Why workplace management tech is gaining popularity

Hybrid working and the challenges around getting employees into the office is fuelling conversations around the insights that can be gleaned from office data.

Specifically, can spaces be designed better to suit collaboration, to inspire creativity, and to promote excellent culture? Do the amenities, facilities and activations deliver on what workers crave for a smooth and satisfying day at the office? Is it better, or suitably different from what they have at home?

Commercially, business leaders also want to know that they are getting maximum value from their real estate.

In this context, it is no coincidence that the take-up of integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) – platforms that centralise companies’ real estate and facilities data, analyse information and support operational improvements across spaces and portfolios – is increasing.

The global market for integrated workplace management systems, estimated at US$3.6 billion in 2022, is projected to reach US$8.4 bn by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 11.3% over 2022-2030, according to one global research house.

“Companies juggle many different technology solutions, such as those that can manage our place, our people and our real estate investments. But the value these solutions provide back to the business often comes down to how well the data can flow from one to the other,” says Simon Backhouse, JLL workplace technology expert. “IWMS systems help glue these tools together, giving us deeper insights and a better user experience.”

Simon notes five ways IWMS solutions are making workplaces better

1. They allow workplace management tools - such as those for space planning, measuring energy, or managing leases - to be built modularly
   
   
2. They give real estate managers a central source of truth for real time data to make decisions about the workplace
   
   
3. They generate reports that are unique to each business
   
   
4. They provide data around office utilisation to inform how many desks are needed as business fluctuates
   
   
5. They can combine lots of separate data sets to influence new workplace designs

To learn more about IWMS and how it can help your business, to request a demonstration, or to get more out of your existing IWMS, click here.