Getting Results with Archibus

Space module (Archibus SaaS)

The Space module provides four areas of space and occupancy management

Note: Compared to the non-SaaS deployment of the Space domain, the Space SaaS module does not support:
1) workspace transaction-based space inventory
2) workplace chargeback (non-transactional)
3) Space Planning

Inventory

A listing of your employee offices, conference rooms, training rooms, kitchens, labs, reception areas, and so forth -- along with the service areas and vertical penetrations in which you cannot house personnel -- provides a wealth of information to space managers telecom, maintenance, Human Resources, and planning personnel. Additionally, knowing a floor's common areas and unclaimed area (remaining area) ensures space efficiency.

Your site may have already developed basic inventory and floor plans using Archibus Foundations. If not, you can do so with the views for the Smart Client and Smart Client Extensions, where you develop floor plan drawings and outline each floor's gross areas, vertical penetration areas, service areas, and rooms (at various levels of detail). Once a basic room inventory is developed, the facility manager assigns space to departments. As departments expand and contract, their space needs change and reallocation is required. Additionally, the space inventory must be maintained as companies expand and take on more space.

Chargeback

Whether an organization owns its building or leases space in a building, they will find that space is expensive and that it is a major factor in the operating budget. To ensure efficient use of space, many organizations internally bill departments for the space that they occupy as well as their share of the floor’s or building’s common space. This process is known as chargeback.

When department managers are internally billed for their use of space, they are more apt to reduce wasted space and use their own space efficiently. With all department managers cognizant of space costs and usage, space efficiency typically improves throughout the entire organization and space costs are reduced.

Occupancy

Adding employees to a space inventory enables you to produce occupancy plans, employee headcounts, and inventories of employees by site and building. This information is vital for locating vacant offices that can be used by contract workers or new employees and for visually understanding how employees and departments are situated on the floor.

An accurate personnel inventory also helps space managers to maximize space efficiency and plan for future growth or reduction by answering such questions as: Are our offices used to capacity? How many vacant offices do we have? Should we consider consolidating this space? What is the average are per occupancy? Is this in line with our standards? Does this employee have a satellite location?

Moves

Effective move management can have a significant impact on your organization’s business strategy and bottom line. It is essential that moves happen quickly and correctly to avoid delays, downtimes, and inefficiency. The move features provide an automated collaborative process that makes it easy to manage and execute the entire move project, resulting in reduced move-related downtime for your organization.

The move features are primarily aimed at “box moves," in which office contents are packed into boxes and moved to another office. The module helps move managers to:

Space Mobile Apps

If your site has implemented the Archibus Space Book mobile app or the Archibus Space & Occupancy Survey mobile app, facilities staff can access key building data and floor plan drawings on their mobile devices and smart phones. Likewise, your site can elect to run periodic space audits in which space surveyors in the field use their smart phones to compare inventory to real-life space use and record the discrepancies.

In addition to using the mobile apps, general staff can access space and occupancy information using Archibus Workplace, available from a desktop, kiosk, or mobile device.

Summary

Space SaaS Module

Location

Archibus SaaS

  • Space module
Space Inventory

Business Result

An accurate accounting of all space usage, including team space.

Department accountability for ownership and use of space.

A space inventory that follows a common corporate standard.

Industry-accepted values for the IFMA-defined Usable/Rentable ratio and Rentable/Usable ratio.

Identification of major cost-saving opportunities and recover unused space, which can ultimately lead to a smaller footprint.

Results/Reports

Building Performance Analysis report (Usable/Rentable and Rentable/Usable ratios)

Room lists

Rooms by Building and Floor

Rooms by Division and Department

Room by Category and Type

Room Categories and Types by Floor, by Department,

Room Standards by Floor, by Department

Room Standards by Department

Department by Floor

Departmental Stack Plan

Department by Floor

Remaining Area report

Allocation, Trends, and Benchmark reports

Department Stack Plan

Space Dashboard

Occupancy

Business Result

Linked HR and facility management data.

Identification of an employee's primary and satellite location.

Space use by departments based on employee occupancy.

Time-based trends in occupancy and vacancy.

Visualization of over-utilized and under-utilized space

Management of many types of occupancy models (permanent seats assignments, hotdesking, alternative workplace strategies).

