Happy news from MainManager Norway!


Beautiful Ålesund – and it’s scenic views!

MainManager to deliver FM solutions in Ålesund

Following the decision to merge the five municipalities; Ålesund, Haram, Sandøy, Skodje and Ørskog on the west coast of Norway, the new municipality decided to tender for a new Facility Management system. MainManagers offer was rewarded with high scores in the evaluation, and a contract was signed last week. We are really looking forward to work with our new partners in Norway!

The municipalities implement the building information system, property management and asset management system, apartment rental system, project management system for construction of new buildings, help desk for property users, cleaning planning, equipment registration, etc. MainManager will be integrating to the new municipality’s financial system to monitor the progress of projects, maintenance and new construction costs.

With this contract the new municipality of Ålesund intend to digitize a property portfolio of approximately 500,000 m2. They will implement digital work processes and utilize new technologies used in the construction industry, BIM, 2D interactive drawings, QR codes, APP, digital contract agreements, sensors etc.

STAY IN TOUCH

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn, to get the latest news and updates from us. If you want further information about us, and how our solutions could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

Excellent in Iceland 2019


Happy staff here at the Icelandic office
We are generally a pretty happy crowd here at the Icelandic office, but today is extra special!
Big shoutout to our offices in Denmark and Norway too, we all pull together!

FEELING A LITTLE PROUD TODAY

In September 2019, MainManager received the Fyrirmyndarfyrirtæki í Rekstri (Excellent in Iceland) recognition by Viðskiptablaðið and Keldan. MainManager is among the 3% of companies in the country to receive this award. That is kind of cool!

In order to get listed, companies need to live up to various conditions;
The companies must have delivered a positive return in the 2018 fiscal year. Revenues must have exceeded 30 million IS krónur, assets over 80 million, and the equity ratio must have exceeded 20%. In addition, other factors, like the results from previous year are taken into account.

You can read the special edition of Viðskiptablaðið here.


STAY IN TOUCH

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn, to get the latest news and updates from us. If you want further information about us, and how our solutions could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

MainManager í fremstu röð í nýsköpun í fasteignarekstri

Bylting á sér nú stað í stafrænni upplýsingatækni í byggingariðnaði sem smám saman skilar sér í mikilli hagræðingu í rekstri mannvirkja. MainManager hefur tekið þátt í byltingunni síðustu 30 ár í gegnum innlenda og erlenda viðskiptavini sem margir eru fremstir á þessu sviði í heiminum. Skrefunum sem viðskiptavinir MainManager hafa tekið er hægt að lýsa í nokkrum þrepum. Í fyrsta lagi hafa þeir komið gögnum um mannvirkin á stafrænt form. Í öðru lagi hafa þeir innleitt rafræna verkferla fyrir rekstur mannvirkjanna með beintengingu við bókhaldskerfi. Má þar nefna verkferla fyrir viðhald og rekstur, hjálparborð, ræstingar, orkuvöktun og leigusamninga. Að hafa þetta allt á einum stað auðveldar umsjónarmönnun fasteigna að hafa yfirsýn yfir þau verk sem þarf að vinna í mannvirkjunum sem og kostnaðarstöðu. Í þriðja lagi hafa þeir tekið í notkun IoT skynjara til að innleiða sjálfvirkni í reksturinn. „Skynjararnir geta mælt mörg ólík atriði. Þeir geta til dæmis sent skilaboð til að láta vita að það þurfi að tæma ruslagáminn, að gluggi sé opinn eða að ljós séu kveikt einhvers staðar eða hreyfing í einhverju húsi. Möguleikarnir eru óendanlegir,“ segir Guðrún Rós Jónsdóttir, framkvæmdastjóri MainManager. „Þessir skynjarar eru orðnir mun ódýrari en áður og hægt er að nota þessa tækni til að spara sér heilmikla eftirlitsvinnu.“ Þeir sem lengst eru komnir eru byrjaðir að notast við gervigreind (machine learning) til að aðstoða við að taka réttar ákvarðanir byggðar á reynslu og þekkingu sem safnast hefur saman í þekkingargrunn rekstraraðilans.

