The Public Works Department also wants to use Facilitor at the KNMI
Building administration
The Public Works Department now wants to expand the use of Facilitor to customers outside the Public Works Departments. ‘As the Public Works Departments, we’re responsible, together with three other government bodies, for the facility services of all government buildings,’ Marijn explains. ‘Recently, we were appointed as a facility service provider for the Dutch Food and Safety Authority (NVWA) and Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). It’s logical that we support these activities with our own system.’ There has already been lots of work behind the scenes to make the switch to Facilitor. The KNMI had its own reporting structure, and contracts in force with suppliers. These have now been included in Facilitor. ‘It’s only during such a transformation process that you really notice how pleasant it is to work with a small organisation like Facilitor,’ says Marijn. ‘The helpdesk always responds quickly, and the consultants share their thoughts constructively. It makes you confident that you can successfully complete such a transformation together as a team.’
The functional layout has now been finished. The next step is to prepare the organisation for the change. John: ‘We face the challenge of communicating the benefits of Facilitor with KNMI, and giving instructions on how to use it. After that, the system can really be exploited.’
The Public Works Department chose Facilitor because it’s a system without too many bells and whistles
Long-Term Maintenance Plan
The public work department also wants to use Facilitor in other areas. For example, the organisation is going to examine if it can use Facilitor’s Long-Term Maintenance Plan. ‘We’re responsible for maintaining the public work department’s 1100 buildings,’ says John. ‘The maintenance programmes for these buildings are still kept in separate files and systems at the moment, so it would be nice to bundle everything in Facilitor. This would give us a clearer overview, and make it easier to keep everything up-to-date.’
Looking back over the past 10 years, John says that the partnership with Facilitor has helped him considerably. The main reason behind his appreciation for the partnership is the company’s genuine commitment. ‘Over the 10 years I’ve been working with Facilitor, I’ve never had the feeling that they just wanted to sell something. They share their thoughts sincerely and look for the best solution. That instils confidence, and you know that you will always end up with the best solution. ‘
Learning from other users
The public work department has always been a big fan of Facilitor’s user days. ‘It’s useful to talk to users at other organisations,’ says Marijn. ‘Other organisations often struggle with the same problems. Sometimes, you just go round and round in circles. Chatting with another user sometimes gives you new ideas and helps you move forward. ‘John and Marijn also find it interesting to hear about the experiences of others with the system. ‘The last user day, for example, I spoke to someone from the RAI exhibition centre who uses the module to manage employees,’ says Marijn. ‘It was interesting to hear his views on the advantages and disadvantages he had experienced with this module. It gave me a good idea of whether the module could also be useful for us.’
By Maaike Tindemans, freelance journalist FACTO Magazine, publication Facto Magazine November 2018
