9 minute read
Continuing development to support the merger of FM and real estate with proptech software
James Massey has enjoyed a long career in the software and digital solutions supply side of the FM industry and shares his thoughts on this and how the industry can benefit in the future
With levels of appreciation of the benefits available from the correct application and use of software and digital solutions continuing to rise, MRI Software managing director for facilities management James Massey provides his views on the impact and expectations for proptech systems.
His career has spanned a number of roles in the supply of these systems, progressing from product consultant to chief operating officer (COO) and then managing director (MD).
“I started my career at Capita Software, which specialises in a variety of software solutions. I later moved on to social housing software specialist, Castleton Technology, where I was COO when it was acquired by MRI. And now my current position is MD – Facilities Management at MRI, putting me in a leadership role at a global level offering a broad suite of residential and commercial real estate software,” he explains.
“Throughout my career, the most critical challenges have revolved around evolving and steering strategic decisions – and ensuring stakeholders, partners, and customers remain centred in all decisions to ensure users enjoy a great experience or interaction with whichever software platform they have deployed and are using.”
He joined MRI Software in mid 2020, which was the timing of its acquisition of Castleton Technology.
“Through the acquisition, my role at Castleton shifted from COO to strategy director, specifically for the social housing sector, drawing on the wealth of knowledge and understanding of the market I had accrued in my previous position,” Mr Massey continues. “The key expectations of my initial role were to develop strategies for growing that area of the MRI business, contributing insights for ensuring customer satisfaction and longevity.”
Having established these, his career developed further when he was promoted to his current position. Mr Massey states that his leadership skills and other attributes developed through his former positions continue to support his new position and increased focus on the FM sector.
“Ultimately, my current role has a much wider focus with more of a responsibility for steering and integrating the entire FM team. In my role, I understand that decision-making has a lasting impact on the business – I need to take a view of MRI’s existing and future FM proptech offerings,” he continues.
“The spectrum of real estate covered by FM is wide and varied – whether we are talking about an office, an apartment block, a university campus, a stadium, a hospital, or a range of these properties within an investment portfolio – efficiently managing, maintaining, and ensuring safety at every property is critical.”
The company has enjoyed considerable expansion over the last two years, having completed 17 acquisitions – including that of FSI – which followed the 15 mergers completed in the two years prior to this.
Innovative minds
“Through these acquisitions, not only have we acquired diverse and innovative minds, but we’ve also expanded MRI Software’s product and service portfolio. Overall, the rapid growth of MRI has better enabled us as a company to deliver the best services, support, and solutions to our customers globally.”
Mr Massey further explains that the acquisition of FSI has proved to be significant both for the company and for him in particular.
“It was an important business move that, due to the pandemic, came at a critical time for the FM sector. Building safety, upkeep, cleanliness and the ability to track who was coming in and out were vital factors that both landlords and tenants have become keenly aware of.
“As far as how the changes within MRI have impacted my role, I firmly believe that when you buy a business, you buy the people. So managing the FSI team specifically so that they integrate with the existing MRI FM team and all come together to do their best work has become an important part of my job.”
One of the major trends emerging throughout both the FM and real estate sectors is the increasing demand from customers and users for better value from proptech systems.
“People want to get the best and the most out of their systems. That means whatever technologies a company deploys increasingly need to integrate and work together more effectively – a touchstone at MRI,” he says.
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“We also see a rise in the migration from enterprise solutions to microservice. People have realised that using multiple systems isn’t the best choice for their business because they aren’t integrated or communicating with each other in the way they need to be – hence the increasing demand for Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS).”
The reopening of facilities and growing numbers of staff attending these has created further demand for effective systems. “Now that facilities, offices, physical retail outlets, pubs and restaurants and other public spaces have opened with little-to-no restrictions, business owners are trying to figure out if the space they had pre-Covid meets their current needs or, ultimately, how they can maximise their space,” he continues. “FM teams are now playing a critical role in helping companies revolutionise the workplace for a fundamentally reshaped postpandemic working world.
