Imdaad addresses the challenges of facility management in the Middle East at the Facilities Management 2008 conference
Imdaad, a Dubai World company that provides facility management strategic solutions in addition to comprehensive set of services, has participated in the Facilities Management Execution 2008 conference which was recently held in Dubai.
Mr. Ali Hassan Al Suwaidi, Executive Director- Imdaad Operations, presented a paper addressing the developments and challenges facing this fast growing industry in the Middle East in general and in the Gulf region in particular.
Speaking on FM critical components, Ali Al Suwaidi said: ‘The facilities management sector is poised for developing at an exponential rate in the near future and its size will increase substantially with the handing over of the large projects now under construction to FM service providers.
This sector will play a major role in the real estate business and will contribute to streamlining the operation of facilities and improve operational and financial performance.
‘The property development companies must be ready and availing of all FM resources for coordinating processes and means necessary for managing the new buildings in the future, knowing that this sector is still in its nascent stage in the market and requires a lot of work, experience and skilled labor.’
Talking about the many challenges facing the sector, he said that the priority must be given to ‘Educating investors and developers of the importance of facilities management and the role it plays in improving performance, rationalizing consumption and reduction of costs in the long run and the possibility of conceiving asset management strategies based on the highest safety and quality standards, guaranteeing to customers and investors the highest value and return on their investments.’
The facilities management systems comprises 4 key components: technology, information, people and management, and addresses issues such as performance measurement, reporting, decision support, operations, procedures, targets and priorities, in addition to engineering, diagnosis, skills, incentives and discipline.
Al Suwaidi also addressed the issues and challenges facing the facilities management industry in the Middle East ‘such as the size and diversity of the present and future development projects, the shortage of skilled labor and leadership talents, high costs and lack of local standards that govern the industry.’
