We came across an article written back in July 2016 foretelling the future of IoT in the FM industry, and we thought it would be fun to assess how close to the mark its fortunetellers were. The primary predictions were that:

1. The critical area of opportunity lay not so much in gaining new data but in learning how to make better use of existing data. Frequency and accuracy for example.
2. The FM role would become increasingly geared toward a digitally driven environment and encapsulate greater management and analysis of data generated by the built environment. Facilities managers would need to bolster traditional expertise with broader skills in areas such as data analysis, accounting, law and marketing.
3. Facility managers would need tools to not only bring data together from disparate systems, processes and biometrics and turn it into something that is reportable, but have the skill sets to stand up and present the complex nature of their analyses and provide a recommendation to executive level decision makers.

Of course, IoT is still in its youth, but thus far, their crystal balls were pretty accurate! We at SCLogic can attest that the need for software to better process, unite, and analyze existing data is becoming a crucial aspect of the FM role, and we’ve been actively working to improve our API to integrate with other hardware and software applications to bridge the information gap for our users.  We’ve also been specifically developing our workflow processes and request forms to integrate with IoT devices and overall IoT strategy to further strengthen and speed the facility workplace.

Can’t wait to see what the next two years hold for the industry and how our technology can facilitate how work gets done within it.