
Facility leaders today navigate more than ever: budget constraints, aging infrastructure, labor shortages, and rising expectations around sustainability and data transparency. In a recent webcast hosted by FacilitiesNet, ABM’s Alastair Ryder explored what it takes to stay ahead, and how integrated solutions are helping facility leaders shift from reactive to resilient.
Watch the full webinar: “Helping you solve for today’s facility management challenges” above.
What’s keeping facility leaders up at night
Today’s facility professionals face a widening scope of responsibility—and not always the tools or bandwidth to keep pace. Across industries, common challenges are emerging:
- Too much time spent on tactical issues instead of strategic priorities
- Hundreds of vendors to manage, onboard, and performance-monitor
- Rising cost pressures without the capital flexibility to respond
- Widening labor shortages across skilled trades and operations
- Fragmented systems and inaccessible data
- Urgent need for operational resilience in the face of disruption
"How can you improve your earnings per share or achieve your ESG goals if you’re stuck coordinating janitorial vendors?" Ryder asked. "The model has to evolve."
Why more leaders are reimagining their facility care model
ABM Performance Solutions, ABM’s Integrated Facility Services (IFS) model offers a different approach: a streamlined, full-service solution that consolidates vendors, centralizes accountability, and aligns services to your business goals.
Four pillars underpin the model:
1. Self-Performance ABM directly employs up to 80% of the team members servicing client sites, creating greater control, quality, and continuity. Multiskilled teams reduce duplication, lower operational risk, and increase efficiency.
2. Technology + Data Enablement From automated workflows to real-time dashboards, ABM Connect aggregates and analyzes operational and financial data to generate actionable insights and support continuous improvement.
3. Account Governance A dedicated account director leads each ABM Performance Solutions contract, with structured operational meetings, business reviews, and strategic planning to ensure shared accountability and aligned outcomes.
4. Specialty Technical Solutions From microgrids and EV charging to GMP-compliant digital cleaning logs, ABM brings deep technical capabilities to support critical environments, infrastructure upgrades, and client-specific goals.
Real results in action
- Sports Arena, California: $250K+ annual energy savings using predictive maintenance sensors
- Life Sciences Client: $250K in savings with digital GMP task tracking, improving FDA compliance and audit readiness
- Airport Terminals & Offices: Smart routing reduced labor costs by 10–15% while improving service quality
These examples show how ABM Performance Solutions moves beyond promises to measurable performance.
Energy audits that don’t gather dust
Energy audits are often overlooked and underutilized. ABM’s approach is to provide a full turnkey program to deliver on the identified opportunities, in four steps:
1. Preliminary Audit: Analyze utility data and conduct initial site survey
2. Investment-Grade Audit: Build a business case collaboratively with detailed scopes and savings models
3. Execution: Full project management from start to finish
4. Validation: Ongoing measurement and verification of savings
This approach transforms audits from theory to real outcomes—in both dollars and emissions.
Is it time to rethink your facility care model?
Organizations often face different challenges that suggest to leaders it might be time for a change.
- Mergers, acquisitions, or portfolio complexity
- Budget constraints and rising cost pressure
- Inability to meet ESG or sustainability goals
- Talent shortages or lack of technical bandwidth
- Corporate shifts toward core-business focus
The right fit, the right outcomes. Switch to ABM Performance Solutions.
ABM Performance Solutions is about more than operations. It’s about finding a partner who understands your culture, shares your values, and is committed to long-term success.
One common myth: moving to an IFS model means losing control. In reality, it’s a shift in roles. Facility leaders step into strategic oversight, while the provider focuses on day-to-day execution. With clear expectations, robust governance, and transparent KPIs, leaders retain visibility and gain capacity.
"It’s not about giving up control. It’s about structuring the right kind of partnership," Ryder said.
Ready to explore a better way to operate your facilities? Contact ABM to learn more.