Nýsköpun MainManager, samþætting tæknilausna

Guðmundur og Guðrún Rós

Guðrún segir fyrirtækið hafa haft öfluga viðskiptavini og spennandi verkefni í Fasteignastjórnun á síðustu árum. „Norska ríkið – Statsbygg – er stór viðskiptavinur MainManager, sveitarfélög bæði íslensk sem erlend, má hér nefna Aarhus kommune í Danmörku sem var að koma inn sem nýr viðskiptavinur á þessu ári. Stærsti spítali Norðurlanda sem staðsettur er á Jótlandi og Kaupmannahafnarháskóli eru einnig á meðal okkar viðskiptavina,“ segir hún. „Þetta eru viðskiptavinir sem eiga og reka milljónir fermetra af húsnæði. Margir viðskiptavinir okkar hafa verið óhræddir við að prófa sig áfram með nýjustu tækni. Lausnir MainManager hafa ekki farið varhluta af þessu og byggja nú í ríkum mæli á stafrænum kortum, þrívíddarlíkönum af mannvirkjum (BIM), gagnvirkum hæðarteikningum og þeim möguleikum sem snjallsímatæknin býður upp á svo sem skönnun á QR-kóðum og GPS-staðsetningu. Með því að sýna viðskiptavinum fram á skynsamlega notkun á þessu hefur MainManager náð að skipa sér í fremstu röð á sínum mörkuðum.“

Mikilvægi fasteignastjórnunar stöðugt að aukast

Fasteignastjórnun (Facility Management) er um 30 ára faggrein í Evrópu. Mikilvægasta hlutverk fagsins er að sjá um viðhald og rekstur á mannvirkjum sem eins og dæmin sanna af innlendum fréttum undanfarið má oft betur fara. Það vinnur einnig að því að samþætta innra skipulag og þjónustuferla fasteigna með það markmið að styðja kjarnastarfsemina sem fram fer í byggingunni og tryggja þægindi og heilsu fólksins. Innra skipulag aðstöðunnar og framkvæmd stoðferla hefur meiri áhrif á fólk og afköst en menn hafa gert sér grein fyrir. Þetta þýðir að faghópurinn sem sinnir fasteignastjórnun er farinn að hafa áhrif á allar ákvarðanir um byggingu, skipulag og þjónustu við hönnun nýrra mannvirkja. Stærri fasteignaeigendur hafa reyndar gengið svo langt að krefjast nákvæms stafræns líkans áður en til framkvæmda við byggingu fasteignar kemur. Þá er hægt að gera ýmsar greiningar á aðstöðunni eins og líftímagreiningar, ferlagreiningar, reikna út umhverfisáhrif út frá efnisvali, orkunotkun og fleira. Þessir aðilar hafa margir hverjir safnað saman verðmætum upplýsingum frá rekstri stærri eignasafna. Til að þetta sé mögulegt þarf öflugt fasteignaumsjónarkerfi.

Starfsmenn MainManager á Íslandi

Ávinningur fasteignaeigenda

Guðrún segir flesta vera sammála um að notkun öflugra stafrænna verkferla við rekstur fasteigna gefi mikla hagræðingu hjá rekstraraðilanum. „Það sem hins vegar hefur vafist fyrir fasteignaeigandanum er fjárfestingin við að umbreyta gögnum á stafrænt form. Það er forsenda þess að þessir verkferlar skili almennilegum árangri. Þar sem þetta hefur verið mælt sýnir það svart á hvítu að fjárfestingin skilar sér strax á tveimur til þremur árum. Þá á enn eftir að reka mannvirkið í 40 til 60 ár.“ Almennt er kostnaður fyrirtækja í stoðþjónustu um 10-20% af rekstrarkostnaði þeirra. Með vel skilgreindum rafrænum verkferlum er hægt að ná fram ögun og hagræðingu sem skilar um 10-30% sparnaði á þessum þáttum. Stjórnendum er gert kleift að byggja ákvarðanir á tölulegum staðreyndum um leið og þeir byggja upp þekkingu á eignamassa og þjónustu sinni. Guðrún nefnir sem dæmi að einfalt er að reikna út ávinning af skilvirkri flatarmálsstjórnun. Hagræðing hjá stórum fasteignaeiganda í notkun á flatarmáli getur leitt til tugmilljóna króna sparnaðar. Ef yfirsýnin er til staðar þá auðveldar það að sjá hvort húsnæði sé nýtt til fulls. Í skólahúsnæði eru sem dæmi stofur oft ekki nýttar á kvöldin og þá væri hægt að leigja þær út til annarrar starfsemi til að ná betri nýtingu.“

