The Hindu Business Line : Facility management tools turning hi-tech

FACILITY managers in India and across the globe are grappling with challenges such as shrinking workplaces, disaster recovery and hi-tech pilferages. And they are increasingly relying on technology to arrive at solutions for these new-age problems.

This year's IFMA (International Facilities Management Association) India's annual conference to be held here between November 18 and 21 will focus on `Technology: Shaping work and workplaces'.

According to Mr Sanjeev Verma, Manager - Workplace Resources, India and South Asia, Global Development Center, Cisco, and Chapter Vice-President, IFMA India, "Technology has had the biggest impact on the way we work. The role of FMs has changed from just holding a spanner or a fire fighter to doing tech savvy things. In addition, newer technologies like wi-fi and smart solutions are changing our business too."

Shared workplaces are another new area of challenge for facility managers.

Mr Verma says that booking workspace is the old way of working. "Now it's ensuring that all the likely users get the workplace that they want at any point of time." The workspace available per person in the country has now come down from 210 sq. ft. in 1995 to 105 sq. ft. in 2004.

Information theft is another area that is difficult to handle; it's the information that's going out in the form of CDs and SIM cards that's giving them sleepless nights.