We have no choice. At a time when resources are increasingly tight, the business pace is quickening, and competition is increasingly fierce, Internet-based tools can tangibly improve productivity, streamline work processes, and cut costs.
E-commerce, one of the earliest business-to-business applications, barely begins to scratch the Web’s potential. From remote online equipment monitoring to automated service dispatching, the industry is seeing an explosion in Web-based resources for service providers and facility managers.
Because these applications are delivered through the Internet, you don’t need to be in a specific location — you can access them anywhere there is a PC and Internet browser.
Equally important, these resources are increasingly affordable. Brick-and-mortar companies that historically have sold very expensive software applications now are becoming “application service providers,” or ASPs, allowing you to access their software over the Internet for a monthly subscription fee. Essentially, you “rent” the application, eliminating the need for an IS department to install, maintain, and update the application.
Such applications can significantly reduce facility management costs, while enhancing the way you and your employees work.
Types of Online Services
Obviously, deciding which Internet resources will be most useful to you depends on the nature of your business and operational challenges. At the same time, here are some broad types of services that have significant potential to transform your business and how you do your job:Document management features allow project managers to route drawings to key team members online and allow them to redline and return them. Collaboration features ensure that all parties are communicating and that time-stamped records of key communications are kept. The result is greatly improved communication, with time saved previously spent tracking people down via telephone, sending and receiving faxes, and unsnarling miscommunications.
Some of these e-marketplaces feature local and regional vendor directories, giving contractors an additional, low-cost way to market their services to a much broader potential customer base online. On the flip side of this equation, some companies are beginning to offer group buying services, giving contractors the opportunity to participate in a purchasing consortium, where they can benefit from volume pricing discounts based on total group spending.
The future is clear. Customers increasingly will demand Internet-savvy suppliers; hungry competitors will use new application tools to sharpen their businesses. If you’re not beginning to leverage the Internet, do so now — or get run over by the firms that do.
Miller is co-founder and executive vice president of myFacilities.com, a Honeywell e-Hub.
Publication date: 01/22/2001
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