Results/Reports

Employees by Location, by Division, by Department, by Standard

Employee Average Area by Room Category, Type, Standard

Employee Departmental Analysis by Department, by Floor, by Location

Locate Employee

Highlight Occupiable Vacant Rooms

Available Rooms

Occupancy Plan

Moves
Business Result

Improved move project management and move execution as a result of better communication and coordination between general staff, IT, facilities, movers, telecom staff, and others involved in moves.

Reduction of disruption to the business as a whole.

Improved overall employee satisfaction resulting from a smoother move process.

Reduction of the complexity, risks, time, downtime, and costs associated with box moves.

Churn rates and other move statistics.

Results/Reports

Move Statistics by Organization, by Location

Move Statistics Chart

Move History

Move Statistics Dashboard

Chargeback

Business Result

Fully automated internal recharge system that saves administrative time

Chargeable area and cost data calculated automatically and grouped by operational unit.

Greater awareness of space cost, and thereby improvements in efficiency, because costs are passed onto departments.

Data on shared common (prorated) area .

Reports/Results

Detailed Chargeback Analysis

Financial Statements by Division

Prorate

Remaining Area

Exception Reports

  • Rooms with Department and Prorate
  • Rooms with Neither Departments nor Prorate
  • Vertical Penetrations with Department or Prorate
  • Mixed Inventory in Prorate Area

The main users of the Space module are:

User

Tasks

Financial Manager

Cost Center Manager

Distribute cost of space to divisions and departments.

Consider space costs in budgets and decision-making

Department Manager

Consider space costs in budgets and decision-making.

Understand the space allocated to their department, how this changes over time, and its cost.

Use self-service request forms to request individual moves and group moves.

Use self-service request forms to claim and release space.

Locate employee offices on floor plan drawings.

Maintain employee data.

Assess how employee locations change over time.

Form teams for specific projects.

Request moves.

Receive notification of the status of moves as they progress.

Act as an approving manager for move involving their staff.

Track department's churn rate by reviewing the “Churn Rate by Department” report.

Facility Manager

Enter basic employee data, or import it from a Human Resources database.

Review space chargeback amounts and verify that space is correctly assigned to departments and divisions.

Service Desk Manager Configure processes (also known as Service Level Agreements or SLAs) that manage the workflow for space-related requests and rules governing how workspace is allocated when employees occupy and vacate rooms.
CAD Specialist Develop floor plan drawings with gross area, vertical penetration, service, group, open plan, room, and/or workstation areas. This is the first step in getting started with a space inventory.

Space Manager

Maintain a space inventory developed by a CAD Specialist.

Manage and fulfill space requests from users throughout the organization.

Track and modify all pending workspace transactions.

Track changes in space assignment over time.

Locate vacant offices when planning for future space needs.

Manage team spaces within an alternative workplace environment.

Space Planner

Plan for future space needs and support constantly changing demands for space.

Use the analysis reports and trending reports to support critical space and portfolio decisions, such as identifying opportunities for consolidation, re-organization, and reconfiguration.

Implement alternative workplace strategies, such as hoteling, team rooms, and work-from-home arrangements.

Move Requestor

Use self-service tasks to request a move.

Practices vary between sites, but typical move requestors are:

  • department managers requesting moves for new hires to their departments, as well as departures from their departments
  • Human Resources personnel requesting rooms for new hires or departures (if not handled by the department manager)
  • department managers requesting moves to accommodate promotions or reorganization within their department
  • IT staff requesting old equipment to be moved to storage
  • division or business unit managers responsible for implementing large-scale company reorganizations
  • facilities managers and move coordinators responsible for overseeing a move to a new facility or merging staff after an acquisition

These users  initiate the move by entering a request into the Moves system, specifying the current and new locations and special notes about the move. If they have access to the Archibus Workplace they can do this directly from their smart phone or mobile device.

Receive email informing them as to whether the move request has been approved or denied.

Move Coordinator

Request large-scale moves due to corporate reorganizations and mergers.

Enter details about a requested move.

Estimate the cost of the move

Detail the execution of the move with specific actions for craftspersons to follow.

Route a move request for approval, or auto-approve the move request.

Issue moves.

Monitor move orders while they are in process

Complete move order details such as information on specific action items, actual hours spent on the move, completion date, and special notes.

Analyze churn rates.

Data and Voice Coordinators

Manage the voice network and data network aspects of a move.

Confirm that network access is established.

See Also

Space SaaS Module Overview