What Is Integrated Facilities Management?

Keeping your facilities running smoothly shouldn’t feel like running in circles. Integrated facilities management (IFM) brings everything together under one roof, including contracts, vendors, maintenance, and data, giving your team the visibility and control it needs. By unifying systems and strategies, IFM helps facility and operations managers ditch the chaos and stay focused on what really matters: running efficient, cost-effective operations.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn what IFM entails and how it differs from FM functions. It also covers when to consider integrating your FM efforts, how to implement one system for managing facilities, and best practices for monitoring the effectiveness of your IFM approach over time.

What Is Integrated Facilities Management (IFM)?

Integrated facilities management (IFM) is a comprehensive approach that combines all facility-related services, documentation, and workflows into a single, cohesive system. Although what this looks like in practice will vary based on industry type, company size, and other factors, there are some general similarities in overall scope across organizations.

Comprehensive Definition of IFM

Integrated Facilities Management is a holistic approach to facilities management. It replaces fragmented systems with a single platform that a unified team of FM professionals can use to oversee all operations.

IFM also gives leadership and stakeholders access to comprehensive reporting and analytics. This makes it easier to monitor facility performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions based on real-time data.

Scope of IFM

In terms of scope, IFM typically puts many different departments and functions under one umbrella. These include:

• Operations and Maintenance: An IFM platform manages key equipment and building systems, generating and tracking reactive and preventive maintenance work orders. It gives FMs the tools to stop chasing issues — and start preventing them.
• Space Management: IFM supports a more strategic approach to space planning to improve efficiency, productivity, and safety.
• Energy Management: IFM contributes to sustainability goals, providing actionable insights into potential energy efficiency improvements.
• Support Services: IFM helps you oversee all aspects of support services, including janitorial, cleaning, mailroom, and food service tasks.
• Asset Management: IFM enables you to track the service history and real-time status of assets, so you can potentially avoid downtime while more closely monitoring asset lifecycles.
• Strategic Planning: IFM analytics facilitate data-driven decisions about capital planning, budgeting, and more. You’ll get visual reports tied to your KPIs — whether it’s energy savings or work order response time.

How IFM Differs from Traditional Facilities Management

What IFM is becomes clearer when you compare it to a more traditional approach to facilities management. With a traditional FM approach, organizations use separate systems to manage data for various facilities functions. An IFM approach involves migrating to a single platform, leading to the following differences and advantages.

Simplified Service Structure

With a traditional FM approach, organizations usually work with multiple vendors. As a result, the business must manage several Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

IFM leads to a simpler approach to vendor management. Organizations work with a single IFM provider and have just one contract to manage. Instead of juggling 10 systems and 12 vendors, IFM brings it all together, so your team isn’t stuck in admin mode. 

Coordination and Integration

Due to the use of individual systems, traditional FM usually leads to data silos. Not only does this complicate tasks, but it can also increase the risk of user entry errors. IFM makes information available across departments and teams for increased efficiencies and improved informational integrity.  With a single system, facilities teams can adapt faster, whether it’s scaling locations, switching providers, or responding to urgent issues.

Focus

The primary focus of the traditional approach is on daily business operations. Each department completes its daily assigned tasks. Any long-term strategizing requires managers of each team to produce and share reports.

An IFM approach shifts the focus of facilities management forward. With all departments able to access the same information, it becomes easier to develop a unified maintenance strategy to accomplish goals, such as increasing productivity or cost reduction.

Operating Cost Control

For a business using multiple vendors under a traditional approach, administrative costs can be unpredictable and difficult to manage. Each service provider has its own fee structure and may alter pricing unexpectedly, which can strain budgets.

An IFM approach enables an organization to work with one IFM provider. As a result, pricing becomes more transparent and predictable.

Essential Components of Integrated Facilities Management

Although specific details of IFM programs will vary, taking an integrated approach to facilities management usually involves the following four key components.

Unified Service Provider Management

With an integrated solution, you use a single platform to manage all service providers. Consequently, your organization can establish uniform policies, processes, and procedures for vendor management. 

ServiceChannel enables you to consolidate providers and track their performance in real-time. In turn, this leads to greater consistency in how you select and onboard providers, manage contracts, and monitor vendor performance. A unified team handling all vendor management tasks can also reduce costs and improve communications between your organization and providers.

Streamlined Processes and Workflows

Moving to an integrated model means standardizing the processes and workflows for all maintenance tasks. All maintenance — from plumbing to janitorial — routes through a single mobile platform. You get predictability in cost, clarity in performance, and fewer after-hours emergencies.