Stuðningur við heimsmarkmið Sameinuðu þjóðanna

Guðmundur Ludvigsson, framkvæmdastjóri MainManager í Danmörku, segir að hugbúnaðurinn dragi fram hvaða verkefni styðja við heimsmarkmið Sameinuðu þjóðanna og hvetji notendur til að hafa þessa þætti í huga við markmiðasetningu sína. Sem dæmi hafa byggingar og byggingaframkvæmdir gríðarleg áhrif á umhverfið og leggja til:

  • 36% af orkunotkun heimsins
  • 40% af kolefnisfótspori
  • 33% af vatnsnotkun
  • 33% af úrgangi

„Það má rökstyðja að tíu af sautján heimsmarkmiðum Sameinuðu þjóðanna tengjast byggingum og rekstri þeirra á einn eða annan hátt. Í gegnum kerfið reynum við í auknum mæli að stuðla að betri orkunýtingu og minna kolefnisfótspori tengdu mannvirkjum. Kerfið veitir yfirsýn sem hjálpar til við að ná heimsmarkmiðunum,“ segir Guðmundur.

Ný tækifæri fyrir ráðgjafa í byggingariðnaðinum

„Verkfræðingar og arkitektar hafa verið leiðandi í notkun þrívíddarlíkana sem innihalda allar helstu tæknilegar upplýsingar um mannvirkið (BIM) í hönnun og byggingu á mannvirkjum. Þó vantar töluvert upp á að þeir sjái heildarmyndina og vinni að því að mannvirkjaeigandinn fái sem mesta hagræðingu og not af þessum líkönum,“ segir Guðmundur. „Hér vantar sameiginlegt átak aðila í byggingariðnaðinum til að lyfta þessu á hærra plan. Með því að vinna þessi líkön með því markmiði að þau lifi með mannvirkinu allan líftíma þess þá er miklum áfanga náð. Líkanið verður þá lykillinn fyrir upplýsingar fyrir allan rekstur og þjónustu á líftíma mannvirkisins.“

Spennandi verkefni í Singapúr

MainManager vinnur nú að spennandi verkefni í samvinnu við samstarfsaðila fyrirtækisins á Englandi og Kajima í Japan. Kajima er stórt verktakafyrirtæki sem á að afhenda fullkomið rekstrarhæft BIMlíkan til viðskiptavinar í Singapúr. „MainManager hugbúnaðurinn verður notaður í rekstrinum með öflugum tengingum við fjölda nema (IoT) sem taka púlsinn á rekstrinum. Kerfið verður notað til flatarmálsstjórnunar, útreiknings á umhverfisáhrifum og stýringar á orkunotkun,“ segir Guðrún. „Leigutakar munu nota kerfið við sinn eigin rekstur, uppsetningu á innbúi o.fl. Einnig er ráðgerð notkun og innleiðing á gervigreind (big data analysis) þegar fram í sækir.“

Ný MainManager FM lausn

Í lok árs kemur ný MainManager FM lausn á markað sem leggur enn ríkari áherslu á notendavænleika og grafíska framsetningu gagna. Hún er skalanleg og aðlagast skjástærð, hvort sem um ræðir snjallsíma, spjaldtölvu eða borðtölvu.

SKI 02.19 Cloud – KMD Opus MainManager got listed

In late 2018 we started the initial talks about developing a joint ERP and FM-solution to municipalities, with KMD in Denmark. We shared a mutual understanding of the market – and the need for a KMD Opus MainManager was recognized by both parties. Our Proof of Concept was the joint application to participate in the Facility Management software tender process in Aarhus.

In July 2019 we were proud to announce that KDM Opus MainManager had won the competition in Aarhus, the second largest municipality in Denmark – and the 15thmunicipality in the Nordic market using MainManager.

SKI 02.19 Cloud

Now we have taken the cooperation with KMD to the next level, having our Facility Management software offer accepted and approved by SKI.

