Best Integrated Workplace Management (IWMS) Systems

What are Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)?

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) organize, manage, and track workplace resources including real estate, workspaces, facilities, technology, and equipment with the goal of optimizing resource utilization. It is used by real estate professionals, facilities management, and IT departments.

This integrated solution centralizes information and consolidates the planning, scheduling, maintenance, and control of workplace assets to maximize their usage and value. IWMS data contributes to informed occupancy and space management decisions. Its analytics offer multiple scenarios to understand the impact of different planning options.

IWMS is used by building owners, operators, and construction managers for real estate capital project budgeting and planning. Working with building management systems, IWMS contributes to sustainability by helping to maximize the efficient use of energy and water resources.

IWMS’s workspace features helped businesses adjust to the pandemic’s impact on the workplace by accommodating health and safety issues and a hybrid workforce

IWMS Functional Components

IWMS solutions offer these modular components

• Real Estate and Lease management
• Facilities and Space management
• Maintenance management
• Capital Project management
• Environmental Sustainability management

IWMS Integrations

IWMS often include integrations with these systems.

• Enterprise Asset Management Software (EAM)
• Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
• Computer-Aided Design Software (CAD)
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Accounting Software
• Human Resource Software (HR)

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) Features

IWMS Shared Features

• Central repository for all data and documents including plans, approvals, budgets, schedules, assets, and vendors
• Customizable workflows
• Support for multiple types of company property
• Planning
• Strategy
• AI
• Analytics, dashboards, and reporting
• Project management
• Web-based
• Mobile apps

Real Estate and Lease Management Features

• Property Records including size, location, value, and occupancy information
• Lease administration and accounting
• Lease records including terms, start/end dates, owner, and lessee

Facilities and Space Management Features

• Floor plan modeling and visualization with CAD integration
• Personnel and equipment planning for workspace optimization
• Meeting space and desk management and scheduling
• Utilization metrics
• Needs analysis
• Equipment inventory and tracking
• IoT for occupancy data
• Move management

Maintenance Management Features

• Asset inventory - database includes location and ownership
• Parts Inventory
• Service requests
• Scheduling
• Predictive maintenance
• Maintenance history

IWMS Capital Project Management Features

• Budgeting
• Asset cost tracking
• Cost modeling and forecasting
• Lease and rental accounting and payment management
• Project management
• Construction planning, budgeting, and bidding
• Real estate portfolio management

Environmental Sustainability Management Features

• Energy and water management
• Monitoring and trend analytics
• IoT sensors for lighting, temperature, and ventilation management

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) Comparison

Consider the following when purchasing IWMS.

Use Case: Vendors offer a modular approach to IWMS deployment. In addition, the large functional modules are often broken down into smaller components for purchase, allowing a company to buy a subset of features. For example, only purchasing occupancy planning features from within a facilities management module or only purchasing the energy management features within a sustainability management module. This way a company can select only those functions and features they require.

Scale: Companies that have vast assets, multiple properties, and large or distributed workforces will especially benefit from an integrated workplace solution.

Pricing Information

Integrated Workplace Management Systems pricing is usually based on a monthly or yearly subscription fee. Vendors offer a modular approach to IWMS which allows buyers to select only those functions and features they require. This necessitates obtaining a vendor price quote. Free trials are sometimes available.