An integrated workplace management system (IWMS) is a solution that helps asset managers, facility managers, IT departments, and top management to create, monitor, implement, and track solutions that help organizations improve their day-to-day proceedings & maintenance tasks. With most employees preferring the remote work culture, IWMS vendors are unsure whether the work from home culture will restrict their growth. The post-pandemic era has forced organizations to primarily focus on providing a hygienic and safe environment for accommodating employees. However, the uncertainty of the market has resulted in IWMS vendors focusing more on their remote working capabilities rather than real-asset features. The two main factors that will boost the global IWMS market are:
The focus on creating, maintaining, and improving organizational culture: One of the key focus areas of the management is creating a unique working trend. Be it a horizontal work culture by Facebook, slides on YouTube, or the no-reason leave facility offered by LinkedIn & Netflix, organizations always work on creating a unique work culture to attract a talented workforce. Although several digital spaces have played a significant role in maintaining organizational culture during the pandemic, it has failed to include every individual. Rating institutions have complex parameters to certify organizations and analyzing the inclusiveness of the work culture is one of them. This has forced organizations to recall their employees back to the office, even if it is just for two or three days a week. The importance of work culture for maintaining the organization’s status and the focus of the management to preserve and develop it, will positively impact the global IWMS market.
Cognitive Factors: A human is a social animal and works best in contact with other humans. During the pandemic, the work-from-home culture has isolated people, resulting in a range of mental health issues even experienced employees face. The problems of technical discrepancies, lack of efficient communication tools, and the human need for socializing have resulted in many employees demanding their management to work from the office. Also, close proximity with the team enables the management to efficiently collaborate with the team and easily monitor their work progress, which is difficult to achieve with the WFH model. The increasing stress and the feeling of loneliness by employees are some of the major reasons why organizations have resumed work from the office, which, in turn, is driving the IWMS market.
Vendors in the market are concerned as several organizations have shelved their physical operations owing to the prevalence of the WFH culture. However, excessive investments by established organizations in purchasing physical assets and the complexity of lease agreements have forced organizations to utilize their organizational space to the fullest capacity. These reasons have forced established as well as SME organizations to start working from the office in the post-pandemic era, which subsequently drives the demand for IWMS solutions.
Owing to the above-mentioned factors, analysts at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions believe that vendors need not worry about the WFH culture negatively impacting IWMS, as this trend is temporary, and the demand for IWMS offerings will continue to rise in the coming years.
Author
Nikhilesh Naik is an analyst at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions tracking global markets in the Enterprise Software domain.
