Scheduling Chronicles

Work, Life, and Environmental Balance of the Green Workplace

Facilities represent the second highest expense for large businesses and the number one producer of emissions.  So why wouldn't you want to maximize your utilization of your available space - or even reduce your space all together.

That's the message in the recent article by GreenBiz.com columnist Dana Sanchez.  In her article titled Telecommuting and the Green Office of the Future, she outlines how many companies are moving in the direction of establishing green initiatives at their workplace by supporting flexible work programs such as telecommuting as well as gaining a greater sense of workplace occupancy.  As I outlined to Dana in my interview with her, most companies think they're space occupancy rate is running between 80-90% yet it's usually much closer to 50%.  So the key to efficient space management is knowing what is being used and implementing office hoteling software to support telecommuters who need to reserve space when they enter the office.

By monitoring and managing space better using resource scheduling software or similar applications, you're not only able to maximize the space you do occupy, you can also find ways to reduce overall costs by converting what used to be individual workspace into flexible workspace.

SaaS Revenue Expected to Double by 2012

Research firm Gartner expects SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) revenue to double by 2012, reaching more than $14.8 billion.  That comes on the heels of extended SaaS revenue increases over the past year.  According to Gartner, SaaS revenue in 2007 was $5.1 billion and is on track to increase 27% to $6.4 billion in 2008.

What's the reason for this recent growth, especially in these tough economic times, and the aggressive revenue increase expectations over the next several years?  As Computing SA reports, Gartner analysts believe the adoption of SaaS is expanding and changing in the enterprise markets as new options challenge incumbents, popularity increases, and interest for platform as a service grows.

"The popularity of the on-demand deployment model has increased significantly within the last four years. Initial concerns over security, response time, and service availability have diminished for many organizations as SaaS business and computing models have matured and adoption has become pervasive," says Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner.

The report goes on to say that the key trends that contribute to the rapid worldwide growth of SaaS include businesses exploring ways to reduce their IT capital expense budget, the increased availability of broadband which extends the viability of Web-based service solutions globally, and the demand from businesses to rapidly implement software which supports a specific business need.

PeopleCube to Present Session on Leveraging Your Facilities' Assets at IFMA World Workplace

PeopleCube, provider of workplace, resource, and energy management technology, today announced that it will present a session at IFMA World Workplace, taking place October 15–17, 2008, at the Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.

Also at the show, PeopleCube will showcase its integrated workplace management solutions with business partner Serco, one of the world’s leading facilities management services companies, in booth number 1957. PeopleCube will be featuring Resource Scheduler, its intelligent on-demand workplace, resource, and energy management software that helps customers run cost-effective, sustainable workplaces.

The PeopleCube session, entitled “Leveraging Your Facilities’ Assets,” is scheduled for Friday, October 17, from 1:00–1:30 PM in Solutions Arena 1. The presentation will provide an overview of how facility managers can use technology to track and analyze asset utilization so equipment is available and allocated effectively; to enable different groups to coordinate shared resources; and to ensure that assets and activities are easily managed and utilized through one centralized information repository. It will cover “office hoteling” and implementation strategies to reduce real estate requirements and expenses, to lessen energy consumption, to encourage service-oriented workers to be out in the field interacting with customers instead of behind a desk, and to complement telecommuting and other flexible work programs.