of incidents, and in the long run, reducing the costs derived from them.

On the other hand, the correct management of work spaces is becoming more and more important. A well-used and rationally distributed space allows occupancy costs to be reduced, as well as increasing the satisfaction and productivity of employees who have a pleasant workplace adapted to their needs.

The final objective is to have a real scanner of the organization's infrastructure to know, act and improve its state with the aim of achieving real cost savings.

The support of administrative maintenance through information technology is known as Computer Aided Facility Management.

The set of observation and supervision resources, control and regulation systems, management and optimization of facilities/mechanisms in constructions within technical maintenance are identified as Construction Automation. The goal is to achieve independent functional processes throughout the industry (automatically), according to preset parameters or to simplify their operation and monitoring. All sensors, actors, control elements, users and other technical resources of the building are connected in a network. The workload can be summarized in dashes. The characteristic feature is the decentralized structure of the control units (DDC) as well as the integrated work network via bus (usually EIB/KNX or DALI lighting).

The shift to technical management has been rapid in some sectors, although there are still a large number of industries that use an administrative approach to managing their assets.

Industries where linear structures predominate and rely on processes are more inclined to implement technical systems since the operation of these systems can be supported by a hierarchical organizational structure.

Companies and industries that do not have linear training show a greater delay in adapting technical management, due to the general belief that the system cannot be implemented and maintained effectively. Organizations such as commercial offices or retail sales present greater challenges when implementing and maintaining this type of technical systems because they have a high diversity of owners, brokers, managers and employees, with different interests and priorities.

The latest research shows a considerable increase in the use of technical management, thanks to the results that demonstrate the enormous cost savings through this type of approach. In addition, technical management providers that are able to combine the organization's processes, its area of ​​action and offer extensive maintenance support during the life of the assets make it possible to achieve a reduction in the number of projects completed prematurely as well as underused assets and systems.

Management systems may include:

The responsibility for the maintenance of a building or construction in Spain is usually entrusted to a company specialized in general services. That is, subcontracting is a contract that one company makes to another to perform certain services, originally assigned to the first. The external company that is outsourced manages or executes a specific business function on a daily basis. Outsourcing involves a high level of trust, coordination and two-way exchange.

Subcontracting, or outsourcing of tasks, can be done in two ways: the company can hire only the personnel, in such a way that the client will provide resources such as facilities, physical material and intangible material (information, concepts, ideas); Or the company can choose to hire the staff and resources. Among other things.

Recently, a study has been carried out that, based on a hypothetical case, can help justify the need and advantages of carrying out a comprehensive facilities management (FM) project. On the one hand, it is based on a series of data from the organization that is the object of the hypothesis:

On the other hand, we start from an estimated average monthly price per square meter in the upper-middle area of ​​Madrid under rental regime of €27/m² (according to data extracted from a study by Aguirre Newman) and an estimated average monthly price in the rest of Spain under rental regime of €15/m².

Taking this into account, and with the hypothesis that 80% of the properties managed by the Organization in question are located in Madrid and 20% in the rest of Spain, the average monthly price is €24.6/m².

On the other hand, we contemplate an average occupancy ratio per Workplace of about 22 m² of useful area, equivalent to about 31.4 m² of leasable area, approximately 30% more, taking into account the results of the Benchmarking of the SEFM (Spanish Society of Facility Management). Continuing with the data extracted from the SEFM Benchmarking, the average surface area in m² dedicated to a PT is 18.9 m² of leasable area and 14.50 m² of useful area.

With all the above data, we calculate that our Organization object of the hypothesis must manage a total of 1,256,000 m² of leasable area (880,000 m² useful area), only in administrative positions (assuming 40,000 PT x 22 useful m² / 31.4 leasable m² on average per PT). In this way, the total estimated cost of the rental would be:.

