Private research university modernizes with a unified CRE platform

A world-renowned, private research university sought to modernize its approach to managing the main campus to drive operational efficiency and improve the campus experience. It needed a solution that would provide an integrated institution-wide platform to track real estate and facilities management functionality.

Partnering with JLL Technologies, the University successfully delivered:

• 3-year technology roadmap to address the 60+ system issues and opportunities identified by JLLT during a thorough technology audit
• Organizational blueprint defining roles and responsibilities across the team with training and hiring plans
• Business case to leadership for ongoing funding to support the CRE team's core initiatives

A world-renowned, private research university established in the 1800’s, this institution’s main campus is home to more than 15,000 undergrad and graduate students and more than 2,200 faculty members. The campus, managed by the Facility Services Department (FSD), spans 217 acres, with 202 properties measuring 19 million square feet and is part of a global footprint that covers 20.5 million square feet across 276 properties. 

The university recognized a need to modernize the way it managed its main campus to drive operational efficiency and improve the experiences of students and faculty. Mired in a dizzying array of fragmented and disjointed tools, the ideal solution was described as an institution-wide integrated platform to track and manage real estate and facilities management functions. To help them achieve their goal the university partnered with JLL Technologies (JLLT) for analysis and recommendations related to organizational readiness, tools and systems, processes and automation, technology roadmap, and financial justification. 

• Funded, multi-year roadmap for integrated, enterprise-wide tracking of real estate and facilities management functions
• New service management model

• Geographies: United States
• Portfolio size: 20.5M SF globally; 276 properties 
• Client relationship: Since 2009

• Organizational analysis
• Tools & system analysis 
• Issues & opportunities identification
• Strategic systems roadmap

Solution #1: To address the lack of insight into current tools and data, JLLT completed a Maturity Assessment of the organization, processes, and technology tools as well as a Peer Benchmark of 13 Post-Secondary organizations. The output included:

• Maturity summary with ratings and commentary across all in-scope dimensions
• Technology audit which revealed 61 unique issues and opportunities across a chaotic environment that included 36 applications, 20 standalone point solutions, 21 integrations and 1200 users
• Three-year roadmap for business systems support, services and development including recommendations to address each issue through changes in people, process, and/or technology
  
  

Solution #2: To address issues regarding resource alignment, JLLT conducted an analysis of personnel skills to ensure the University had the required individuals to support its tools and technology landscape and to address training and change management needs. The analysis achieved the following:

• Uncovered a chaotic service management model, with no documented processes, roles, responsibilities, or SLAs, where the number of projects, tasks and hours were more than double the capacity of existing staff
• Provided recommendations for an ideal team structure, including titles, roles, responsibilities, and skills for each team member, to support ongoing operations
• Provided best practices for establishing a ‘Center of Excellence’ Service Desk
  
  

Solution #3: To enable the FSD to establish ongoing funding, JLLT provided data, content, and authoring support to complete a business case for submission to the University Provost. The output included:

• 10 strategic application and process approaches, with 3 top recommendations based on potential impact and cost
• 5 ‘no-budget’ process improvements for immediate implementation
• All supporting data tables, reports, and documentation