Page 46 - RC21 EDGE Summer Issue

Business Solutions
SPACE MANAGEMENT ANALYTICS:
WE HAVE THE DATA, NOW WHAT DO WE DO?
SRINI KHANDAVILLI
Director, Smart Building Solution Architecture Microsoft
I WAS PREPARING FOR a panel session on digital transformation strategies for corporate real estate, I considered how technologies in the space management/ IoT sub-vertical domain should evolve to meet owner/ end-user needs. I have been keenly monitoring vendors in this domain over the last three years and believe this vertical has a unique opportunity to provide positive business outcomes for corporate real estate globally.
If a corporation were to adopt a holistic space management strategy, they will not only be able to positively impact the effectiveness of their physical space but also enhance the well-being of occupants that reside in those spaces.
Broadly speaking, there are three distinct phases in a real estate asset lifecycle: design, build and operate. This article will focus on the operate portion (post-occupancy) of the lifecycle.
With the introduction of specialized hardware three to five years ago that accurately give desk level occupancy data (either via under desk or camera-based sensors), a whole new associated software segment of space analytics was born. As early hardware vendors matured, the majority of space analytics was provided via space mobile apps that aggregated data from the hardware sensors. With time, both hardware and app vendors progressed to provide the space analytics service. As shown in Figure 1, certain paradigm shifts made by vendors could greatly enhance the value generated for a business adopting these technologies.
Let’s first start with space analytics software service.
The challenge with most of today’s services is they are
not prescriptive enough—they typically give the owner just data and the actions are largely left up to the discretion
of managed outsourced vendors. Irrespective of who provides this service, the following aspirational goals for the service should include:
• To keep, front and center, the framework of occupant experience and by proxy, occupant productivity, in any proposed recommendations. For example, could we
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