To this total rental amount we add the expense corresponding to operating expenses. Below, we detail the averages of the main annual operating expenses of an average Spanish organization, extracted from the 2005 SEFM (Spanish Society of Facility Management) Benchmarking, with the corresponding increase in CPI, according to the calculation of the INE (National Institute of Statistics):

In this way, the detail of the estimated total cost per year will be:.

Starting from the previous data and taking into account that, from Facility management project experiences, there is a savings percentage of between 5% and 20%, as a result of carrying out adequate facility management management by the Organizations, we could establish the following estimate (based on an average of 12.5% ​​savings):.

In view of the data resulting from this hypothesis, we get a rough idea of ​​the ROI that arises from a comprehensive facility management project.

But for this to work, it is essential that the facility management project incorporates the appropriate policies and tools that allow us to carry out a global optimization of our resources, properties and assets, according to our particular needs and our current reality and that, in addition, it offers us the necessary information to make the appropriate decisions at all times.

The need to improve control over assets and spaces and to manage more and more information has made it necessary for the computer applications used in facility management to have evolved alongside the concept and tasks that are part of the discipline.

Initially, facility management focused almost exclusively on maintenance management. For this reason, it is not surprising that the first software related to building management (Computer Aided Maintenance Management) responded only to these needs.

As facility management has evolved and expanded into other concepts such as the operation of buildings, replacement management or control of the life cycle of assets, among others, the software intended for these tasks, to respond to these demands, also evolved, giving way to computer-assisted infrastructure management applications; more complete and complex programs that, in addition to maintenance management, allow other elements to be managed such as asset life cycle management or replacement management.

Current trends take the concept of facility management further, separating it from the building and reaching what is called infrastructure management, where not only the building is managed but also everything that is inside it, even infrastructure that is not part of any building.

The different application concepts in the world of facility management can be transferred to multiple environments without necessarily being located in a complex or building. Thus we find infrastructures such as parks, roads, open areas and a large number of spaces that may require good management of preventive and operational maintenance, capacity control and all those units capable of offering a service.

The evolution of facility management (FM) systems is the evolution towards the so-called Infrastructure Management (IM) systems, thus opening the management capacity to the entire variety of elements and assets that can be available.

Linked to the concept of infrastructure is the concept of services. When analyzing the typology of the different services, those that arise from the need of the asset and its condition are first detected. In this regard, the objective is that each asset is in its best condition so that it can be operational and available in optimal conditions for as long as possible.

Secondly, we find services linked to users based on the needs that people who use an infrastructure may have. In this way, preventive maintenance is caused by the need for the asset to be maintained while incident management aims to respond to a malfunction of an asset that in most cases is affecting the user.

This relationship between user and service is what is called user services, where the driver is not the infrastructure but the person who uses them. Currently, the new generation of management systems already take into account the three concepts, management, infrastructure and service, hence the ISM (Infrastructure and Services Management) are born, information systems that are concerned both with the management of infrastructures and the services that can or should be provided in them.

The proliferation of information systems causes management tasks to become more numerous, both in terms of quality and quantity, as solutions appear capable of adapting more and more to different environments and realities.

Each organization manages its infrastructure depending on the tools available, but one of the basic needs of facility management and infrastructure management systems is detailed knowledge of the surfaces that are being managed.

To meet this need, there are a large number of applications and platforms that allow different spaces to be designed depending on their surface and to locate the assets and technical locations found in each of them.

In the field of facility management or Infrastructure Management, the use of a planimetry system is very necessary for correct management. Depending on the type of infrastructure managed, a wide variety of CAD or GIS systems can be selected. A CAD system is appropriate when building plans and structural elements are necessary, while GIS is the best option in terms of managing georeferenced surfaces. Therefore, infrastructure or service management information systems must have the capacity to deal with both problems, as well as compatibility with the different solutions and standards for each of the two systems: CAD and GIS.

Still, a solution compatible with CAD and GIS systems is not the only answer to outstanding management. There are other methods that, although they are not as precise depending on the level of management required, are sufficient for infrastructure management. Sometimes the surfaces and infrastructures are not drawn on a planimetry system, and the management model used does not require it either. Sometimes only with an image is it possible to respond to specific needs.

