Our CEO Mats Broman spoke to i-FM this month about FM’s data overload, and how taking a building lifecycle approach and connecting data from all systems is putting an end to fragmented, inaccurate information.
Facilities managers don’t have a data problem. They have an insight problem.
Being in FM can sometimes feel like a circus act between juggling a growing number of responsibilities and learning new skills to deal with emerging challenges, while keeping building occupants, customers and senior stakeholders happy. The problem is that to do this, teams need information which is scattered across multiple systems – or even on paper.
With maintenance information in a CAFM, performance data in a BMS, contractor compliance documents stored on SharePoint and building floor plans filed in a drawer, it’s next to impossible to make a fast, accurate decision. The growing emphasis on sustainability, compliance and occupant wellbeing means FMs are starting to invest in a range of sensors to get the data to support this, further compounding the data fragmentation issue.
Recent research found 94 per cent of teams are relying on multiple disconnected platforms day-to-day, even though 76 per cent of FM leaders agree it’s their main source of operational inefficiency. That’s a remarkable figure, and one that will resonate with anyone working in the sector.
Engineers waste time searching for information instead of carrying out maintenance. Teams duplicate data. Different departments work from different versions of the truth. Valuable information becomes trapped in silos, making it difficult to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
Why CAFM integration only solves part of the problem
CAFM integration with systems like BMS, finance or space management software has historically been the answer to data accessibility, but even the most advanced systems are not designed to be an enterprise data hub. When it comes to sensor data, for example, the CAFM scans the feed for anomalies – readings outside of the set parameters – which then triggers a work order for investigation. What it cannot do is provide deep analysis across every operational data source or create a complete picture of how all that information relates to overall building performance. This is where BIM and digital twins are changing the game.
BIM’s second coming for FM
As an industry we’ve been talking about BIM for a good decade now. Not just as a tool for architecture and construction, but as a vital data source for FM in how to structure and share information from across the building lifecycle with any stakeholder. Having spent many years helping drive a data-centric approach to building management in Sweden through my work at SWG and with the Swedish BIM Alliance, I’ve seen first-hand the value that connected building information can deliver long after construction is complete.
Across the Nordics, the use of BIM is already widely established within facilities and property management. Organisations use BIM data to support maintenance planning, asset management and energy optimisation, creating a stronger foundation for data-driven decision making.
Why digital twins will follow a different path
The adoption of BIM data for operational building management arguably took time to establish itself in the UK, but I don’t expect digital twins to follow the same trajectory. FM will always be a risk-conscious industry, and understandably so. Organisations want to see evidence that a technology works before committing investment.
What’s different today is that digital twins aren’t starting from scratch. BIM has already helped organisations understand the value of digital building information, and that provides a strong foundation. Digital twins build on that foundation, bringing together data from multiple sources and turning it into something far more powerful: a live, operational view of the building. As a result, I believe we’ll see digital twins adopted much faster than BIM was, because the industry is already much further along the journey.
From information to insight
Once that information is connected, answers become accessible instead of siloed, data is no longer at risk of duplication, and technologies such as AI become significantly more powerful. AI allows facilities teams to interrogate information conversationally, identify trends, investigate recurring faults and uncover insights that would otherwise remain hidden.
Questions could be strategic – such as “which assets are developing faults most often and who is servicing them?” – or more operational, such as “the lift door won’t close properly, show me the steps to resolve this.”
Across large or multi-site estates, AI can also detect recurring failures in the same asset type, potentially identifying defective components or systemic operational issues much earlier. It may even identify that mean time between failures consistently drops after a particular contractor services an asset category, helping operators uncover supplier quality issues that would otherwise remain hidden.
Platforms such as Geminus, which we launched in April, bring this information together into a single building lifecycle management environment, integrating BIM, space management, IoT sensor feeds, CAFM platforms and live operational data sources into a connected, accessible view of building performance.
Turning data into action
The challenge facing FM isn’t a lack of data. In reality, the growing volume of information spread across multiple systems and being able to make sense of it is the real test for FM teams.
For organisations considering their next steps, the journey doesn’t begin with a digital twin. It begins with understanding what information already exists, where the gaps are, and how data can be connected to create a more complete picture of the estate.
BIM, digital twins and AI are often discussed as separate technologies, but their real value lies in helping facilities teams answer a simple question: what’s happening in my building, and what should I do next?
The organisations that succeed will be those that can turn information into intelligence, and intelligence into decisive action.
