In the current era, where facilities management is running

at a fast pace focusing on changing business strategy and environment, emphasis on the framework to create and adopt business and support model; technology is a key business enabler. Having said that, what is even more important is choosing the right technologies.

However, with the numerous systems and software available in the market today, this is easier said than done. But one FM company seems to have got it right.

Being one of the top FM companies in the region with over 14,000 employees delivering various services across the country to clients through 1000+ contracts, Ejadah business strategy always focused on smart and effective methods to be productive, innovative and result oriented.

In this age of technology-driven FM, Ejadah understands that a successful facilities management company is one that chooses the right technology and takes its full leverage to drive operational efficiencies and return on investment (ROI). Through a thorough testing process and by working closely with all stakeholders, the company has developed the right mix of technologies to help it deliver quality services to clients. 

“Based on the results that we have acquired I can confidently say, having the right talented team and scalable technologies helps in support expansion, faster mobilization and support distributed and mobile operations, and on the same time enable us curating sustainability commitment toward our community and clients” says Tarek Al Assil, Executive Director – Commercial, Ejadah Asset Management Group.

He further explains “The important part is to perform a thorough feasibility study, especially when the investment is big and ROI is on the edge. It is essential that you are selecting the right solutions for your business model and client requirement while being aware of other technologies solutions in the market”

As a technology-based company, the use of innovative systems and solutions has always been part of Ejadah's plan to provide efficient services to its clients. "And that's invariably based on the use of the right technologies," says Assil. 

It's a plan that has helped the company overcome the challenges of the pandemic and realise benefits and rewards across various levels of the business, from recruitment to development plans. 

“We could proudly say that having the right technology in place was a turning point during the pandemic. Our corporate employees were able to work from home because of the readiness of our cloud infrastructure and the agility of our IT ecosystem without any service interruption. We also could utilize the data collected from our systems to control our manpower resources and optimise our costs. The key to right resource management during the pandemic was to effectively utilize our resources and follow all protocols. Our resource and workforce management system enabled us to take better decisions on our staff deployment plans and rotations. It also allowed us to stay on top of the quarantine requirement by always keeping a live track at all times. Data insights allowed our team to provide a real-time update to clients and management so we could overcome the pandemic challenges with minimal impact” says Assil. 

“We use a bundle of technology tools and solutions that facilitate the delivery of our services to clients. Our operational technology stack includes world-class CRM, CAFM, Robots, IoT, and smart meters that are extended to our customers who can view the performance of their assets and monitor the contractual SLAs & KPIs. Even when a third-party vendor is involved, it is imperative that the team is involved in all the details to make sure any software launch or upgrade meets the needs of the clients or business which will not be possible without collaborated teamwork of all functions tailoring the right solution for every process” remarks Assil 

Data systems and analytics form a part of the technological mix that plays a key role in the decision-making process. “Our productivity relies severely on data lakes, data collection and tracking tools such as task lists, call center systems, CAFM systems, etc... They allow us to improve productivity, enhance the effectiveness of the physical resources we use, and add value to the services we offer to our clients. It is all about collecting and structuringthe right data and making use of it in decision making and service excellency.” says Assil. 

However, when it comes to technology extended to clients, one of the biggest challenges is convincing clients to use new software and solutions. What works in such instances is demonstrating its benefits through case studies and guaranteeing a return on investments.

Clients are always looking for a certain criteria when looking into any new technology, data protection and security is one of the essentials today, while the best practice based solution and plug and play model are defining the timeline and efficiency factors of the feasibility study to present how ROI is attained. 

Nevertheless, there is a gradual increase in clients looking to implement technologies for cost savings after the pandemic. “Clients have seen the edge they can gain with the right technology in place, they can optimise both operation costs and resources,” says Assil. 

Perhaps the roadblock for clients when accepting new systems has to do with software becoming obsolete with new technological transformations.

"Technology is evolving quickly. Implementations should be done in a shorter time. We've seen many examples in the market where certain technology takes years to develop but becomes obsolete within a year’s time. and lose the advantage. Hence, it's always about time," he says. 

But there are benefits that come with these rapid transformations – primarily the availability of a more advanced system. "Today, the average lifespan of new software is three years. So for example, you may have implemented a technology three years ago for a certain need, but you can now implement similar or more advanced technology, giving you the same result with 40% of that cost. which results in higher ROI, you get more done in less time with smarter technology and user friendly solution, which makes technology is the business performance enabler while FM industry leaders knows that the technology is definitely the way forward to sustain, ” Assil remarks. 

For Ejadah, success invariably comes with a continuous focus on improving both processes and systems. "We always test our processes, and we continuously work on upgrading our technologies to provide the right processes to prove the best value to our clients in terms of money meeting our SLA & KPI and enhance our customer satisfaction & NPS" 

Facilities Management has been using technological advancements for greater outcome: operational optimization, increase productivity, decrease in downtime and maintenance costs, improvements in the lifespan of assets and added value for the customer, However, the success mantra is simple – “The key to the successful implementation of technology is ultimately the team, and how well they work together towards the same goals," Assil concludes.

Ejadah developed a digital transformation roadmap covering all aspects, functions and processes that are holistically orchestrated and seamlessly integrated to achieve the organizational goals. Mahmoud Nasser, Senior Manager, Enterprise Business Applications and Information Technology, Ejadah, explains: 

"Our strategy was to enable best-in-class technologies to drive exponential efficiencies out of the existing business model and diversify Ejadah portfolio to higher margin services. Therefore, we envisioned a paperless model to deliver round-the-clock IT services to our stakeholders.

"One of the strategic decisions we took was to move early to the cloud which offered us many benefits including cost saving, better agility, higher performance and scalability. We review our IT Landscape regularly to adapt to latest technologies and apply a collection of security measures designed to protect our cloud-based infrastructure, applications, and data. 

"We have included IT initiatives that focus on the implementation of core platforms, the use of AI to deliver an autonomous operational model, the collection of data for a faster decision making, the digitization of all interfaces with customers, partners and employees. Because of this technological shift, Ejadah becomes a key differentiator in the market. 

"The technology outcomes exceeded everyone's expectations and overachieved the initial calculated ROI. 

"We noticed that we were able to manage volume transactions effectively with quicker turnaround time, lower the risks, improve the customer experience, and enhance the service quality. 

"While the digital transformation was a great first step, it was not enough. Systems integration was essential to connect our systems together to work as one IT system. Due to the system integrations, we were able to streamline business processes, access to real-time information, automate the flow of information from one system to another, to eliminate the inefficiencies caused by silo systems, and to fully leverage the investment in these systems and reap all benefits."