SKI negotiates contract terms for public organizations, so neither the national, regional or local ones, need to invest resources in the long and often complicated process involved in carrying out a tender. As of august 31st KMD Opus MainManager is approved for contracting public institutions directly through the SKI 02.19 agreement covering cloud applications.

OUR JOINT EFFORT HAS PAID OFF

The first two important milestones – Aarhus and SKI 02.19 – have been reached. This fall, sales and marketing at KMD will go to market, launching KMD Opus MainManager to all municipalities in Denmark.

You can read more about SKI in this link. https://www.ski.dk/Viden/Sider/Facts-about-SKI.aspx.

STAY IN TOUCH

Stay in touch!

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn, to get the latest news and updates from us. If you want further information about us, and how our solutions could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

The secret is out!

Hi there!

My name is Kristian. For 3 weeks I have carried around a very “spectacular secret”, which I am really happy to share with you today; On Tuesday the 28th of May, MainManager officially “ignited” the collaboration with two very important future business partners in Denmark – the Municipality of Aarhus and KMD.

In the foto below you find me – the “happy knight”, in the upper right hand corner – surrounded by decision-makers from the Municipality of Aarhus and KMD – all gathered to sign an important contract.

Great new collaboration

The Municipality of Aarhus is the second largest Municipality in Denmark. They have decided to implement KMD Opus MainManager as a result of an extensive competition process. KMD Opus MainManager is our joint FM-offer to the Municipalities in Denmark, and we feel very proud of this new collaboration.

KMD is the leading distributor of ERP applications to municipalities in Denmark, with a market share of around 70% in the segment. The municipality of Aarhus has a portfolio of more than 2,2 million square meters – and will very soon be the largest client in Denmark, using MainManager. KMD Opus and MainManager has a huge potential in creating outstanding synergies by integrating ERP and Facility Management processes in a joint value proposition to the public market in Denmark.

Scandinavian readers can find more information in this press release from KMD Opus.

Finally a warm thank you to KMD and all my colleagues for their extensive contribution to make this dream come true!

Stay in touch!

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn, to get the latest news and updates from us. If you want further information about us, and how our solutions could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

FACILITY MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE IN ICELAND

Last Friday we held a Facility Management conference in Iceland.  The goal was to talk about the different uses of MainManager in Denmark and Norway. We also wanted to share what we have learnt within Facility Management for the last few years.

This was one of the hottest days until now in the Icelandic summer (around 10 degrees). That did not stop the enthusiastic crowd of Facility Managers from attending our conference. We would like to thank them all, because we know how hard it is for an Icelander to stay inside, when there is sunshine outside : )

TALKS

After a nice introduction from our CEO Guðrún Rós Jónsdóttir, Gulli B. Hjartarson, the Manager of MainManager Norway, honoured us with the first talk of the day. He told us everything (and more!) about Facility Management and the effects of the digital revolution on Facility Management as an industry. He was followed by our Norwegian based employee Einar, who told us about Statsbygg (The Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property), and how MainManager has become one of the critical systems within their organisation. 

Statsbygg’s use of MainManager by Einar

THE DANISH MARKET

After a 15 minute break where attendants were able to stretch their legs and consume some fuel in the form of mini burgers, it was time to talk about our Danish market.

Our Danish Branch Manager, Guðmundur, kicked it off by talking about how Danish municipalities are using MainManager, focusing on the Danish municipalitie Slagelse. He then moved on to talking about Region Midt (Central Denmark Region), and how they are using BIM within MainManager. Our Iceland based employee, Þorgerður, then concluded the Danish part of the conference, by talking about Copenhagen University, and how they use MainManager within Space Management.

Our energy specialist in Iceland, Sævar, then proceeded to talk about how MainManager can be used within energy consulting. 

Sævar on energy consulting

SNEAK PEAK TO MAINMANAGERS NEW SOLUTION

Then it was time to give participants the opportunity to stretch their legs again before the last talk of the day.  Elísabet, Guðjón and Hilmar gave participants a glimpse into the new version of MainManager that is on its way later this year.

Hilmar and Guðjón happy to show off parts of the new solution.

