The Leader - July/August 2008 - (Page 32)

rea l e stat e Ma NageMeNt Responding to the Challenge: Alberta, Canada’s Integrated Workplace Management System By doug stefaNyk aNd lyNN BeNN T he Province of Alberta, Canada is growing in population, prosperity and complexity. The expansion of the province in conjunction with a rapidly changing economic and technological landscape has placed enormous challenges at the foot of the Government of Alberta’s Infrastructure and Transportation (I & T) Ministry. Responsible for providing, managing and maintaining the necessary infrastructure to support Alberta’s growth, the I & T Ministry needed to respond to increased and accelerating demands in several core areas such as land management, facilities and space management, lease management as well as more complex reporting and long-term planning requirements. “We were using old software, DOS – Disk Operating Systems – with Dbase and clipper software”, explained Applications Development Manager Bob Silversides, “Our lease inventory applications were outdated, and we needed to convert to something more current.” respoNdINg to the challeNge A working group was established and worked closely with client departments, boards, agencies and other stakeholders to assess long-term infrastructure challenges and propose viable solutions. The result was a comprehensive, integrated “Building and Land Information Management System” that established a blueprint for responding to change and growth within the Province. To modernize, integrate and innovate might be a broad description of its aims. Infrastructure and Transportation wanted to better automate their lease and space management systems; to integrate and orchestrate BLIMS functionalities with their existing resident applications such as Lease Inventory, Lease Forecasting & Lease Status Systems; and to innovate wherever they found opportunities to do so (And they found several. See below). One key issue was whether to re-build the requisite information technology internally or to go out side and take advantage of existing, “off-the-shelf” Workplace Management Software. In addition, the Ministry had to examine its own business practices in the light of new demands and information technologies that were innovating on what seemed to be a daily basis. A great deal of “re-thinking” had to take place, and as a part of that process, RFPs were issued to several software companies that specialized in Workplace Management Information Systems (WMIS). After a thorough screening and procurement process, Infrastructure and Transportation selected the FAMIS Workplace Management System to achieve these goals. the le ade r 32 J u ly / a u g u s t

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - July/August 2008

The Leader - July/August 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Organizational Design Accommodating Growth Responding to the Challenge EMEA's Building Energy Rating TVA's Shortcut to Success ANZ Banking Group’s Jane Hamilton Tractus Asia’s Dennis Messeroll Arizona’s Greg Weiner Workplace Design Workplace Directory The Texas Report Industry Tracker Discovery Forum Findings Career Development Congratulations to 2008 Corenet Global Award Winners! Young Leader Economic Development in the News Connect with Corenet Global A Look Ahead

The Leader - July/August 2008

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