Modern FM Strategy Links Facilities Tech Spending To Measurable Business Impact

For facilities leaders, perception is the biggest hurdle to securing technology investment. Many organizations still view facilities as a support service rather than a core operational system. This disconnect leaves teams managing buildings with increasingly complex systems, data, and risk, while they must justify foundational tools, even though those systems affect financial performance, customer perception, and operational continuity.

That’s the diagnosis from Marshall MacFarlane, Facilities Senior Project Manager at Bell Bank. An IFMA Fellow, MacFarlane has held a variety of facilities leadership roles at institutions such as the Town of Gilbert, Arizona, and the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He believes that many facilities teams are stuck in a reactive cycle not because they lack effort or expertise, but because their operating models haven’t kept pace with rising expectations and tighter budgets.

“A CMMS to a modern facilities organization is like Excel to your accounting department. But there’s still this misunderstanding that facilities just fixes toilets, so the need doesn’t land the same way," says MacFarlane. Even when teams recognize the need for better systems, organizations lack the time to properly evaluate technology due to understaffing, while procurement processes and IT policies add friction.

• Penny wise, pound foolish: “Low bids never end up saving money, and preventive maintenance is critical. It increases uptime and extends useful equipment life,” MacFarlane says, explaining that when procurement focuses on upfront price instead of lifecycle value, organizations often absorb higher maintenance, emergency repair, and replacement costs later.

• Find the root cause: “A good work order system can identify people, buildings, or problems that need more work,” MacFarlane says, explaining that when teams notice patterns such as repeatedly replacing the same blower belts, it prompts a deeper question about whether the issue is training, procurement, or system design rather than the part itself. At a more advanced level, he adds, “If you interface your building management system with your work order system, it will automatically create that work order,” allowing real time building events to trigger immediate action and shifting teams away from manual monitoring toward targeted, higher value interventions.

The value of facilities management technology grows with the organization, from foundational systems such as a CMMS to advanced solutions that enable full automation. Buildings are generating far more operational data than staff can realistically interpret. “A modern building might have 200,000 data points,” MacFarlane says, adding that no human can process that volume of information in a meaningful way. He describes modern facilities technology as a “force multiplier,” with AI analytics surfacing patterns and gaps, enabling teams to target resources rather than treating every asset the same.

• Follow the money: MacFarlane highlights the need to tie facilities performance to major cost drivers when advocating for resources. “The three biggest costs to an organization are often the buildings, the utilities, and the personnel,” he says, noting that facilities directly affect two and can influence the third. Framing requests around measurable financial impact helps leaders educate stakeholders and secure support for staffing, technology, and maintenance investments.

• Crisis as a catalyst: “When COVID happened, companies suddenly needed extra cleaning, stanchions, and new signage. It was our moment to shine because it highlighted the kinds of things we do in the background all the time that nobody knows about,” MacFarlane recalls, explaining that the pandemic pulled facilities out of the reactive shadows and into a central role coordinating health protocols and workplace operations. That shift reinforces a broader evolution, he adds, as “it’s changed from a fixing organization to a customer service function,” where everyday interactions, even routine temperature complaints, become opportunities to educate occupants, build credibility, and strengthen executive support.

The role of facilities managers is expanding beyond operations into broader organizational strategy, brand perception, and fiscal stewardship. As workplaces continue to evolve, building decisions increasingly shape how companies operate and how employees and customers experience the workplace. “The days of the big, giant office buildings full of cubicles are going away,” MacFarlane concludes. “New buildings will be different. I think people are still working through all of what that looks like.”