Will access to facilities data improve operations? What do others think?

by Brianna Crandall — April 7, 2017 — There is growing demand for facilities data, according to a new Dude Solutions survey of more than 500 building owners, facilities and maintenance managers conducted by Building Operating Management and Facility Maintenance Decisions magazines.

More than two-thirds of the facilities managers (FMs) surveyed report increased interest in operations or maintenance data analysis and reporting over the past 12-18 months, with 20 percent calling the increase significant. The survey shows that a growing number of FMs understand how data and business intelligence can help operate their facilities more efficiently, justify capital and operating budgets, and communicate the value of operations work. At the same time, most find their efforts to produce and analyze this facilities data constrained.

Nick Mirisis, vice president of Marketing for Dude Solutions, a cloud-based provider of operations management solutions, pointed out:

Many of the survey findings echo what our clients are saying about data-driven business decisions in operations — it is a must-have, but there are complications including tight budgets, a lack of training, and an unfamiliarity with current technology options. Today’s business climate and top executives expect facility departments to support their operational budgets and requests for capital investments with solid data.

Despite this increased demand, only 11 percent of FMs surveyed said their executives understand the complexity and volume of operations work required, and just 11 percent indicate having visibility into the true budgets necessary to maintain equipment and optimize operations.

According to the survey, the three types of facilities data most in demand are:

  • Equipment performance data
  • Energy and utility consumption
  • Improvement cost justification data

Unfortunately, more than 40 percent of those surveyed rate their ability to provide accurate operations performance data as adequate or poor.

More than half of respondents also said that it is important to benchmark their organization’s efficiencies against their peers — both to identify areas of improvement and demonstrate success to executive management.

The Dude Solutions white paper is available for free download with a brief registration.