Digital transformation & the FM industry

Organizations, FM included, have mixed experiences with DT. They face an overwhelming range of digital opportunities, and many attempts at implementation have fallen short of ambitions. Smaller firms have especially struggled. Organizations now expect FM teams to support organization-wide or lead specific DT efforts, which proves a challenge for many. DT impacts buildings’ role in value creation, affecting how FM companies organize operations and serve core organizations and end users.

Organizations within the FM industry face additional challenges. They need to overcome the long-term inertia and complacency prevalent throughout the industry.[7] Before the pandemic, studies identified that FM practitioners often had relatively low technological knowledge and were complacent about the profession's digital future.[8] Other studies pointed toward a fragmented industry that is locally orientated and regulated. Together, these limited broader technology investment and uptake.[9]

Continued complacency is no longer an option. End users expect digitally enabled, individualized, quick and efficient services — which they increasingly receive in numerous physical settings. The reluctance to integrate technology into assets and operations is falling, and technology uptake is catching up with other digitally enabled industries. A 2021 assessment of the PropTech sector identified 2,045 companies in 66 countries that raised US$12.05 billion from 1,809 investors.[10] The box below provides an overview of where global technology investments flow into the built environment.