To view all topics in this forum, click on the symbol. To reply to any discussion item, click on the symbol.

Click on "New Topic" in the left border if your posting does not belong under an existing posting, and you want to start a new discussion.

MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management I'm new to the world of facilities management so I've just recently started researching software packages on the market to manage FM systems. I've looked into FM:Systems, FMDesktop, Archibus, and some others but I just discovered that Visio 2007 now offers facilities management utilization. Does anyone know about this new feature, is it worth it, is it as robust and as FM centralized as the dedicated systems on the market? What do other FM professionals use? Any advice is greatly appreciated.   [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]   By: Lyn Hudson, Government Contractor, US, [2008-01-17]
	Re: MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management , by Bill S Coughlin, Independant, USA, [2008-03-28] Gartner is like the Consumer Reports of the software world. They did an extensive study and of the 200+ players in the FM Software Market they determiend that Tririga, Manhattan Software and Archibus are the three best solutions. You might want to take a look at them. [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]
	Re: MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management , by Peter Prischl, Reality Consult, Austria, [2008-02-24] The quickest way to explain this is the following analogy:If you have to record just a few numbers, Excel will be enough. For serious endeavours you will resort to an accounting package. The same in Real Estate and Facility Management:For populating a few offices, Visio will be fine. For real, process-oriented stuff, a dedicated package will be a must. Enough - I said I would be short. [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]
		Re: Re: MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management , by Lyn Hudson, Government Contractor, US, [2008-02-26] Agreed. After a couple months research I have determined that a more robust system such as FM:Systems,Inc., FMDesktop, or Archibus will have to be implemented in order to manage all the space and its associated assets at such a large facility especially when multiple locations are being managed. Now the only question is which software package is best! Thanks much for responding. [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]
			Re: Re: Re: MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management , by Kontos Evan, Com Tek CADD Co. Inc., USA, [2008-04-28] Having done a large number of CAFM implementations, both by replacing existing systems and installing new ones, the best way to make an overall determination is to compile a list of your requirements, determine the scope of the implementation (if you have over a few floors of data many of the homegrown systems will fall flat) and determine what your requirements for end-user access, integration with legacy systems and configurability are. You will find that a number of the systems that you mentioned are a patchwork that have been combined to provide you with what appears to be a complete solution. Many of them do a shallow dive on many topics but have a broad range of applications so that they can say they have a solution in specific areas. For example, if it is important that you have a robust CMMS integration the all-in-one systems are very simplistic and don't have the expansion potential that you may need. In this case there are many best of breed solutions that you many also want to evaluate. For example Maximo has the largest installed based of CMMS users internationally and an extremely large installed base in the government sector. Infor 7i is another such application. On the CAFM side applications such as Drawbase are extremely user configurable while some of the others require consultants to make any system changes. Your best bet would be to search the Internet, compile your own list and then start eliminating systems based upon your own evaluations. Keep in mind that many of the companies that evaluate these products aren't necessarily non-biased. We had one client that evaluated 24 systems and was surprised with the results. [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]
	Re: MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management , by Kasel Joy, Microsoft, United States, [2008-02-21] Microsoft does offer a free training session on Visio 2007 for Facility Managers. Topics covered include: - Preparing CADD Documents for use in Microsoft Visio 2007 Professional Edition - Importing the CADD Base Layer into Visio 2007 - Defining the allocated Spaces for Tracking all Mechanical Systems, Furnishings, IT Assets, and Human Resources -Importing the Occupancy Data from an External Data Source - Defining Visual Delineation through Visio Color-By-Value methodologies - Assigning Imported Assets to Space Designators - Utilizing Data Graphics to display key indicators on demand and provide multiple views into the assets - Generating Reports and exporting Reports to tabular reporting tools such as Microsoft Office Excel 2007 -Generating Facilities Management Phased Implementations utilizing communication between Visio 2007 and Microsoft Office Project 2007 Professional Edition - Generating Management Reporting via Visio 2007 Pivot Diagrams to hierarchally display Asset Management Structure - Generating Web-based output views of the Facilities Management Asset Tracking for use by all stakeholders in the Enterprise CADD is the ultimate tool for the creation of Building Design. When that design is complete, and the building needs to be planned for occupancy, needs to track assets, needs to understand its mechanical systems, then a robust and visual Facilities Management tool needs to be implemented to manage the building Systems, Assets, and Human Resources. The training demonstrates the power of Visual Communication and how Microsoft Office Visio 2007 Professional Edition maximizes these capabilities for the Facility Manager. If interested please contact joyk@microsoft.com [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]
	Re: MS Visio 2007 Facilities Management , by Giridhar Kesavan, Engrawe Consultancy, India, [2008-01-28] Hi, Maybe you should also have a look at Drawbase IWMS,which is a dedicated Integrated Worklplace Management solution addressing issues not covered by many such CAFM tools ; e.g.; MEP Asset tracking and also integration with CMMS tools like Maximo and 7i. Giridhar [From the FMForum Archives. Because this posting has been archived, you may not respond to it; instead, start a new discussion by clicking on 'New Topic' in the left margin.]