With workplace occupancy charges rising, enterprises are targeted on bettering the worker expertise whereas optimizing their areas and property with data-back decision-making. The Clever Office product announcement was a possibility for us to attach with trade professionals and share our imaginative and prescient of the way forward for work.
Throughout the occasion, we carried out three polls, and the outcomes carefully join with insights from earlier Eptura analysis. The outcomes reinforce the product improvement selections we’ve made to successfully deal with the trade’s present challenges and help organizations in reaching their particular targets all through the enterprise.
The questions targeted on key areas of curiosity for facility and office leaders: data-driven decision-making, collaboration and productiveness, and the worth of know-how in facility administration. The outcomes reveal widespread trade settlement whereas additionally highlighting fascinating regional variations between the North America (NA) and Europe, Center East, and Africa (EMEA) areas and Asia and Pacific (APAC).
A common curiosity in unified real-time information
For a lot of, present information challenges come from having too many programs, requiring firms to expend too many assets on folks and processes earlier than they will see any actionable insights. Actually, in line with the Office Index 2025, 50% of surveyed companies have a median of 17 standalone worktech options, and 37% use 11 or extra full-time equal workers to collate, analyze, and report on information.
Primarily based on the outcomes of our first and third ballot questions, trade professionals are clearly searching for unified options to deal with these inefficiencies and improve their total office and facility administration operations.
Which worktech answer will assist your group make data-driven selections sooner?
- Unified dashboards integrating office and facility information analytics
- Predictive modeling to optimize operations and useful resource allocation
- Actual-time insights bettering collaboration and house utilization
- Superior AI instruments for clever decision-making
What function would deliver probably the most worth to facility administration operations?
- AI-powered predictive upkeep for constructing property
- Unified information for managing house, guests, and tools
- Improved customer entry controls to guard folks and locations
- Automated work order creation and monitoring for technicians
Within the APAC occasion, 46% of respondents selected unified dashboards integrating office and facility information analytics because the worktech answer that will assist their group make data-driven selections sooner, whereas 56% recognized unified information for managing house, guests, and tools because the function that will deliver probably the most worth to facility administration operations. In NA/EMEA ballot, 37% of respondents favored unified dashboards for sooner data-driven selections, and 39% noticed the best worth in unified information for facility administration.
The second hottest reply in each units of polls was “Actual-time insights bettering collaboration and house utilization,” with 31% for NA/EMEA respondents and 30% for APAC respondents. Right here once more, the info illustrates the trade’s understanding that efficient decision-making is determined by breaking down silos and eliminating lags in information supply.
Many see dashboards as a key instrument for driving decision-making
The outcomes from the primary ballot query, “Which worktech answer will assist your group make data-driven selections sooner?”, reveal a powerful curiosity in unified dashboards that combine office and facility information analytics. Throughout each units of polls, unified dashboards was the most well-liked reply, with 37% of NA/EMEA and 46% of APAC respondents.
The outcomes of the ballot clearly point out that unified dashboards integrating office and facility information analytics are extra in style in comparison with different worktech options, each globally and within the APAC area.
Within the APAC area, the choice for unified dashboards is much more pronounced, with 46% of respondents deciding on this feature. This can be a substantial 16 share factors larger than the second hottest possibility, “Actual-time insights bettering collaboration and house utilization,” which obtained 30% of the votes. The opposite choices, “Predictive modeling to optimize operations and useful resource allocation” and “Superior AI instruments for clever decision-making,” obtained solely 8% and 16% of the votes, respectively. It’s essential to recollect the outcomes replicate relative significance, not absolute significance. The opposite choices all play essential roles in optimizing processes, however the outcomes spotlight the robust curiosity in unified dashboards, significantly within the APAC area, indicating a big demand for instruments that present a complete and built-in view of office and facility information.
Earlier information from the 2025 Office Index report once more echoes and provides context to the occasions’ ballot outcomes. When requested, “What are the most important challenges you face with analyzing your organizational information?”, the highest three solutions within the report are:
- A number of information dashboards (58%)
- Size of time to build up significant information (55%)
- Value of analyzing information throughout completely different options (32%)
For a office chief, a dashboard that features facility and office information supplies a complete, real-time overview of assorted metrics equivalent to house utilization, worker motion, and useful resource allocation. A centralized view helps them make knowledgeable selections shortly, making certain that the office is optimized for productiveness and worker well-being. For instance, they will establish underutilized areas and modify layouts or facilities. They’ll monitor tendencies in worker exercise to boost collaboration and effectivity. The power to visualise and analyze information in a single place additionally simplifies reporting and strategic planning, making it simpler to speak insights and justify selections to stakeholders.
