Digital transformation – if you haven’t heard of this business trend yet, there is no doubt you will in a short time. We all know that technology is growing at a rapid pace and continuing to integrate into essentially every industry, assisting teams physically and financially. Digital transformation involves the continuous innovation, testing, and cultural shift to utilizing technology in the workplace while understanding and navigating its risks. While many companies have updated their client-facing technology, internal tech remains insufficient, posing a security risk and increasing frustration for team members. Here, our enterprise facility software specialists at SCLogic discuss how you can use digital transformation within your facility to assist with the taxing pain points your team faces daily. From asset management to workplace services, it’s time to move your facility to the future. 

What is Digital Transformation?

Before diving into the many benefits digital transformation offers for a facility, we must break down the various aspects of digital transformation and how this can change your current enterprise practices. While different for every company, digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, resulting in fundamental changes to how enterprises operate and deliver value to their customers. Contrary to a traditional business model, digital transformation requires many companies to change long-standing business practices, step out of their comfort zone, and take the innovative route, experimenting, training, strategizing, and being comfortable with pivots or failures. 

Three critical areas of enterprise digital transformation are customer experience, operational processes, and business models. Enterprise corporations can use technology to understand customers in greater detail, increase touchpoints, and review analytics. Concerning operational procedures, this is where automation comes in. Companies can improve operational processes significantly by utilizing digital tools and collecting performance data, especially in facilities management. Finally, business models are altered by transforming traditional business practices with technology-focused ones, providing new services to potential customers, and improving internal efficiency. 

Why is Digital Transformation Important to Facility Managers?

Digital transformation can significantly alter a business in any industry, but within facilities management, digital transformation’s benefits are unmatched. While digital transformation has various uses, survival is the primary reason for this change. Post-pandemic, the continuation of the hybrid workforce and push toward a digital future will ultimately result in companies falling under if they do not adapt. Once your facility decides that they want to move forward with digital transformation, the benefits will continuously fly in. Digital transformation increases productivity while reducing labor costs by automating maintenance schedules, minimizing asset downtime, and managing a plethora of previously manually-tracked services in the cloud. 

While each industry can find comfort in digital transformation, industries such as manufacturing and healthcare are seeing immense changes post-implementation. According to ITIC, 86% of manufacturing firms state that a single hour of downtime in their systems or hardware can cost at least $300,000. Furthermore, McKinsey suggests that up to $250 billion of current US healthcare expenses (20% of total expenditure) is available for virtualization. Consumer trends have shifted since the pandemic, continuously leaning toward a digital future. By adopting digital transformation within the workplace, enterprise institutions improve external customer relations, increase sales, and expand their internal offerings to create a forward-thinking environment. 

How Can Facility Managers Plan for Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation may seem like a sweeping change for any enterprise facility manager. Although it takes training, dedication, and continued innovation, many resources are available to make this transition easier, including implementing logistics software such as Intra. Through our Intra Enterprise workgroups, our team has identified key pain points of facilities managers and, in turn, created a digital solution. Our Intra Enterprise workgroups include Mail & Parcel, Asset Logistics, Document Services, and Workplace services, all of which have unique digital capabilities centered around your organization’s efficiency and growth. So, how do we play a role in digital transformation? The cloud. According to Microsoft, the layman’s definition of the cloud is “the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.” As a result of cloud intelligence use, organizations can scale their technology accordingly, all while improving efficiency across the board and creating a strategy for future expansion.

For software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms such as Intra, cloud computing provides the benefits of expert assistance on a centralized server, specifically the software company managing and hosting the system, rather than companies having to buy the software outright. This also allows for a software subscription model to meet the changing needs of your business. Below are some of the many benefits that digital transformation offers for companies: 

Improved Facilities Efficiency

Implementing a digital transformation strategy can be time-consuming upfront, but the efficiencies it grants your business far outweigh the initial cultural switch. Utilizing FM software, access to assets, visitors, and facilities needs are at the tip of your fingers. For example, our Asset Logistics Workgroup helps you manage all assets proactively, monitoring their lifecycles and conducting preventative maintenance. Furthermore, our Workplace Services Workgroup allows for configurable forms, visitor tracking, and more to ensure your facility runs as efficiently as possible. 

Advanced Security Measures

One of the most important reasons for digital transformation is improved security measures. Unfortunately, outdated systems and a lack of modern security can make for a dangerous combination. Currently, only 5% of companies’ folders are adequately protected, and on average, every employee has access to 11 million files. Furthermore, small enterprise organizations are three times more likely to become the victim of a cyberattack, meaning the time to act is now. By storing files in a secure cloud software rather than allowing them to sit dormant waiting for a cyberattack, your team can feel confident in storage and compliance measures. 

Modern Sustainability Efforts

Sustainability for the future workforce has become an integral part of company strategy, which is not set to slow anytime soon. According to Gartner’s 2022-2023 poll regarding CEO strategic business priorities, sustainability reached 9th place. Although this may not seem like much, this is the first time sustainability efforts have ever cracked the top 10, as companies realize sustainability leads to business efficiency and growth. Platforms such as Intra provide companies with the means to lower their carbon footprint through operational costs across their facilities, including HVAC and energy efficiency, asset maintenance and recycling, and more. 

Let SCLogic Lead Your Digital Transformation Strategy

As facility managers, we know that strategizing for and obtaining an additional budget can be difficult. For many outdated facilities, the lack of communication amongst departments results in a stagnant workplace and minimal innovation. We’re here to change that. FMs play a vital role in any enterprise organization’s success. Working collaboratively with decision-makers to adopt a digital transformation strategy is one of the best things you can do. With over 25 years of working with industries and organizations of all sizes, we know what a difference digital transformation can make, and we can’t wait to see you grow. To see how SCLogic can help your team, email [email protected] for more information on our workgroups or schedule a demo with one of our team members today.