Traditionally, the technological departments of organizations have had great independence to manage the different assets belonging to their division in the way they considered most appropriate, due to their complexity and specialization.

But currently, the high evolution of technological environments has made it possible to put the assets of the technological departments at the same level, putting all available assets and infrastructure at the same level. Thus, it is necessary to carry simple assets such as tables, chairs, etc. such as having a computer, a network or a server.

Because these assets must function correctly, and comply with a series of standards and service agreements, their management does not present major differences with other typical assets managed through facility management, such as furniture or other physical elements of the company.

These similarities can cause a clash between infrastructure management and the management of technological departments. The higher entity must be the manager of the complex or infrastructure since conceptually the technology equipment is nothing more than a part of the components that the building manager must manage.

In general, technological infrastructures depend on the structures of buildings, so any intervention carried out on them will affect the technology. Even in the design of buildings, infrastructures are usually defined that must be maintained by the building manager and that provide service to the technology, such as UPS systems (Uninterruptible Power Supply), generators, telecommunications connections or inputs, among others.

Traditionally, the center of facility management systems has been the asset, as the axis around which all services revolve, so that the asset is available and in good condition.

This approach has changed in recent years, moving the focus of facility management from the asset to the user. The change has made it possible to put the users of the building or complex in the spotlight, so that the purpose of facility management is to have assets that offer an adequate and satisfactory service to their users and not only to ensure their proper functioning.

This change in perspective is responsible for the current need to create complete service catalogs that allow users to have all the services that can be offered and supported by the infrastructure. In this way, there is a series of innovative services such as room reservations, catering requests, parking space management, moving and transfer requests, key management, visitor management and a long etcetera that varies according to the possibilities of each organization. The costs and resources used to fulfill the different requests must also be monitored.

Subsequently, it is necessary to carry out an analysis of user satisfaction with the services received. This highlights the need to have fluid communication flows and a system that takes continuous measurements to guarantee the security of the service and the ability to participate in continuous improvement cycles.

Facility management is a discipline that has been immersed in a multitude of changes since its inception due to the support it offers to organizations to facilitate cost reduction and maximum use of assets and spaces.

The reduction of costs, within the FM environment, is promoted through investment in improving management. Precisely within the business sector, a significant volume of costs is represented by the use of spaces, the maintenance of assets, energy consumption and wear and tear on infrastructure. Thus, the optimization of all these elements is key in the cycle of improving economic performance.

Maintenance processes are increasingly important to extend the life cycles of assets and avoid failures and incidents that cause high costs to organizations, both due to the downtime of the asset and the cost of repair, which is always higher than maintenance costs.

In this way, in addition to the usual preventive and corrective maintenance processes, tools are beginning to be developed that allow defining operational maintenance plans (which develop tasks that allow an asset to be kept not only functioning, but also in an optimal state) or state-based maintenance (which initiates maintenance plans depending on the state of the machine and not at an arbitrary periodicity) that allow the life cycles of the assets to be lengthened, reducing the number and severity of incidents, and in the long run, reducing the costs derived from them.

On the other hand, the correct management of work spaces is becoming more and more important. A well-used and rationally distributed space allows occupancy costs to be reduced, as well as increasing the satisfaction and productivity of employees who have a pleasant workplace adapted to their needs.

The final objective is to have a real scanner of the organization's infrastructure to know, act and improve its state with the aim of achieving real cost savings.

The support of administrative maintenance through information technology is known as Computer Aided Facility Management.

The set of observation and supervision resources, control and regulation systems, management and optimization of facilities/mechanisms in constructions within technical maintenance are identified as Construction Automation. The goal is to achieve independent functional processes throughout the industry (automatically), according to preset parameters or to simplify their operation and monitoring. All sensors, actors, control elements, users and other technical resources of the building are connected in a network. The workload can be summarized in dashes. The characteristic feature is the decentralized structure of the control units (DDC) as well as the integrated work network via bus (usually EIB/KNX or DALI lighting).

