Building/facility managers need to take on several challenges and responsibilities every single day of their assignment. While there are certain challenges that the manager can plan for, there are many that will strike them out of the blue. They aren’t prepared for these challenges. Yet, they must keep the place running smoothly, safely, and within budget. Security and facilities management is required for this very purpose.
Here, we are going to discuss the top security and facilities management challenges faced by organizations today. The purpose behind this discussion is giving facility managers at least a fighting chance of overcoming these challenges. In addition to discussing the top 8 challenges faced by facilities managers today, we will look at the futuristic technologies that can help to overcome them. So, let’s begin.
The Top Eight Security and Facilities Management Challenges Faced by Organizations Today
A well-established industry, facilities management has been slow to establish career paths or develop specific professional standards. However, the good news is that some associations of facility managers have recently recognized the challenges facing facilities management today and are taking measures to overcome them. However, there is still a long way to go before the security and facilities management challenges are taken care of for good. Following are the top eight security and facilities management challenges faced by organizations today:
1. Fast Retrieval of Information
Most facility managers take longer than ten minutes to retrieve information. A major reason for this delay in retrieving information is inadequate information systems.
2. Managing and Recording Changes
Changes to an asset must be documented and stored correctly. Additionally, there must be a system to track the changes made. Unfortunately, most organizations and facilities do not ensure this.
3. Coordinating Vendors
There are several drawbacks of the current processes for assigning work to contractors. These include delays, lack of inherent view and approval process, and a lack of audit trail. Therefore, a newer, more intelligent system or process is required to assign the correct work to each contractor and get a fair price for it.
4. Handling Faults
Many facilities managers lack the capacity to handle all faults in a central system. This is a major challenge that organizations must help the managers to overcome.
5. Meeting Compliance Guidelines
A major challenge for facility managers is inadequate record keeping. Companies are required to comply with statuary regulations for managing their documents. Therefore, organizations must provide facility managers with a process that ensures data is stored correctly. Another compliance requirement is staying on top of the changes to legislation.
6. Preventing a Security Breach or Minimizing Its Impact
According to a joint study by ISACA and RSA published in 2015, 78% of the board of directors are concerned with computer security today. The new cycle of data breaches has alerted organizations and facilities of possible security breaches. Regardless of the size and sector, a security breach can have a lasting impact on the facility of an organization. This can cause a loss of customers, revenue, and even reputation. Additionally, the facility’s operational continuity is affected, and the integrity of its data is compromised.
7. Skills Gap
A major reason for the rising security and data breaches affecting organizations and facilities is the skills gap. According to the Global Information Workforce Study, there were 2.25 million security professionals engaged in the field in 2013 while the need was for 4.25 million practitioners.
8. Rapidly Changing Security and Technology
The security of organizations must evolve to tackle today’s sophisticated threats. Security and technological solutions for facilities are changing rapidly. Therefore, organizations must keep up to date with the latest technological developments in security and facilities management. This is needed to tackle security and other challenges that may come their way.
The Future of Security and Facilities Management: 6 Technologies Organizations Should Keep an Eye on to Overcome the Security and Facilities Management Challenges
We discussed above the top eight securities and facilities management challenges faced by organizations today. Now, we discuss the futuristic technologies that can help to overcome these challenges:
1. Augmented Reality (AR)
Virtual and augmented reality systems have huge potential in facilities management. With AR, it is possible to design physically viable spaces. Therefore, there’s no reason that the technology cannot be used to create flawless workspaces. By viewing buildings based on legacy and active sensor data, facilities managers can identify weak spots, build rooms using simulations, and optimize spaces for future occupants.
2. Drones
Drones can be used in security and facilities management for directing high-resolution cameras to elevated spots to perform inspections and check for damage.
3. Robotics
Robotics has a lot of promise for facilities management. In the future, they could be linked to facilities management software solutions to intuitively perform tasks such as cleaning and repairs. Additionally, a facility robot may be able to fix software faults on its own by plugging itself into a computer terminal.
4. IoT
IoT isn’t a new concept to facilities management. However, unified platforms and the proliferation of connected devices in the market is changing the way it’s looked at. To ensure they’re making the best choices for their specific needs, facilities managers will need to keep up-to-date with the nuances of the IoT technologies.
5. AI
AI assistants may soon facilitate business operations such as contractor relations and request management. Additionally, AI systems in the facility could learn about the outcome of every decision and then use it to inform the next decision. Ultimately, this will allow facility managers to take on a largely supervisory role and focus more on larger tasks and projects.
6. Smart Buildings
Smart buildings automatically control a facility’s operations by using automated processes and technology connected to the internet of things (IoT). How does this impact security and facilities management? Smart buildings are always collecting data about the facility and everyone working there.
Security and facilities management is changing fast and organizations must keep up with the latest challenges in the field and the technologies to overcome them. Those that don’t do this run the risk of a problem that could have a lasting effect on the well-being of the organization/facility. To ensure this does not happen to you, contact us today for valuable advice.
by Bobby J Davidson
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