ServiceChannel Unleashes the Next Wave of IoT Innovation in Facilities Management

By AIT News Desk On Sep 26, 2018

Integration with Microsoft Azure will help drive innovative IoT solutions that save costs and improve the customer experience for brick-and-mortar businesses and their millions of associated assets

ServiceChannel, the leading facilities management platform, announced it will integrate Microsoft Azure cloud services as part of its strategy to accelerate the understanding and adoption of IoT technologies by real estate and facilities professionals. Announced at TRANSFORM, ServiceChannel’s Annual User Conference, the integration sets the stage for a wave of IoT innovation that will allow multi-site businesses to improve the on-site experience for customers while reducing operational and equipment costs.

ServiceChannel is taking advantage of Azure IoT Hub to make it easier for brick-and-mortar businesses in industries such as retail, healthcare, restaurant, convenience stores, financial services, and spa/fitness to collect, analyze, and take proactive action based on data from IoT-enabled assets and equipment.

There are over two million commercial properties in the U.S. that are part of multi-location enterprises, who collectively spend $100 billion to keep their facilities well-maintained, safe, and inviting to customers. Through this new integration, ServiceChannel believes it can help to reduce annual facilities repair and maintenance costs by up to 25 percent through smarter management of equipment, while also ensuring a better customer experience.

“Modern technology is revolutionizing the facilities world, and IoT will help automate this massive market, driving the next phase of cost savings and customer experience improvements,” said Tom Buiocchi, CEO of ServiceChannel. “We are excited to work with Microsoft to deliver even more benefits for our customers.”

ServiceChannel’s customers span over 300,000 locations globally and manage tens of millions of assets that heat, cool, light, clean, cook, move people, and perform many other necessary functions across multiple industries. Many ServiceChannel customers already use Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, and the new IoT collaboration will integrate with, and extend this solution, to help maintain these assets more automatically, at lower cost, and with fewer customer disruptions than today’s solutions.

“ServiceChannel adds value to the Microsoft Azure partner ecosystem because of their strong technology and industry background. They are committed to creating a trusted customer experience across all brick-and-mortar locations which is a key scenario as we look to drive forward IoT solutions,” said Paul Maher, general manager of Industry Experience at Microsoft. “At Microsoft we’re committed to advancing opportunities in IoT by enabling our customers to transform their business with connected solutions running on Microsoft Azure that will improve the overall customer experience.”