Have you ever wondered how organizations manage their physical spaces and assets efficiently? One answer to this is through using computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) software. A part of facilities management software, CAFM systems have become increasingly popular in recent years.

Compare Top CAFM Software Leaders

What This Article Covers:

• What Is CAFM?
• CAFM vs. CMMS vs. EAM
• Primary Features
• Deployment Options
• Next Steps

What Is CAFM?

Computer-aided facilities management software is a solution designed to help plan everything for a building or facility, including almost every aspect of day-to-day operations. The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) defines it as the practice of coordinating physical workplace and facilities with the people and the operations of that organization.

It’s also sometimes used interchangeably with computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) , integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) and enterprise asset management software (EAM) software.

While it does have some functions in common with these other types of software, CAFM software has come to be its own niche of specialization and will offer slightly different features from CMMS, EAM or IWMS.

Computer-aided facility management systems offer the next-generation technological answer to an issue that’s as ancient as the idea of an office building, from daily administration of desk space and conference rooms to big-picture analysis, of whether current office space is meeting an organization’s business needs.

Compare Top CAFM Software Leaders

CAFM vs. CMMS vs. EAM

CMMS, EAM and CAFM are all software solutions that are used to manage assets and maintenance operations within organizations. However, there are some important differences between these systems.

A CMMS ‌primarily focuses on maintenance operations, including work orders, preventive maintenance and inventory management. Maintenance teams typically use CMMS software to track and manage maintenance activities, schedule repairs, and optimize asset uptime.

An EAM system, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive solution that covers asset life cycle management, including acquisition, maintenance and disposal. Organizations that manage many assets, such as utilities companies, manufacturing plants and transportation companies, typically use EAM software.

Finally, a CAFM system is a software solution that helps organizations manage their physical spaces and assets. You can use CAFM software to track space usage, manage building systems and automate facility management processes. Facility managers typically use CAFM systems to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Basically, CAFM technology combines business administration, behavioral science, architecture and engineering concepts to optimize the functioning of your organization. It’s a comprehensive commercial facility or building maintenance tool with many different facets and functions.

Key Features

CAFM software is a mix of CMMS, EAM and facility management software. While many functions and features overlap, here is a list of typical features that most CAFM solutions have.

Information Technology

Information is the core of CAFM. The main function that separates it from earlier versions of facilities management is that it utilizes CAD (computer-aided design) elements and visuals in combination with alphanumeric data processing.

As in many other branches of software, business intelligence tools and features that use data collection and analysis are becoming very popular in CAFM. This data-centric approach to business assists managers with data-driven decision-making to improve every element of your business.

CAFM uses CAD technology for a variety of capabilities. For example, interactive floor plans for real estate organizations allow potential buyers to walk through homes that aren’t even built yet.

Maintenance Management

Similar to CMMS, CAFM offers maintenance management abilities. Routine repairs keep assets operating at peak efficiency, and performing preventive maintenance keeps costs much lower than emergency repairs or even replacements. In addition to maintenance scheduling and support, CAFM systems provide asset monitoring modules to help users keep a close eye on asset conditions.

Your CAFM functions as an organizational database to store information on your facilities. This information includes everything from energy consumption, construction data, a list of floorplans, pertinent contact details, equipment located within a specific facility, fire and safety information, and more.

Instead of relying on paper files or Excel spreadsheets, you can store and organize this information neatly within the CAFM where you can use it later.

Other specific segments of CAFM tools use real-time data to aid in various types of maintenance. It can promote preventive maintenance, work orders and routine operational maintenance goals to optimize asset management.

This is where computer-aided facilities management gets used in conjunction with CMMS, as CMMS systems are generally built for evaluating various maintenance needs.

Physical Building Administration

One of the most popular and impressive core features of a computer-aided facility management system is its resource for handling the actual infrastructure inside the facility. For example, you can link many CAFM systems to HVAC equipment, lights and other infrastructure within the building.

Some of these features allow for remote management, where facility managers can set thermostats or turn window and door locks on and off remotely. Others offer automated meter reading and energy monitoring, so you know right away if something in your resource usage changes. This improves safety, saves money and helps the environment by reducing unnecessary energy usage.

