Despite the doom-and-gloom headlines, the brick-and-mortar model is still the foundation of the retail omnichannel strategy. In fact, it may be surprising to learn that brick-and-mortar retailing is substantially larger than e-commerce sales and that the gap may be widening. A contributing factor is that 98 percent of the uber-connected Generation Z still prefer to shop in actual stores, according Read More

A 2018 survey conducted by Deloitte and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) reports that consistency, resources and budgeting, and third-party risk are going to be the biggest risks to compliance that the retail industry faces. Compliance risk is when you face the potential for financial forfeiture or legal penalties if your company fails to act in accordance with laws or regulations. Read More

Adapting your facility to ever-changing technological demands can leave you vulnerable to data breaches and lead to downtime. According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 9,071 data breaches have been made public since 2005, with more than 11 billion records breached. An overwhelming number of these breaches are in the healthcare industry, though any industry – including retail, restaurants, and Read More

The term “Retail Apocalypse” has been thrown around for a few years now; it refers to the belief that online shopping is driving the extinction of brick-and-mortar stores. While the growth of digital may make this seem like a logical conclusion, the reality is that of the $4.2 trillion spent in the U.S. retail industry, only around 13 percent of those sales took place online. UBS investigated Read More

Digital transformation is shaking up every industry, and facilities management is no exception. More and more organizations are making the transition to FM software, thanks to the key benefits: Automated work order and asset tracking processes Reduced repair and maintenance costs Ensured contract and SLA compliance Improved efficiency Enhanced customer service Read More

Those in the ServiceChannel community (currently over 500 brands strong!) are familiar with our Services teams (from Implementation and Support, to Customer Success and Learning & Development) from their ongoing interactions with them. But they might not be as familiar with our fast-growing Product teams and the Development organization backing them. Whether in our NY headquarters or Read More

2018 was a year of monumental changes for business operations — innovative technologies like IoT, AR and VR gained traction, mobile in the workplace became even more widespread and customer experiences became even more important for winning business. With all that 2018 brought and taught, it's now time to look forward and plan how your business can operate successfully and profitably in Read More

Facilities managers can't keep businesses up and running in a vacuum; to effectively maintain facilities, managers are only part of the equation. When equipment requires routine maintenance, repairs need addressing or weather-related emergencies come up, you have to call on qualified contractors who can get the job done properly and efficiently. Therefore, FMs are frequently tasked with issuing Read More

You want to win more contracting business, but you're not sure where to start. It's a common problem; growing a commercial contracting business successfully is a challenge, especially if you're relying on inefficient promotion such as print and email campaigns. While these marketing tactics are effective at acquiring local business, they limit your growth at the national level. To grow your Read More

This is the fourth in a series of posts by Vernon Turner, globally recognized as one of the Top 50 IoT experts, focusing on the impact of emerging technologies across business processes. As we enter 2019, many of us in the advisory and consulting world attempt to look at the market trends and signals with an eye at predicting what the future may hold. One industry that makes me excited for this Read More

As we like to do before we get too deep into the new year, we wanted to share what the most popular posts were in 2018. Anyone responsible for maintaining stores, restaurants or any type of physical locations (or even those whose functions are tied to the conditions of these locations) are typically stretched in a myriad of directions and don't have much free time. Given those constraints, Read More

While many folks are preparing for the holidays by either handling the end-of-year rush or preparing for the new year, here in ServiceChannel’s Learning & Development group, we’ve been heads down, working on the next iteration of ServiceChannel University. For those new to the ServiceChannel community or unfamiliar with what’s available on this front, ServiceChannel University is our Read More

Winter weather can be harsh and unforgiving. Regardless of industry or type of physical location, the storms that form as temperatures drop are going to impact your operations. Staying on top of everything that the storms bring with them is a challenge that all FMs face. Whether you find yourself at the center of a nor'easter or you are dealing with the residual effects, the right amount of Read More

Software is certainly key to what ServiceChannel does.  But as the head of our service & support organization, Mike Rivisto, recently stressed in his post highlighting the range of services we provide, it’s the people behind (and besides, and in front of!) that software who are the human element delivering higher value for our customers. As part of Mike’s team, I lead the Customer Success Read More

This is the third in a series of posts by Vernon Turner, globally recognized as one of the Top 50 IoT experts, focusing on the impact of emerging technologies across business processes. At one time, looking for innovation and mergers & acquisitions in the field services management industry, and in particular facilities management, was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Not any more! Read More

Hungry? For some fries?  How about some facilities management best practices?  We have just the meal for you! Most organizations typically face a number of operational challenges in maintaining their locations as well as meeting business objectives. But successful companies and their facilities teams know how to overcome them by moving to a more service-focused, technology-based Read More

Working in the thick of the facilities management action for many years, we’ve seen plenty of departments that could use improvement. This is unfortunate but understandable; FM is a constantly-changing industry, making it challenging for organizations to keep up. Plus, it’s clear that some companies don’t realize just how much impact facilities management can have, so they don’t hire a Read More

The popular story goes that most of the mixed cocktails we know about today, such as The Old-Fashioned, were born in the Prohibition Era because the bathtub gin and rotgut whiskey that the speakeasies had to serve were too unpalatable. Whether this is historic fact or urban legend, it is still a good illustration of the popular phrase “necessity is the mother of invention.” According to 2019 Read More

One point we make a lot is that the facilities sector is one in constant flux.  With new trends, regulations and emerging technology, there’s constant change faced by any FM professional.  That puts it on everyone to stay abreast of what’s happening and keep current with everything that’s occurring. But finding the right information to keep educated can be a challenge.  One resource that has Read More

In the facilities management equation, there are two vital components: one is, or course, facilities managers. The other is contractors and service providers, without whom, facilities upkeep and asset repair and maintenance could not happen. Facilities managers rely on contractors to fulfill their service needs, which makes it incredibly important that contractors are performing the best work Read More