PROS

Fewer contracts to manage means you’re lowering invoicing costs. A service provider will take over a significant number of invoices for you, which will result in saving customer transaction costs. A single point of contact also means you and your school team spend less time and resources on procurement and managing multiple engineers and more time on what you need to prioritise more. Meaning extra workload is decreased and productivity is increased. The best facilities management service providers become an extension of your own team and strive to take away the hassles.

Minimising the costs of unplanned maintenance throughout the year means you’re spending less on calling out to manage breakdowns and pay for repairs, therefore preventing unnecessary costs. Utilising FM services to take you from Reactive Maintenance to Proactive Maintenance. Services can predict your maintenance needs, and work those costs into your overall budget.

Ensuring your systems are operating at peak performance and efficiency means your building will be getting the most out of its systems, making sure they’re not only reliable but, that you’re getting the absolute maximum value for money all year. Allowing others to monitor your school’s performance means a dedicated and comprehensive tracking of your systems, saving time and making long-term savings on energy bills, helping you stay on top of the most cost-effective strategies & technologies.

Facilities management services take the responsibly of ensuring your building complies to the guidelines set by the government standards, at a minimum, organisations should ensure their facilities are of up-to-date standards, if not, this may lead to a decline in user morale and performance of the end-users. Particularly considering inadequate temperature control, lighting and air quality. Research has suggested these elements do impact student behaviour and outcomes.

CONS

Lack of quality, by choosing the wrong service provider there is always the possibility the quality of product and actual servicing may not be provided to the best possible standard. It’s imperative that facilities services are able to provide you with specific and measurable quality measures to ensure servicing is being carried out to the best possible standard, leaving you completely confident and free of worry.

Lack of organizational knowledge means the service provider may not be as well-informed as your own employees when it comes to understanding your unique organizational dynamics and missions. When looking for a facilities management provider look at their own company culture, and see if they seek to better understand who they’re working with in order to provide a more effective service in order to overcome this.

You won’t make large savings in the short-term. If you are looking to make instant savings, outsourcing will not achieve this. In the long run, outsourcing is highly likely to save you money and should be seen as an investment rather than a burden. It, therefore, depends on both the short and long-term goals of your organisation.

It’s often a price-driven decision-making process. This makes the cons more likely to arise if the cost is considered first, instead of alongside other factors such as quality. It’s important to consider a service that offers the best value instead, as sometimes the lowest initial price turns in to the highest cost in the long-run. The cons can be tackled and overcome by asking whether you believe the considered provider to be both credible and trustworthy, and a company you can rely on time and time again.