Overall the conference was a big success. We hope that all the participants went home a little wiser about Facility Management as an industry, and with more knowledge on how MainManager can be used to optimize success, within that industry. We noticed that people were very excited about the development of our future MainManager FM version.

This will defenitely not be the last conference MainManager will hold. We are already looking forward to the next one!

STAY IN TOUCH

If you want further information about us, and how our solutions could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

Travelling to Mid-Norway

CASE: Municipality of Trondheim, Norway

As you might know, MainManager consists of a mix of Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic employees, and we are not necessarily residing in our native country. We have Icelanders at the office in Oslo, and I am a Norwegian ‘gal’ living and working in Denmark. So I always get a little excited, when I get to connect with our clients in Norway. Our yearly ERFA meeting is certainly a nice opportunity. This year’s ERFA was no exception. Our project specialist Henriette and I were seated at the same table as Kenneth Løkslett from the Municipality of Trondheim’s Property department.

Our customer in Mid-Norway

Trondheim Property is the largest unit in the municipality of Trondheim, with close to 600 employees. They are responsible for management, operation, maintenance and cleaning of all 4000 municipal buildings – approximately 1 mill m2. They are also Mid-Norway’s largest owner / developer, and builds for approx. one billion NOK every year. Kenneth – and a couple of his colleagues – participated on last year’s ERFA meeting as brand-new customers. This year he was one of our guest speakers. First of all, he gave us insight in how they will use MainManager software for efficient operation and maintenance, with the help from 2D drawings and municipal mapping. Furthermore, how the 2D drawings likewise will be a great asset to the planning of cleaning tasks in the municipality.

Getting ready for work

Henriette has been working for quite some time on creating interactive 2D drawings of all kinds of buildings managed by the municipality. For now, a total of 919 drawings are ready to be implemented to the system.

One of the 919 drawings – done in 10 seconds…

Working with MainManager

About this time of the year – 26 years ago – I was living in Trondheim. It was my first real home away from home, and I was working at a primary school called Charlottenlund barneskole. It was a great school. What I remember the most, is that the kids were cool, and that the teachers were really, REALLY into soccer – their pride and joy – the city’s team Rosenborg. I finally left Trondheim to live in Iceland for some months, and I fell in love with the beautiful island. Now my Icelandic employer has taken me back to Trondheim. Among other things, because of 2D drawings of my old workplace, Charlottenlund. Henriette was teaching the team at the Municipality of Trondheim’s Property department on how to implement the drawings to MainManager.

Henriette and Berit working their way through implementing the drawings to MainManager

I was there to assist – but also to see how it works in the customers hands. It’s the absolute best way of finding out how to move next, both for us, but more importantly, for the hands-on users in Trondheim, starting up a whole new system. We went home with a lot of feedback, and the group in Trondheim got insights on how to start up their work of implementing their drawings to the MainManager system. To be continued…

Stay in touch

If you want further information about us, and how our solutions could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

MAINMANAGER RÁÐSTEFNA UM FASTEIGNASTJÓRNUN

MAINMANAGER RÁÐSTEFNA UM FASTEIGNASTJÓRNUN
24. MAÍ. KL. 13:00 – 16:00
“Í SKÝINU”

Við hjá MainManager erum að vinna að spennandi nýjungum í vörunni okkar þar sem við nýtum okkur alla mögulega grafík sem hjálpartæki í fasteignastjórnuninni á afar snyrtilegan hátt þ.e. GIS, BIM og 2D teikningar. Þetta verður ný útgáfa og nýtt viðmót með áherslu á einfalt notendaviðmót.

Margt hefur gerst síðan við héldum síðustu kynningu þegar útgáfa 11 kom út. MainManager fór í útrás og hefur haslað sér völl á Norðurlöndunum, Englandi og víðar. Við höfum lært heilmikið og unnið með og fyrir nokkra af stærstu fasteignaeigendum á þessum mörkuðum. Gífurleg reynsla hefur safnast upp sem við viljum gefa ykkur innsýn í.

Dagskrá

13:00 Gestir boðnir velkomnir

13:10 Fasteignastjórnun
Stofnandi MainManager fer yfir upplýsingatækni og stafræna byltingu í fasteignastjórnun, markmið og tilgang, lykilþætti til að ná árangri, verkfæri MainManager og hagræðingu sem næst með þeim.