Complete visibility
“For example, deploying proptech solutions like MRI’s OnLocation enables organisations to gain complete visibility of employees, contractors, service companies, and other visitors who might have a physical presence on their premises.
“This data can then be used to understand who, when, and how long people are on their premises, helping organisations to better gauge what is happening at their sites and maximise the potential of the location based on that data.
Many businesses were forced to rapidly accept and deploy remote technologies through Covid.
“Even as we return to having more people in the office and, in many cases, hybrid working arrangements, a lasting result across many industries is that the adoption of modern tech solutions will remain, as organisations need more ways to tightly manage, maintain, and monitor their properties,” says Mr Massey.
The new normal
There have been significant advances in proptech systems and he believes that the adoption of remote and modern technologies has gone too far not to continue to be embraced. The working world is unlikely go back to what they once saw as “normal”, he says.
“Regarding the direction it will go in, I think people are focused on forecasting – making intelligent decisions for the business through data and artificial intelligence.”
Mr Massey further explains how the merging of FSI enterprise-class FM software with the MRI Software brand has further increased both organisations’ ability to support FM teams across a range of industry sectors. Combining the two has resulted in FSI’s FM software being augmented by the comprehensive MRI overall solution portfolio, resulting in a raft of benefits for IWMS in particular.
“IWMS platforms ultimately help real estate and FM teams gain increased visibility and control over lease management, workplace operations, and financials.
MRI has redefined the traditional IWMS concept to improve long-term, strategic property and portfolio management with XWMS - an Extensible Workplace Management System.
“XWMS is a cloud-based platform designed to better serve the increasingly sophisticated and unique needs of real estate and FM managers. Together, the combined offerings further improve MRI’s ability to serve landlords, contractors, and tenants better, creating a single experience and better usability across all applications.”
He further states that the combined team now provides an expanded FM offering that enables property owners, operators and occupiers to improve building sustainability, data visibility, mobile connectivity, and tenant satisfaction to support a comprehensive building and workplace management approach.
Ensuring continuity
One of the most notable developments within this has been the creation of the MRI Software integration team, which is tasked with looking after acquired businesses to ensure continuity and that customers remain supported throughout the various changes and decisions resulting from their purchase.
“FSI was well-known for having a unique blend of industry expertise and technical know-how. This legacy and its power in the industry will remain – blended with MRI’s rich product portfolio and global partners,” Mr Massey continues. “MRI and my team will continue to develop and expand to ensure customers have the data and solutions they need to best support business operations.”
Having made the necessary changes and integrations within the business, he confirms that the majority of requirements have been addressed and an effective focus has been established. The team and products are fully integrated, the product is rebranded and being supported by a clear strategy and direction of where it needs to go and how it will be taken forward.
This will both assist and be further supported by the MRI drive to continue development of its broader ecosystem, bringing together more technologies to contribute to a shared service portfolio. This will see the further development of a system where everything is connected, open and accessible.
“MRI has a continued focus on real estate and associated business functions, with an intent to enable innovation for underserved markets, including FM solutions for social housing, which I have been passionate about throughout my career.”
Critical business solutions
Mr Massey continues: “We aim to drive value through even broader integration capabilities, automation, and artificial intelligence. This includes the integration of acquired and partner applications for critical business solutions; for instance, we are integrating energy management capabilities with FM to turn insight into action.
“MRI is intent on simplifying preventative maintenance, work orders, and maintenance requests through automation and intelligence. For example, the IoT hub within FSI enables the integration of FM software with smart building devices, creating greater access to data and driving smarter business decisions.”
Looking further ahead, Mr Massey states that the business is satisfied with its team and its investment and looks forward to continuing to innovate for the FM Industry. This is intended to further support its established and future customers with the best portfolio of solutions available.
“We will continue to work with our customers to help them integrate the entire workplace, enabling a connected, digital-first experience. FM teams are now playing a critical role in helping companies revolutionise the workplace in the post-pandemic world.
“Moving forward, we see real estate owners, occupiers, and operators adopting strategic FM technologies to support smart buildings and mobile capabilities,” Mr Massey concludes.