For the upkeep division, a unified dashboard affords a strong instrument for proactive and environment friendly facility administration. By integrating information from numerous sources, equivalent to sensor readings, upkeep logs, and tools efficiency, the dashboard can present real-time analytics and alerts, serving to cut back downtime and lengthening tools lifespans. A unified dashboard may assist cut back interruptions as a result of the crew can see worker occupancy tendencies and schedule work exterior peak hours.
Regional return-to-office charges may have an effect on desk auto-release rankings
There have been regional variations associated to how office and facility leaders really feel they will greatest assist workers. When requested, “Which office administration function would most enhance worker collaboration and productiveness?”, 43% from APAC selected “Clever desk reserving with auto-release for unused areas,” making it the most well-liked reply. The second hottest reply was “Sensible scheduling instruments to optimize on-site attendance and even out midweek peaks,” at 33%.
On the NA/EMEA occasion, although, outcomes have been reversed. There, attendees ranked clever desk reserving second, with 28% of the vote. Sensible scheduling instruments obtained 46%.
Insights from the 2025 Office Index report recommend some attainable explanations for the similarities and variations throughout areas.
Midweek mountain stays world development
According to earlier Office Index reviews, the most recent information reveals there are midweek mountains within the Americas, APAC, and Europe, Center East, and Africa (EMEA). Because the widespread shift to the hybrid work mannequin, facility and upkeep managers face important will increase in exercise and demand on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, creating new challenges.
Within the quick time period, this implies elevated demand for assets, equivalent to desk availability, assembly rooms, and assist workers. Surges can lead to overburdened amenities, longer wait instances for companies, and potential tools failures resulting from larger utilization. In the long run, the midweek mountain can have extra lasting impacts on facility and office administration. The constant peaks in exercise can result in accelerated put on and tear on amenities and tools, rising upkeep prices and the frequency of repairs.
So, it’s not stunning that so many attendees confirmed a powerful curiosity in instruments to optimize attendance and even out midweek peaks. Many trade professionals are coping with this occupancy problem immediately, so there’s a variety of curiosity in implementing options.
Customer charges present extra development in APAC
“From our personal information, we see that previously three years, guests per location have practically doubled throughout all areas,” in line with the 2025 Office Index report.
There have been, nevertheless, statistically important variations in share development with:
- 150% in APAC
- 101% EMEA
- 83% Americas
These variations may assist clarify why trade professionals in APAC present a powerful curiosity in bettering desk reserving total. By decreasing the variety of unused or underutilized desks, the power can accommodate extra guests with out the necessity for extra bodily house, which might be pricey and time-consuming to amass.
The good thing about clever desk reserving with auto-release for unused areas is the way it permits workers to order desks or workspaces by way of a digital system, which robotically releases the reserving if the house just isn’t used inside a specified time-frame. It ensures workspaces are utilized effectively by decreasing the issue of “ghost bookings,” the place desks are reserved however not occupied.
One of many key benefits is improved house utilization, because it helps guarantee desks can be found for many who want them, decreasing wasted house. It additionally helps improve flexibility by permitting workers to simply discover and e book obtainable desks, selling a extra dynamic and adaptable work atmosphere. It considerably reduces the executive burden by automating the method of managing desk bookings, saving effort and time for administrative workers, who can then focus their time and power on extra strategic work.
The place the way forward for work comes collectively
On the occasion, Eptura Chief Govt Officer Brandon Holden outlined the present state of the trade. “Enterprises are beneath strain to handle rising workplace occupancy, ship frictionless experiences, and make smarter selections about their areas and property,” he stated.
He additionally introduced a path ahead, explaining that our updates will assist trade professionals overcome these challenges, with cellular instruments for subject groups, AI-driven options for managing workers and guests, and real-time analytics that improve office effectivity and safety.
To study extra about the way forward for work, watch the occasion video on demand.
By Erin Sevitz
Erin has 15 years of expertise, together with 10 years in thought management on office administration and the constructed atmosphere. In her present position she oversees groups accountable for worktech insights and interesting Eptura’s 16,000 prospects worldwide. Beforehand she led communications for the Worldwide Facility Administration Affiliation, a world trade nonprofit devoted to skilled improvement for office strategists, constructing managers, and company actual property.