13:30 Notkun norska ríkisins á MainManager
Uppbygging eignasafns, notkun BIM, rekstur & viðhald, varðveisla menningarverðmæta, orku & umhverfismál.

14:00 Léttar veitingar

14:15 Hvernig nýtist lausnin stóru dönsku sveitarfélagi?
Fjárhagsáætlanir, uppbygging og eftirfylgni þeirra. Ávinningur af notkun reikningssamþykkta í MainManager.

14:30 Notkun stærsta spítala Norðurlandanna á hugbúnaðinum
Afhending gagna í gegnum BIM líkön og notkun þeirra í rekstri. Utanumhald á búnaði.

15:00 Helstu ferlar sem Kaupmannahafnarháskóli hefur innleitt
Ávinningur af notkun Space Management í milljón fermetra eignasafni.

15:15 Orku- og kerfisvöktun í MainManager

15:30 Kaffihlé

15:45 MainManager FM – Ný lausn
Á næstunni gefur MainManager út nýja lausn með áherslu á grafíska framsetningu gagna ásamt notkun á GIS kortum, BIM og 2D teikningum

16:15 Dagskrárlok

Frítt er inn á viðburðinn.
Vinsamlega skrá sig hér: info@mainmanager.com
Staðsetning í höfuðstöðvum MainManager, Urðarhvarfi 6

Við bjóðum upp á léttar veitingar.

MainManager ERFA meeting 2019

Just before Easter, MainManager arranged this years ERFA meeting.

We were 43 participants from Denmark, Norway and Iceland. And like last year, with speaks from some of our customers – and as something new – a speaker from outside our business circuit; Esmir Maslesa.

Ronni Egebjerg Petersen from Danmarks Nationalbank talked about how their solutions have developed over the years, and how the Bank has solved and structured their solutions for Contract Management.

Esmir Maslesa talked about his findings in his Phd.: “Improving Real Estate Management and Environmental Building Performance through systems and dynamic data”

Kenneth Løkslett from Trondheim Kommune gave us insight on how to place buildings in public maps. Finding ways to identify your property portfolio is fundamental for Property Management.

Heidi Hardis from Københavns Universitet gave us examples on how they work with MainManagers Space Management. She also talked about the experience they have gathered since implementing the Space Management solution in 2018.

Thank you!

To you guys: We are very grateful for how you were sharing your experiences. Not only to us, but to fellow users of our solutions! These meetings are of great value to us – and to other customers – as we always get a little bit further in our quest for making our Facility Management solutions as good as they get. The combination of great speaks with various different takes on Facility Management, and what we got from all our participants during our workshop – both the TOP 5 list of what is the most important for our users, but also all from other more informal input from you – we are definitely ready to continue the work from our part!

Benificial for all

There was representation from all kinds of MainManager users. Some have very different needs, others learned that they are very similar, and that further contact could be beneficial. We have a variety of customers, from those with thousands of m2 property mass, to smaller customers that might just need one module for the time being. We all learn from each other! It was really nice to see the many interactions across the room during the day.

On a more social note, we are also feeling changes are coming. Many of our customers have met a few times now, and I know plans are already shaping for next years meeting. Maybe a meet-up the evening before the ERFA meeting, just to chat over a drink or something. Sounds good to me!

Moving on with our solutions

From different groups within MainManager, I know there has been a lot of eager, to show off bits and pieces from our new and improved web-solution. We really believe in it and we were very happy to feel your enthusiasm! We look forward to sharing further development with you all!

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn, and you will get the latest news and updates from us. If you want further information about us, and how the new interface could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

 

New interface for the MainManager system

My name is Hilmar Steinþórsson and I started working with MainManager in 2001. I know I’m a dinosaur : )

In this blogpost I’m going to recap a little bit the history of the MainManager solution. I will also tell you about the exciting work that is going on at the moment. We are working on a brand new interface for the MainManager system. For the past 18 years I’ve taken part in many redesigns and changes to the MainManager system. I have to say though, that the current design we are working on, is the most exciting yet!