This shift simplifies tracking and reduces delays, so activities occur sooner. In addition, IFM minimizes the risk of wasted resources and labor hours due to duplicate work orders while also increasing operational efficiencies.

Technology Integration and Data Management

IFM gives you visibility across every location, vendor, and asset — all in one place. A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) makes it possible to manage assets and work orders in a single location. This can result in the elimination of redundant systems, which reduces operating costs.

It also creates the opportunity to collect real-time data via Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to more closely monitor asset health and performance across an entire organization. Your CMMS can also integrate data from other software your business uses for:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Inventory management
• Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

Centralized Communication and Reporting

IFM benefits maintenance teams by simplifying communications. All employees can use a single app, tool, or platform to get notifications and updates. Mobile access even makes it possible for maintenance managers and teams to stay connected on the go. And with centralized reporting, everyone involved in cost savings, sustainability, and other initiatives can access the information they need to monitor progress.

When to Consider Integrated Facilities Management

For many businesses, the potential benefits and reduced costs associated with IFM make it the right approach. To determine whether it’s a good fit for you, consider organizational indicators and common use cases.

Organizational Indicators for IFM

Tracking the following key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you assess the benefits of IFM:

• Total cost of facilities as a percentage of the operating budget
• Current vendor contracts, admin overhead, or utilities
• Service response times
• Planned vs. reactive maintenance ratio
• Energy consumption per square foot
• Space utilization rates
• Workplace comfort and wellness metrics

Industry Applications and Use Cases

IFM can improve facilities management for businesses in many industries, including:

• Healthcare: Hospitals and health systems can more closely manage vital devices and sanitation with an integrated solution.
• Education: A unified approach makes delivering services and addressing maintenance needs across large campuses simpler.
• Manufacturing: IFM can help facilities minimize downtime and maintain compliance with industry regulations.
• Hospitality: Resorts and hotels can better ensure that facilities exceed guest expectations with an integrated FM approach.

IFM Implementation Strategy

Once you have determined that an integrated approach to FM is right for your operations, decide how to implement it best. Use the following steps as a guide when developing your strategy.

Assessment and Planning Phase

To start, conduct an audit of your current facilities management processes and setup. Consider your current vendors, costs, and performance levels. Pinpoint any deficiencies, challenges, and gaps to identify your outstanding maintenance needs.

Set the primary goals for your new FM program. Set a timeline for achieving them, and determine how you will measure success and evaluate progress. From there, you can break large goals into stages and use these as a roadmap for implementation.

Technology and System Integration

Next, invest in the right technology. A strong facilities management software platform is key to organizing maintenance, streamlining vendor and asset management tasks, and tracking performance in one place.

Choose a software solution that can meet your facility’s needs as you grow, offered by a provider with expertise in your niche. Then, migrate data to the new platform and integrate other software as needed.

Vendor Consolidation and Management

Review all current SLAs and contracts. Evaluate the costs of early termination versus those of continuing use until expiration. Use this information to create a vendor consolidation timeline and determine who will handle vendor notifications.

Change Management and Training

As you move into the final stage of implementation, get buy-in from your facilities teams. Describe how an IFM can streamline daily tasks and enhance operational efficiency. Then, begin training technicians, facilities managers, and financial managers to utilize appropriate parts of the platform.

To minimize disruptions and downtime, plan a phased deployment. Choose one location or a single team to use the platform. Once they are comfortable, continue the rollout with a second.

Measuring IFM Success

Once your IFM program is in place, you’ll want to track its effectiveness. The best way to achieve this is by identifying metrics that align with your business and operational goals and then tracking related KPIs to drive continuous improvement over time.

Key Performance Metrics (KPIs) for Evaluating Your IFM Strategy

What KPIs will be useful to track will depend on your corporate strategy and allocation of resources. One simple approach is to focus on the same KPIs you identified as indicators that a holistic approach was the right choice for your company. Combine real-time tracking with regular assessments —  weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, and annually — of indicators for best results.

ROI Measurement Strategies

To measure your return on investment in IFM, consider these tips:

• Track monetary cost savings from consolidating vendors and simplifying contracts.
• Identify the amount of administrative time saved by managing a single provider.
• Assess the savings associated with the predictive and preventive maintenance approaches enabled by IFM.
• Tabulate the cost savings from reducing underutilized and unused square footage.
• Continuously compare utility costs from before and after IFM implementation.

With ServiceChannel, IFM becomes more than a strategy — it becomes a day-to-day reality. From vendor consolidation and work order automation to centralized reporting and asset performance tracking, our platform gives your team the visibility, control, and efficiency to operate at its best.