Three Key Themes in Facilities Management for 2019

January 22, 2019

While we achieved a tremendous amount at KGS Buildings during 2018, big things lie ahead in the world of facility management and AFDD, and we’d like to make a few prediction about important themes for 2019.

Three key topics we feel are worthy of highlight here are:

• The continued dominance of cloud technology: Undoubtedly a key technological innovation that’s been driving the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Building management over the last several years is cloud computing. While Facilities Executives don’t necessarily care about the specifics of cloud architecture, compute resources and data storage technologies, the importance of delivering “multi-tenant” software as a service (SaaS) will become clearer and clearer. “Multi-tenant” means the ability to rapidly innovate so all clients benefit from a shared diagnostic code set that constantly evolves. No individual upgrades. No one-off code. Deploying a software solution using cloud computing is a big shift from the traditional way businesses used to think about IT resources. But, this shift will continue across industries in 2019, and the building industry is no exception.
• Delivery partnerships: Buildings are increasingly complex systems, and supercharging the service you are receiving from mechanical, controls and energy service providers with FDD technology offers building owners an optimized way to address specific facility demands in a timely manner. Partnership with KGS Buildings is about evolving traditional facilities management service offerings into the age of digital intelligence.  Our partners currently use the KGS Clockworks solution to very successfully differentiate and enhance their profile in control services, mechanical services, energy services, M&V, and commissioning. Early adopters are well on their way to realizing the benefits of digital transformation and the positive impact of integrating smart building technologies to their bottom line.
• Shared Knowledge: Many recent conference sessions have highlighted the demographic challenge our industry faces as so many Facilities leaders retire in the coming years and Chief Engineers leave with the institutional knowledge they have built up over their career. Don Guckert, Associate Vice President of Facilities at the University of Iowa and current APPA president, gives a powerful presentation on big data analytics and the need to move beyond “institutional” knowledge to “shared” knowledge. This is both a demographic necessity and a critical opportunity for technology to fill the knowledge gap and propel us into a future where FDD can provide the eyes and ears for our most skilled building engineers to do more with less.

Of course there are many other topics that have already, and will continue to, catch the eye of our team as the year progresses. And we’ll call those as we see them on these pages. We look forward to the coming months!

The KGS Buildings Team
Automated Analytics. Smarter Facilities.