by Shane Henson — February 10, 2012—Facilities managers searching for ways to improve their team’s efficiency and reduce expenses could benefit from using computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) solutions, according to a survey by software provider Service Works Group, which adds that the many CAFM solutions available can deliver numerous benefits to organizations. The survey was conducted in association with the U.K.-based Facilities Management Association (FMA) and the award-winning news and research service i-fm.net.
More than 80% of facilities professionals who responded to the survey said their CAFM system had saved them money, with 91% agreeing that it also made the FM service more efficient. Almost 80% of respondents confirmed that CAFM allowed them to better identify staff workload, while 90% said it gave them better quality data and provided better auditability. More than 60% said their CAFM tool had enabled them to improve their organization’s sustainability credentials. Overall, the survey gave CAFM the thumbs-up, with 77% saying that their CAFM solution gave them all the benefits they thought it would.
According to Service Works Group, more than 450 facilities professionals across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors took part in the recent survey, with the majority of respondents confirming that they use their CAFM tools for reactive maintenance (19%), planned maintenance (18%) and asset management (15%). Health and safety, contract management, resource management, capital projects, room bookings, space management and mobile workforce management were also key uses.
The survey confirmed that the bigger the organization, the more likely it is to have a CAFM solution, with more than 50% of organizations with over 5,000 employees using a CAFM system compared with 14% of organizations with less than 50 employees. Again, the more sites an organization works across, the more likely it is to use CAFM, the study found. Just under 30% of businesses with less than five sites used CAFM while 62% of those with between 101 and 499 sites used a CAFM tool. The survey also revealed a direct correlation between the square footage an organization occupied, its FM budget and its use of CAFM: the higher the FM budget, and the larger the premises, the more likely the organization is to have a CAFM system.
