Although many CBRE-managed properties have onsite engineers, stationing them in all locations, including smaller facilities, or buildings in remote locations does not make economic sense. “We are managing a lot of portfolios of clients that need consistent service across distributed portfolios with unstaffed sites. Maybe they are in sites like Des Moines, IA or Waco, TX. They still have to get service in the building,” says Concannon.

CBRE's large corporate clients have needs in, for example, plumbing, HVAC work, lighting or discrete projects at smaller sites. Now, they can benefit from the FacilitySource technology portal. A large chain retailer has thousands of store locations across the country. If one of them experiences a leaky roof, their request would go to CBRE, who would select and dispatch help using FacilitySource's database of service vendors. This will save the building managers time and money, and with outcomes having greater predictability, according to Concannon.

In real-time, the client knows which third-party service provider took on the assigned task, what work was done and the cost.

Concannon notes that large corporations spend 4% to 5% of revenues on occupancy costs with turnkey providers. He adds FacilitySource will lower costs and that this tech-enabled facilities management service is unique to CBRE.

“Think of Uber, in the on-demand world that we live in,” Concannon says. “This is a prime supplier marketplace for on-demand in facilities management."