MainManager version 10

When I started working at MainManager, the solution was only available as a Windows program. It was accessible through something called terminal server.  The web technology was on the rise and the goal for MainManager was to design a 100% web-based solution.  That goal was first accomplished in 2010, with the release of version 10. This allowed our customers to work with all their processes on the web for the first time, without the use of a windows program on the side.

MainManager version 11

In 2012 we released version 11 of the MainManager solution.  That version contained a newly designed interface implemented with the latest web technologies available at that time.  We introduced a new process layout that guided the users through a specific process within MainManager. For the past 7 years we have made small adjustments and additions to this interface. Today our customers are using version 11.14 of the MainManager solution. Version 11 has served our customers well for this time, but is starting to show it’s wear and tear, especially with all the exciting new web technology that has emerged over the past few years. Also, the demands of our customers have changed with new devices available, such as powerful smartphones and tablets.  As a result of that we have been working on a complete redesign of the MainManager interface, using all the new technologies available.

 

MainManager version 11 – Setup of sites process

 

Facility Management is a big field that contains a lot of complex processes. The challenge when designing a FM solution is to be able to work with all these processes, while keeping it simple and intuitive for the user of the solution. Through the years we have listened to our customers while also comming up with new ideas internally.  Therefore, when we started working on the redesign of the MainManager interface, we wrote down some design goals that we would try to accomplish throughout the whole process.

Simplify as much as possible

Even though the subject of Facility Management can be a complex subject, it doesn’t mean that the FM system has to be.  In the design of the new interface we have asked the question constantly: „How can we make this as simple as possible for the end user?“. To start with we have broken down the subjects that MainManager offers into independent processes that are predefined and require minimal setup. Each process provides extensive help and guidelines and all relevant settings are readily available.  We have kept all the things that make MainManager great, such as extensive filtering possibilities, grouping of data and accessability. In the new interface though, they are presented in a more non intrusive way.  If you are not using the feature it does not interfere, but access to it is only one click away.

Responsive design

Responsive design is an approach to web design that makes web pages render well on any device and screen size.  In the new design we have used all the latest technologies available, to make every process within the solution usable no matter the device used.

 

The same module on a big screen and a small screen

The same module on a big screen and a small screen

Performance

In today’s world users are used to have access to information within microseconds.  That can be difficult to achieve when dealing with large amounts of data as the MainManager solution does.  We have completely redesigned how we present and work with data within the solution using all the latest client side technologies available.  All unnecessary refreshes have been removed and in those places that need updating of data asynchronous web service calls are used to enhance the user experience as much as possible.

Graphics

For the past years it has been possible to use what we call the 3 graphical worlds in MainManager.  Those worlds are GIS maps, interactive drawings (2D) and BIM models (3D).  It gives the user of a FM system a big advantage to be able to use these graphical worlds within his daily work for viewing information and creating it.  The problem within the current solution is that these possibilities are not as visible as they should be and therefore are not used to their full capabilities.  In the new interface, we have worked on adding these graphical capabilities to every process, by making them readily available no matter where the user is and no matter what he is doing.

 

GIS map used to show buildings

GIS map used to show buildings.

 

Possible to open up a BIM model directly from the map

You have the possibility to open up a BIM model directly from the map.

One click setup

Our goal with the new design is to be able to offer a solution that can be up and running within minutes.  The biggest hurdle in that is to populate the system with the customers relevant data such as their sites and buildings.  Therefore, we have added integrations to the public data services such as Matrikkel in Norway and BBR in Denmark.  With just one click the customer can then populate the solution with the data available in these services.  All import of data has also been redesigned in a way that the user should always have a way to populate the solution with needed data no matter the data source.

User defined

An addition to our new interface, is the possibility for our users to create their own property windows, lists, filters and new fields.  This greatly reduces the cost for our customers since these things don‘t have to be programmed any more.

When

We estimate releasing the new interface for the MainManager system to our customers later this year. We are so looking forward to allowing them to experience a completely new MainManager. Hopefully it will give them the feel of all the hard work and joy that we have poured into it. Until that time I can give you a sneak preview of the new design through this video that shows the Helpdesk process within MainManager.

 

Stay in touch

If you want further information about us, and how the new interface could work for you, please contact us, and subscribe to our newsletter!

 

Until next time I bid you farewell.

Hilmar