Integrated facilities management (IFM) continues to represent the fastest-growing segment of the European FM industry, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.
It says the industry will continue to move toward service integration and sophisticated advisory services focussed on business productivity.
While European clients are demanding added value and innovative solutions, with areas such as workplace management, sustainability, data analytics, and energy management all growing in popularity, multinational companies are likely to be challenged by national FM vendors moving into IFM and heightened merger and acquisition activities.
“The European IFM market is yet to see full consolidation. However, this will change in the next few years as firms add to their service capabilities by building hard FM skills and moving towards more integrated offerings,” said John Raspin, Partner at Frost & Sullivan.
To survive and thrive in this highly competitive market, Frost & Sullivan says IFM companies need to embrace key market trends, including:
- Cloud-hosted analytics to drive remote management for technical services and preventative maintenance;
- New business models such as anything-as-a-Service (XaaS) models to utilise technology to shift from CAPEX to OPEX;
- Social and demographics changes such as technology, labour force, and workforce change management to increase value creation;
- Industry Mega Trends such as industrial internet of things, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and intelligent robots to transform IFM services across Europe in terms of service delivery options and customer behaviour.
“Commercial multinationals have long taken the lead in reaping the benefits of IFM,” added Raspin. “With lessons learnt from the commercial market, industrial multinationals are expected to increase their presence in this market whilst also bringing new, challenging demands for vendors.”
