Getting Results with Archibus

Advanced Forecasting

Simplifying complex portfolio planning, review, and quantitative analysis of plans is an ongoing challenge for real estate professionals. Making those tasks easier requires advanced decision support tools to craft, communicate and support high ROI strategic portfolio planning. Archibus Advanced Forecasting provides the capabilities needed for assessing baseline conditions, forecasting need, proposing alternative planning scenarios, and evaluating the complex tradeoffs involved over the typical three- or five-year portfolio planning periods. These tools are especially critical for enterprise-scale initiatives that include reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, onshoring, offshoring and other activities that have enterprise-wide financial ramifications from a portfolio perspective.

With Advanced Forecasting, planners can manage detailed costs associated with portfolio management and cost administration while leveraging complete strategic space planning capabilities. Planners can build a forecasting model by allocating floor area to organizational groups over various time periods and viewing these allocations on a stack plan. This model provides a top-down view of space use.

Once planners allocate space under various scenarios, they can use the application's Cost Forecasting process to project the cost of the space based on actual building costs, such as rent and maintenance. Costs are then charged to organizational units based on their percentage of the overall building allocated area.

Note: Both Advanced Forecasting and Space Planning use the Space & Portfolio Planning Console. However, Advanced Forecasting is a super-set of the Space Planning application. It has everything found in Space Planning, plus the ability to develop a cost forecasting and chargeback system based on a building's real costs, cost breakdown charts to analyze costs and trace them to each line of business, and portfolio cost analysis reports to support decision-making. If a customer has Advanced Forecasting, they do not additionally need Space Planning. Users of Space Planning focus on building-scale planning rather than portfolio-scale planning,

Note: The Forecasting application also forecasts space needs. The Advanced Forecasting application has a greater scope than the Forecasting application and uses the Space & Portfolio Planning Console and more sophisticated stack plan technology. Forecasting users who want to upgrade to Advanced Forecasting can run a script to update their existing data to the format required by Advanced Forecasting. For information, see the V.22 Revision History, located on the Contents at Support Documentation / Revision History.

Advanced Forecasting
Location	Archibus non-SaaS Real Property / Advanced Forecasting Note: This is not available in Archibus SaaS.
Business Results	Multi-year, what-if scenario-based planning at any level of detail in a single, consistent graphical format. Structured information that supports executive decision making for space planning and master planning; the hard numbers needed to defend specific portfolio scenarios. Comparison of portfolio resources to business needs at different points in time to determine gap analysis. Annual cost projections by building with the ability to prorate these costs to business organizations based on the space forecast. Return on the capital invested in the real estate portfolio assets Historical cost allocations.
Used By	Executives Portfolio Managers Facility Managers Space Planners Move Planners
Reasons for Automating	Forecast space needs and propose alternative scenarios Quickly develop space reports and stack plans that provide data analysis and visualization necessary to support decision-making. Synchronize strategic and tactical planning – Develop a top-down strategic space planning, from the portfolio-scale through the city and campus scales, all the way down to the room level. Assess baseline conditions and historical cost allocation data. Deliver a multi-year space forecast with two or more different variations and evaluate the optimum solution. Visualize space allocation graphically - Easily drag-and-drop groups within a stack plan from one floor to another to complete space allocation plans Develop a cost forecasting and chargeback system based on a building's real costs. Provide portfolio cost analysis reports by business organization and building. Align the multi-year strategic plan for real estate to the overall business plan.
Related Applications	While Archibus Advanced Forecasting can be deployed on a standalone basis, applications that provide data are: Space Inventory – for defining rooms and groups, and reporting on all space usage Portfolio or Leases – for developing portfolio or lease data, suites, and costs Occupancy – for assigning and re-assigning people to rooms, and reporting space vacancy and availability
Results/Reports	Stack Plan Allocation Events by Location, Organization, and Date Portfolio Scenario Comparison Portfolio Forecast Department Analysis Portfolio Forecast Building Analysis Space Gap Analysis Chart Headcount Projection Chart Space Requirement Details Proposed Moves Cost Forecast Department Analysis Cost Forecast Business Analysis Scenarios output to PowerPoint presentations for review with key stakeholders and management
Applications Using the Results of this Application	Enterprise Assets -- for viewing capital project, capital assets, and space forecasts and needs in one integrated console Projects -- for executing proposed portfolio projects and tracking their work packages and tasks to completion Moves -- for executing group moves required by portfolio changes

See Also

Advanced Forecasting application overview