

Are you smarter than a smart meter?
For more than a decade the utility industry has been in transition. The expansive introduction and implementation of smart meters that report consumption…

Did Google really get it wrong? Workplace misery and other casualties.
An article recently published in the Washington Post sparked some internal discussion at Planon. In her article, Lindsey Kaufman describes her bad experiences…

The student as an engaged stakeholder in facilities management
For many years, considerable research has been conducted to determine what factors drive a student’s decision when choosing a school. Colleges and universities…

What does the word ‘smart’ actually mean (and why a ‘smart meter’ isn’t ‘smart’)?
Some of my best friends in the profession work in marketing. Before you read any further: I am not just talking about the marketers who work for Planon. Some of them...

Smart travelling / Smart working
As a student I was pretty good at sensing just where to stand on the platform to line up with the train doors. That meant that no matter how…

No bad blood in the workplace with technology from Spectre
Injecting nanotechnology into someone’s blood to track where he/she is physically as well as their mental state; is it really science fiction? In the latest Spectre movie…

Where will you meet in the offices of the future?
Picture the busiest day at work. Everyone is in the office and all the desks and workspaces are occupied. However, for the rest of the week many people are out of the…

Choices when designing an IWMS
Once you have decided to move forward with an IWMS solution, many more choices await around the corner. The implementation process is a series of choices: What…

Five reasons why you should implement an IWMS
The challenges for international businesses when deciding to carry out an international software implementation are great. These types of projects will encompass multiple sites, multiple countries, and therefore multiple cultures, specific legislations and local business customs add fundamental challenges to the project. Therefore the question “Why did we embark this international implementation project?” will pop up many times during the project.

An Introduction to IWMS
The field of Facilities Management (FM) and Corporate Real Estate Management (CRE) has evolved rapidly over the last two decades. Today’s Facilities Management…

SaaS versus Cloud Computing: What’s the difference?
Learn more about important terms such as Cloud Computing and SaaS and understand the difference between the two.

Is sustainability expensive? After all, aren’t you funding it from saved energy costs?
The newspapers are full of it: ‘We have to achieve sustainability’. Organisations are under pressure to reduce costs while still achieving sustainability targets. This is one of the most significant…

Fifty Shades of Grey? Eight Shades of Green!
It was Earth Day back in April, an annual event to raise people’s awareness of their behaviour and the affect it has on the planet…

Your building is smarter than you think
In German trains the availability of seats is shown on a small screen, using the reservations information. Travellers getting aboard without a booking can see whether a seat has been reserved for...

Typical USA: What floor am I on?
When I first moved to Boston last year, there were several things I had to get used to: tipping culture, turning right on red, different food…and the complete lack of a ground floor…