By Ian Cameron, CIO OSCRE International

Investment and Corporate (or occupier) real estate are two of OSCRE's primary industry segments. Both are looking to Facilities Management for significant gains in operations and performance. There have been significant advances across the board in FM and many of the same innovations are relevant to both the investment and corporate sectors. As a result, the attention to the way information is used and shared in FM and to the use of standards is greater than ever. Here are some examples to watch closely:

A new international ISO guidance standard for FM is in the works led by IFMA. OSCRE is supporting IFMA in that initiative. It includes connections into sourcing and information technology and will go a long way to help FM organizations, their clients and service partners improve performance and value add from FM strategies and services.

Investment managers are looking for performance gains from innovations around property operations, tenant services and care, building systems integration, sustainability, health and safety and more. Standards are emerging in each of these areas and innovations are well underway. Workforce and workplace effectiveness and wellness are highly-valued as targets for emerging practices in FM. Service firms are building service capabilities around "integrated FM" placing great emphasis on how this is managed and measured and how information can best be leveraged to achieve results.

These innovations call for a complete asset lifecycle perspective as well connecting and managing the whole puzzle together as one. This means managing from the detailed level of a space or a leased unit, and "up the ladder" to a building, a market, an asset class, a portfolio, or a fund. FM has a significant contribution to make all the way up calling for a similar hierarchy of information to help get the job done.

Getting the language straight is also important. For example, "asset management" means different things to different people depending on where you sit - but that is changing. Asset management in the investment world means managing investment assets, maximizing the rent roll, tenant retention etc. Asset management in the FM world can include building systems, FF&E, or a whole building. But those distinctions are being resolved and the connections are becoming better understood.