Technology for property operations is no longer niche. It has become a key agenda for the C-suite; prop ops technology will increase significantly in 2023.
During our 2022 events, we interacted with executives who shared their insights on the importance of incorporating property operations technologies into their buildings in order to stay competitive, lower operational costs, and meet the increasing demand for sustainable, high-performing spaces.
This blog will explore the top 5 trends in property operations that are front-runners to be on the C-suite agenda in 2023. These trends will influence the direction of property operations and assist CRE leaders in staying one step ahead of the competition.
1. A data-driven approach for strategic property operations
The growing importance of data-driven decision-making in property management is one of the key factors driving accurate prediction of facilities requiring immediate maintenance.
The industry leaders look forward to applying real-time insights into their operations by leveraging information about building assets, energy consumption, and other metrics.
With insights into occupancy rates, maintenance costs, and tenant satisfaction, property owners can identify trends, set benchmarks, and identify areas for improvement.
Our CEO Prabhu shared his insights in a recent Smart-Built Forum about the benefits, uptake, and stakes of data-driven maintenance by enhancing operational visibility, improving bottom-line efficiency & driving data-backed decision-making.
2. Sustainability: Ops Tech as a key to achieving decarbonization
Sustainability and net zero goals have moved from being a fad to the operational norm of today.
Rising energy costs cause huge concern for organizations that incur large energy bills. The key to promoting sustainability and decarbonization in the building's operation and maintenance industry is to take a holistic, systems-based approach that addresses the environmental, social, and economic impacts of buildings and their operations.
While this may seem like a costly change, a collaborative effort among all stakeholders and a willingness to embrace new technologies will elevate the bottom line in the built environment.
"In the wake of the pandemic, there has been an increased focus on the use of technology, including the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor air quality, health & wellness of occupants and to optimize energy spend" - Prabhu Ramachandran, CEO Facilio at Urban Tech Forward Summit 2022.
3. Property operations technology will make waves across industry verticals
Property Ops Tech is playing an increasingly important role in the management of facilities.
This will cascade into 2023, where verticals such as connected retail, connected campus, and healthcare facilities will leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor energy consumption and reduce operational costs.
Lowering energy costs and streamlining operations through centralized property operations software will be the prime focus from educational campuses to healthcare facilities.
“There are multiple obstacles in Healthcare Operations where purchasing software is not the major issue, but implementation, integration, and extraction of data & insights from the software to make meaningful business decisions is the key challenge”- Hanie from Aster Eurohealthcare
4. Collaborative CaFM/CMMS will replace obsolete legacy systems
Facility managers are no longer satisfied with using CaFM tools as a mere system of records.
Organizations are realizing that they must think from a portfolio perspective to ensure that their IT services investments deliver maximum value.
This requires them to move away from an operational focus on individual technology stacks and instead adopt an integrated CaFM tool that provides strategic insights to manage complete portfolio operations.
“To improve operational efficiency, the corporate FMs or service providers will need to integrate CMMS with digital devices like sensors, QR codes, computer vision, and more. The current CMMS system lacks the ability to turn the data absorbed from these devices into insights. Facility Managers should look out for a collaborative CMMS tool that sits at the core of all FM tasks and stakeholders involved.”- Cindy Hermsen, FM Innovators
5. Platform-based approach to obtain portfolio intelligence
A platform-based O&M software approach can help owners & operators to streamline and optimize building operations, reduce waste and inefficiencies, and improve occupant comfort and satisfaction.
This approach enables facilities managers to gain a comprehensive view of their building operations and performance, eliminates operational blindspots, and allows them to take a proactive approach to managing their buildings.
“If you have a technology platform that is able to connect people, process, and systems, that is when you will be able to deliver high-value impact on real estate operations in terms of increased sustainability, workforce efficiency, and occupants wellness.” - Prabhu Ramachandran, CEO & Co-Founder of Facilio
"Technology and digitization are tools to achieve an optimum environment for people and should be carefully selected and implemented to feasibly raise the industry standard and ESG’s criteria compliance"- Haithem Ibraheem, Property Operations Manager of ICD Brookfield
While it’s very clear that optimizing spending via lowering costs and better utilizing the workforce are the frontrunner goals for the coming years, the true challenge lies in adopting a fool-proof software-led method to set winning O&M strategies.
By keeping up with these emerging trends, C-suite executives can position their buildings at the forefront of the industry and drive innovation in property operations.
Want to improve your property operations in 2023? Talk to an expert.
