When it comes to your facilities workflow solutions, understanding the effectiveness of your products and services can feel challenging. While your current processes may be getting your team by, it is important to evaluate how well your team is served. Understanding gaps in your existing workflow solutions provides a clear pathway for discovering solutions that will improve efficiency and ultimately increase revenue for your department. This analysis goes beyond your current solution’s daily and short-term capabilities but focuses on the long-term usability and benefits offered. Here, the team of in-building logistics software experts at SCLogic discusses ways to evaluate your facilities workflow solutions through components including scalability, data and analytics, configurability, and more. 

Discuss Scalability of Department & Research Options

Scalability is a term you probably hear thrown around a lot. Essentially, scalability is the ability for a system, in this case, your current facilities workflow solutions, to handle additional work and resources with ease. Almost any business or university’s goal is to continue growing and expanding, furthering their offerings, and supporting their employees and students as best they can. If you currently have a solution that doesn’t emphasize the importance of scalability, the system may work for now but will likely cause issues in the long run. For example, if you are a mailroom or central receiving manager at a growing university, the influx of students and faculty can be difficult to handle with an outdated system. Excessive maintenance, software malfunctions, and storage or usability caps result in time taken away from your team and unhappy students and faculty. The same holds true for office managers or asset managers handling many workplace requests and inbound packages for businesses.

Working to proactively make changes and implement a new system that can handle your company’s growth will allow for less frustration among your team, time and money saved by reducing maintenance costs, and an easier transition for employee adoption since your team will not be forced into a new system immediately due to faulty software. At SCLogic, our development, integrations, and technical services teams keep scalability at the forefront. With each version of Intra that we release, we listen to our customers’ needs, frustrations, and desires to provide the perfect solution. When you purchase Intra, you can feel confident knowing that our software was built to handle exponential growth with ease.

Dive into Data & Analytics Offerings

One thing that reigns supreme when it comes to decision-making is data. Concrete metrics, detailed analyses, and data-backed strategy set your team apart when requesting additional budget, growing your customer base, or considering new partnerships. Data metrics were not prioritized for many outdated software platforms, resulting in little to no information that your team can use for long-term strategy. If your team currently has internal KPIs in place and/or external SLAs with outside partners, being able to measure the efficiency of your daily workforce and identify gaps in workflows is essential. For example, if your mailroom receives thousands of packages a day, and you’ve seen an increase in lost or misplaced packages, having metrics from which carriers these packages are coming from and where they have been delivered can help you pinpoint the problem and adjust accordingly. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if your mailroom has been excelling lately, having metrics showing your team going above and beyond is an excellent incentive for stakeholders to allocate additional budget to help you excel and grow. That is why our team has perfected our Intra analytics dashboard, configurable for your organization’s unique needs. Monitor a myriad of internal and external factors surrounding your facility, manage requests, and improve efficiency, knowing that you have extensive oversight of your team’s daily workflows.

Monitor Customer Support Options & Availability

While this point is often overlooked, customer support is one of the most important resources to consider. You may have a software platform equipped with all the “bells and whistles,” if you will – sleek, modern, and successful from the outside, but what happens when trouble arises? Many software platforms offer some form of customer support in your initial purchase, but this often ends after installation, and you are left speaking to a robot or representative with little to no knowledge of who you are. In the event that your software malfunctions, your handheld scanners break, or your team is struggling to create an optimal setup for your everyday workflows, wouldn’t you want to speak with someone who has personal and direct knowledge to help? When you decide to become a SCLogic customer, you become equipped with a team of facilities workflow experts, ready to handle all your specific needs. Each of our technical services and integrations specialists has fostered meaningful relationships with businesses and universities across the country and maintains those relationships through calls, video meetings, and even in-person visits to ensure satisfaction. Don’t believe us? Get an inside look at our team for yourself, headquartered right in Annapolis, Maryland!

Consider Experience & Adaptability of Software Provider

This may seem straightforward, but when evaluating your facilities workflow solutions, consider the experience and adaptability of your software provider. Software development is a booming field and will only continue to grow in the coming years. With a consistent improvement in technology offerings, there will be thousands of software development and facilities management companies vying for your attention, and it may be difficult to distinguish which one is best for you. When choosing the right solution, you want to look at companies with specific experience in your sector. That way, they are incredibly familiar with the pain points you face daily and the solutions you may be looking for.

Additionally, a long-standing company with an innovative mindset is a great choice to work with. It shows that they have a history of adaptability and success in adjusting to trends and remaining lucrative. At SCLogic, we have over a quarter-century of experience in the facilities management realm and work with organizations in various industries, including higher education, food and beverage, manufacturing, government, and more.

Understand Configurability is Key

When working in software development, configurability is a crucial component of extending the lifetime of your software offerings. Configurability, in simple terms, is the process of making your software flexible and adaptable, helping you navigate changes in the fluctuating world of technology with ease. If your current facilities workflow platform is through a large software development company, while it may be filled with features, likely, it is not very configurable. Because of the size of many software development companies, their ability to work with customers to craft a solution for their unique needs is limited, thus hindering your team if there are gaps in your platform that are not customizable. At SCLogic, we have the advantage of our company size being under 100 employees while still working with internationally recognized brands such as Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, and more. Because of our size, we can give individualized attention to each customer, working with your team to configure the perfect solution. Our Intra facilities workflow platform was created with configurability in mind, and our offerings express that. We’ve even created workgroups and optional workflows to meet your team’s needs with confidence.

Evaluate Your Options & Consider Working with SCLogic

We understand that finding the proper facilities workflow solution can be an arduous task. No matter the size of your business or university, your needs are constantly changing, and you deserve a facilities management solution that will pivot and adapt with you. At SCLogic, we have a team filled with experts ready to craft your ideal solution and foster relationships for years to come. When you work with SCLogic, you’re joining a family of people passionate about facilities management who make it our mission to help our customers see success each day.

—Interested in learning more? Email [email protected] or schedule a demo with one of our team members today! We look forward to working with you.