For the past several months, the buzz on the street has been about new technology that will greatly influence the discipline of facility management (FM). The fact is, the buzz isn't just about technology-it's about a convergence of facilities with information technology (IT). There has already been a convergence of telephony and data; not long ago, corporations had separate telecom and data processing departments. These days, convergence has caused both of those disciplines to fall under IT. Will the same thing happen to FM?

The short answer is both yes and no. Yes, because many facets of facilities will rely heavily on technology, and IT is responsible for that. Convergence between the two is inevitable here. No, because unlike telephony, much of what happens in facilities involves complex expertise and domain knowledge that IT does not have (nor will it ever want to).

A comparison with human resources (HR) may clarify this point. HR systems rely heavily on IT, not just using IT's data storage and networks, but integrating HR's information into the ecosystem of the corporation-this thing called the Enterprise. This partnership between HR and IT still leaves HR with all of the expertise and domain knowledge about managing human resources-something IT will never have.
So, what should facility professionals do? It is critical for them to understand how their roles will change, which part will become more important, and which part will disappear as technology and other people take over certain functions.

The things that will gain importance in the future are domain knowledge, experience, an understanding of customer's needs, and the provision of services-basically, all functions that require a human touch. What will disappear are any laborious tasks, particularly those activities that add little real value and can be more effectively accomplished by some form of technology driven automation system. Examples are asset tracking, maintenance systems, predictive and analytical systems, and almost anything that deals with a large quantity of information or things. Of course, the creation, programming, operation, and value extraction of these automation systems is another matter.

So, how about changing roles? Humans deal with change much better if they can somehow control it. As an example, most people feel better about resigning from one job to change to another position than if they were fired and forced into the change. Regardless, the end result is the same.
Consequently, facility professionals must learn the circumstances and trends changing around them, so they can "resign" from the old ways of doing things that are not applicable in the new model on the horizon. This is re-creating the role of facilities professionals.

The trends that will affect the FM discipline will come from many angles, each in itself may be strong enough to necessitate a change in approach, but in combination, the effect will be nothing short of dramatic and far reaching. So, let's look at the elements of change.

Connectivity.
A few years ago, the only way to tie facilities together was to use dial-up technology. Today, all facilities can be connected, even the most remote buildings in the middle of nowhere. Better still, connectivity is practically free these days. Connectivity inside the facility is also a norm, so users are presented with an incredible amount of instant information on how facilities are behaving. Connectivity also enables integration of disparate systems into a single homogeneous view of the facility; this consolidated view is very valuable to the Enterprise.

Wireless.
Technologies from many different wireless areas provide everything facilities need, from low- to high-bandwidth, short- to long-range, and low- to high-power. Soon, very small RFID devices will enable asset tracking like never seen before. Wireless will also change how FM professionals and facility operators/engineers manage buildings with a totally mobile set of tools (PDAs, Blackberries, WiFi laptops, and so on).

Standards.
A vast amount of devices and information is useless unless facility professionals can capture, transfer, store, analyze, and look at them in standard ways. The success of the Internet was brought about through standards such as the ubiquitous TCP/IP. Despite what some say, there will never be one standard for everything. In fact, just like the Internet, numerous standards will be required, and many organizations are now working on standards today in the FM space.

Cheap Computing.
Computing, both on the PC side as well as with intelligent devices and the network infrastructure side have followed Moore's Law* long enough. Within the next few years, the cost of wireless devices (such as asset tracking RFID) and the supporting infrastructure will be so low that they can be embedded in all manner of objects: chairs, equipment, phones, pens, plants, and anything else imaginable.

Web Browser.
The combination of these factors brings about an entirely new user experience. A user can get a standard piece of almost free software, type in a URL and maybe a password, and have access to relevant information from anywhere in the known universe. Given that the information is well organized, the power and effect of this trend is an absolute game changer.

In the next few years, the FM professional will urgently need to understand these technology changes, and maybe more. Each of these areas will become mainstream in a very short period of time-technology evolves at an incredible pace.

There is one last very significant point to be made here. Just 10 years ago, eBay, Amazon.com, and Google did not exist. These entities were formed by creative individuals who understood not only the technology, but more importantly the opportunities that technology provided. Looking ahead another 10 years, it's a safe bet to say there will be dominant FM players that do not exist today, and their entry to the space will be facilitated not only by technology, but by being able to use the technology.

Evolution is all about the adoption of change in order to survive. Will the FM profession change as it needs to do? All the pieces are in place today for what FM will be in the future.

*According to webopedia.com, Moore's Law is: "The observation made in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted this trend would continue for the foreseeable future. In subsequent years, the pace slowed down a bit, but data density has doubled approximately every 18 months, and this is the current definition of Moore's Law, which Moore himself has blessed. Most experts, including Moore himself, expect Moore's Law to hold for at least another two decades.

Budiardjo is the president and CEO of Clasma, Inc., a marketing and event planning company whose primary focus is providing professional services to the full spectrum of the building systems industry. Clasma, Inc. produces the BuilConn Forum, a four-day forum uniting professionals from the building systems industry to learn and discuss the trends, technologies, and their applications for tomorrow's intelligent and integrated buildings. For more on BuilConn, visit www.builconn.com. Budiardjo can be reached at antob@clasma.com.