The shift to technical management has been rapid in some sectors, although there are still a large number of industries that use an administrative approach to managing their assets.

Industries where linear structures predominate and rely on processes are more inclined to implement technical systems since the operation of these systems can be supported by a hierarchical organizational structure.

Companies and industries that do not have linear training show a greater delay in adapting technical management, due to the general belief that the system cannot be implemented and maintained effectively. Organizations such as commercial offices or retail sales present greater challenges when implementing and maintaining this type of technical systems because they have a high diversity of owners, brokers, managers and employees, with different interests and priorities.

The latest research shows a considerable increase in the use of technical management, thanks to the results that demonstrate the enormous cost savings through this type of approach. In addition, technical management providers that are able to combine the organization's processes, its area of ​​action and offer extensive maintenance support during the life of the assets make it possible to achieve a reduction in the number of projects completed prematurely as well as underused assets and systems.

Management systems may include:

The responsibility for the maintenance of a building or construction in Spain is usually entrusted to a company specialized in general services. That is, subcontracting is a contract that one company makes to another to perform certain services, originally assigned to the first. The external company that is outsourced manages or executes a specific business function on a daily basis. Outsourcing involves a high level of trust, coordination and two-way exchange.

Subcontracting, or outsourcing of tasks, can be done in two ways: the company can hire only the personnel, in such a way that the client will provide resources such as facilities, physical material and intangible material (information, concepts, ideas); Or the company can choose to hire the staff and resources. Among other things.

Recently, a study has been carried out that, based on a hypothetical case, can help justify the need and advantages of carrying out a comprehensive facilities management (FM) project. On the one hand, it is based on a series of data from the organization that is the object of the hypothesis:

On the other hand, we start from an estimated average monthly price per square meter in the upper-middle area of ​​Madrid under rental regime of €27/m² (according to data extracted from a study by Aguirre Newman) and an estimated average monthly price in the rest of Spain under rental regime of €15/m².

Taking this into account, and with the hypothesis that 80% of the properties managed by the Organization in question are located in Madrid and 20% in the rest of Spain, the average monthly price is €24.6/m².

On the other hand, we contemplate an average occupancy ratio per Workplace of about 22 m² of useful area, equivalent to about 31.4 m² of leasable area, approximately 30% more, taking into account the results of the Benchmarking of the SEFM (Spanish Society of Facility Management). Continuing with the data extracted from the SEFM Benchmarking, the average surface area in m² dedicated to a PT is 18.9 m² of leasable area and 14.50 m² of useful area.

With all the above data, we calculate that our Organization object of the hypothesis must manage a total of 1,256,000 m² of leasable area (880,000 m² useful area), only in administrative positions (assuming 40,000 PT x 22 useful m² / 31.4 leasable m² on average per PT). In this way, the total estimated cost of the rental would be:.

To this total rental amount we add the expense corresponding to operating expenses. Below, we detail the averages of the main annual operating expenses of an average Spanish organization, extracted from the 2005 SEFM (Spanish Society of Facility Management) Benchmarking, with the corresponding increase in CPI, according to the calculation of the INE (National Institute of Statistics):

In this way, the detail of the estimated total cost per year will be:.

Starting from the previous data and taking into account that, from Facility management project experiences, there is a savings percentage of between 5% and 20%, as a result of carrying out adequate facility management management by the Organizations, we could establish the following estimate (based on an average of 12.5% ​​savings):.

In view of the data resulting from this hypothesis, we get a rough idea of ​​the ROI that arises from a comprehensive facility management project.

But for this to work, it is essential that the facility management project incorporates the appropriate policies and tools that allow us to carry out a global optimization of our resources, properties and assets, according to our particular needs and our current reality and that, in addition, it offers us the necessary information to make the appropriate decisions at all times.