Compare Top CAFM Software Leaders

Leasing and Real Estate Management

Computer-aided facility management tools look at property management, including leasing, to optimize the business use of commercial real estate. From daily activities like room scheduling or conference booking to long-term lease management, the right CAFM software can offer industry-specific property management functionalities.

Administrative Support

CAFM isn’t entirely focused on the down-and-dirty physical facilities and assets either. Facilities management software offers a range of administrative support capabilities that can help streamline office tasks as well.

You and your employees can use package and material tracking features to keep a close eye on anything going in or out of your facility. Whether that means purchasing and procurement, audit trails, hazardous materials transport, or shipments and deliveries, computer-aided facility management can help you manage it safely and seamlessly.

You can even use CAFM to manage your human resources as well. Many CAFM systems offer a traffic tracking feature to log visitors and create form templates for contractors to ensure everyone who’s inside your facility is supposed to be there! This has the added bonus of increasing security for your organization without additional cost.

Life Cycle Management

A major goal of CAFM is to help managers ensure that they’re fully utilizing their organization’s assets in the most cost-effective way throughout the asset life cycle.

Some features of CAFM systems help decision-makers consider long-term needs — for example, planning for capital improvements. The idea is that since the CAFM platform covers not only the building but everything in it, administrators can use it as a roadmap for all kinds of asset management and predictive planning. This can help save money, making facility operations happen more efficiently.

Asset Tracking

A wide range of industries use computer-aided facility management software for many different purposes. Some of the specific tools and functionality depend on the client’s industry and what kinds of assets are working in the facility.

CAFM tools contain asset tracking features to locate assets in transit or to know the accurate location of assets within the facility. Asset tracking in different fields can help you effectively control the overall use of a business facility and improve asset management.

Although most CAFM systems will offer the popular features mentioned above, many descriptions by the vendors themselves don’t specifically point out how these types of functionality can help a company.

Too often, they hide these essential features in jargon like “property management services and energy consumption features.” Simply put, CAFM solutions? help with day-to-day planning in real and practical ways.

When customers figure out that CAFM systems can come with these types of functionality, they’re often adopted with enthusiasm for their labor-saving and time-saving potential. To get an in-depth comparison of each feature, check out our facility management comparison report to break them down.

Compare Top CAFM Software Leaders

Deployment Options

There are some other important elements of CAFM you need to understand before you begin the shortlisting process.

How a software is deployed has a significant impact on the organization implementing it, if not necessarily on the eventual end user. Software can be deployed in three ways: on-premise, via the web or cloud, or as a hybrid of these.

With on-premise software, you host it on hardware on your premises. This hardware usually requires an extensive IT team to maintain and troubleshoot, as well as the physical space to store it. On-premise software vendors typically charge a one-time fee per user license, which can be steep — but once it’s paid, you’re good to go and can switch out users if you so desire.

On-premise also offers more options for customization, as you have almost complete control over the program. This almost complete control means your data isn’t traveling back and forth to an off-site server, where it’s vulnerable to hacking — but it also means you’ll be responsible for your own cybersecurity.

Cloud-based deployment is typically cheaper than on-premise — at least in the short-term — as it charges a per user, per month fee, but costs can stack up quickly. Customization of a web-based system can become costly. But web-based is agile and accessible from any user portal with an internet connection, making it a lightweight and practical solution for many companies.

Since the onus of data security falls on the vendor for this deployment method, most offer some of the most comprehensive security options on the market for their customers’ data.

Hybrid is, as the name suggests, a combination of the two formats. This can take many different forms and is unique to different industries. It usually includes the ability to switch from on-premise to cloud-based as the users’ needs change — for instance, an on-premise network supplemented by mobile apps for mobile technicians.

Compare Top CAFM Software Leaders

Next Steps

Computer-aided facilities management offers all kinds of benefits for the forward-thinking organizations using them. Hopefully, now you’ve got a more comprehensive understanding of the benefits and features of CAFM software. If you want to compare some vendors, don’t forget to check out our comparison report to get started on the right track.

What features would you look for in CAFM software? Let us know in the comments!