The Emerging Market for Networked Applications

This is how it begins. At the end of September 2007, Microsoft announced its plans for something called Microsoft Office Live Workspace, a new service that will allow files to be shared online by combining Microsoft Office with a web based application. In doing so, Microsoft had revealed what it believed to be the future of technology, a vision of the future which relied on the convergence of desktop based software with online applications, a hybrid offering the best of both.

As is often the case, other firms such were also announcing the development of their own ideas based on the same principles. For example Google last year launched a product called Gears that allows developers to create web based applications that can be used offline. Google already offers Google Docs, an online word processor.

The impact of this new thinking will be profound. The past has been dominated by software that limits applications and information to a single desktop as well as limiting the number of people who have access to that information. The future will be profoundly different, marked by applications that take the best features of both desktop and web based software, opening information and applications up to a wider audience and tailoring software to individual needs.

This vision of the future is already apparent, but not only for giants like Microsoft and Google. Computer Aided Facilities Management systems that offer the same convergence of web based applications already exist; and others are evolving all the time.

Crucially, facilities management is one of the professions most likely to benefit from the new thinking because it often relies on the management of remote teams, frequently operating across a number of sites and is not inherently a deskbound job. Not only that, it also makes information accessible across the organisation, offering up crucial FM information at board level, informing strategic decisions and increasing the profile of the facilities manager within the organisation.

There are several web based CAFM applications in use that facilities managers can take advantage of. And one emerging idea that may transfer the way CAFM is used. Of the current applications, one of the most important technologies allows access to CAFM applications over the web via a secure login usually over a company network. This can be incredibly useful in a facilities management operation because it allows employees, many of whom may be remote on-site and working across a diverse, geographically disparate estate, access to information that otherwise would be restricted to a hard drive or server.
This can be especially useful when used in conjunction with handheld or mobile technology which allows instant access to information on asset management, work schedules, surveys, inspections and the tracking of jobs and employees. Such systems can also be integrated with GPS technology to add another level of sophistication.

The immediate benefits of such systems are very apparent. They are not only flexible in terms of how, when and where they are used, they are attractive in terms of scalability (the ability to embrace changing requirements in real time) and are also ideal for the integration of third parties into their reporting and management systems. On top of that, there are clear economies of scale in their use. The more people that use them, the better.

Even at this operational level there is invariably a measurable business case for the application of web based software. But where they really come into their own is their ability to generate information that is instantly and easily measured and understood by a wider audience. It is one of the most common frustrations for facilities managers that they do not have a greater say at board level about strategic decision making on issues that affect them, so the use of web based CAFM applications to generate information about the ways FM can add to the organisation’s bottom line can be vital in making their voices heard.

That is all existing technology, albeit that it keeps getting more sophisticated. However, there is one new area of development that is set to transform the way CAFM applications are procured and used and it too borrows from trends in the wider technology marketplace.

Software as a Service (SaaS) describes an emerging way of procuring software which relies on acquiring it over the internet rather than as a desktop application. Customers do not buy software to own but pay for the use of it. It is particularly attractive for buyers of certain types of business software such as CAFM because by its very nature complex business software tends to feature a wide range of applications and modules that may be of more or less use to a specific user. It improves levels of scalability, is inherently flexible, tailored to the needs of a specific organisation and offers the opportunity to control costs because users buy only what they need.

Over time, the current dominance of desktop-only applications, or even predominantly desktop-based apps, will decrease. We shouldn’t expect desktop applications to completely disappear in the very near future. But we should expect to quickly see the widespread use of hybrids which exploit the best features of web based and desktop applications.