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Mitie Survey Finds FMs Slow to Adopt Digital Technology

Almost half (48%) of facility managers (FMs) are missing out on the benefits of digital transformation by not adopting new technology, according to a report from Mitie Group Plc. The report, based on a survey of 100 key decision makers in the United Kingdome across a range of facilities management roles, reveals that only 7% of FMs are constantly seeking to identify, trial, and implement new technology solutions to stay ahead of the curve.

Nearly one in 10 (8%) survey respondents say they are not interested in deploying new technology, with almost one-third (32%) saying they will only use mature or proven technology. A further 8% say, although they are interested in new technology, they simply don’t have the time and resources to implement it.

When asked whether they agreed that facilities management will have undergone extensive digital transformation by the year 2030, most FMs (80%) strongly or mostly agreed with this statement. This suggests that over the next 10 years FMs who are currently wary of new technology will have been convinced otherwise, while those struggling with capacity will have found a way to tackle this restraint.

Currently, the biggest barrier to adopting digital technology is lack of knowledge among FMs. Around a third of respondents (31%) reported lack of internal expertise to select suitable facilities management solutions and about one-quarter (27%) listed a lack of understanding of digital transformation technologies as top barriers to investing in digital transformation. Three in 10 (30%) also cited lack of staff expertise to run facility efficiency projects and 28% expressed a lack of staff bandwidth to analyze and act on data.

In the coming years, digital technology will be part of the advancements that allow various pieces of cleaning equipment to communicate with each other and with other systems in a building to adapt cleaning schedules to the weather, send performance reports in real time, and notify FMs when—or even before—maintenance is needed. Learn about the three phases of connected cleaning.

About Mitie
Mitie Group Plc is a London, England-based company that provides facilities, property, and asset management services to public- and private-sector businesses. To learn more, visit www.mitie.com.