Company News

A SWEEPING CHANGE!!!!
CONSTRUCTION WORLD, Business Magazine, December 2007

Spic and span.... that's the first impression you get of the new software parks springing up everywhere with their gigantic glass facades. Ever wondered how they are kept so spotlessly clean? Well, its the facility management companies that are cleaning Corporate India. These are not small mom and pop establishments, but thoroughly professional outfits. Whether it is multinationals like Jones Lang La Salle Meghraj, CB Richard Eills,Knight Frank or Indian companies like the chennai-based Updater Services (p) Ltd.

The facility management(FM) business has been largely driven in the past 10 years by new IT companies, particularly BPO and ITES that house at least 2000 to 5000 people per company and consume maximum space, according to T Raghunandana, Managing Director , Updater Services (p) Ltd. Now, the business is getting even bigger with industrial units, large corporate houses, premium residential complexes, and even nationalised banks and educational institutions outsourcing FM, So how big is big?. The current space being managed professionally is around 250 to 300 million sq.ft," says Raghunandana. " We do around 50 million sq.ft with about 150 clients and a turnover of over Rs.100 crore". Today, there are 8 to 10 major players in the business with a pan india presence and they do not undertake space less than 25,000 sq.ft. Though small home- grown vendors offering basic housekeeping and maintenance are a plenty. " It would be like comparing potato chips made locally with the brand 'Lays'," quips Samita Rao, General Manager, Business Development, Updater Services (P) Ltd.

   Hard and Soft Services

    You name it. they do it. With multinationals demanding higher standards of housekeeping, FM is not just a mop and pail affair with an electrician and plumber thrown in. It encompasses any infrastructure that needs to be merged from housekeeping to engineering", says Raghunandana. In fact , we now include staffing and administrative services too. Services are broadly classified into Hard and soft services. Hard services ensure that aspects like a building's HVAC, elevations, fire detection systems, CCTV, public address systems, DG set, water pumps and building management system (BMS) operate efficiently, safely and legally.