At Planon, we believe that building users, building owners and service providers deserve better and more integrated experiences. With our software solutions we want to enable our customers to provide the best facilities, campuses, workspaces, and related services to offer efficient and superior user experiences.
We firmly believe in the power of innovation and invest a substantial part of our yearly turnover in research and development. As a result, independent market research and consulting firms have regularly rated Planon as a global leader in the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) market. In this article, we would like to explain more about our innovation process, the impact on and benefits for our customers.
Innovation to improve our services
In order to stay up-to-date, maintain the high level of service and support our customers with the smartest solutions, we have to keep innovating. Therefore we continuously deploy new functionalities in our tools. Unfortunately, older functionalities are sometime phased out as a result. Generally, these functionalities are replaced by smarter, faster, safer or more efficient versions. Yet sometimes, old functionalities have to make space for different solutions that will improve our customers’ lives in different ways.
In theory, innovation sounds like a big process. In practice, innovation consists of many, many smaller improvements. Every month, new features are introduced into our Planon software, either in the user interface or in the underlying technology. To enjoy the benefits of these features customers can choose to enable them, they are simply available in the updated system. Occasionally, improved features are developed. These are, as the term already indicates, improved features of existing functionalities. In order to roll out these improved features, we often need to make some changes in the existing software. Changes can be small, like a new name for a field. However, when this field is used by a customer in reporting functionality or tailor made software, changing the name of a field can have a substantial impact. Yet, these small changes are necessary to move forward with our technology, in order to be able to keep offering the most efficient, safe and user friendly solutions to our customers.
Small changes for big impact
An example of such a change is the meter structure feature. From December 1, 2023, daily meter readings will be merged into regular meter readings. When this feature switch is enabled, all daily meter readings are moved to regular meter readings in the background. While this change will offer extra benefits for our customers as they will be able to produce more flexible and comprehensive reports, this may cause some inconvenience for customers who have embedded the daily readings into their own processes.
When changes like these are implemented, we provide advance warnings for our customers via our Customer Portal. Additionally, we allow them ample time to process the changes and implement any necessary measures to adapt any dependent processes. This way, customers can decide for themselves when is the best time for them to start working with the improved features. After a defined time period, depending on the impact from several months to a few years, we can then safely stop support of the old functionalities in our software without causing any disruptions in our customers’ workflows.
Keeping track via the Planon Customer Portal
All planned changes for the coming months are listed in the Planon Webhelp. The best way to stay up-to-date is by watching the trailers that are shared every month, where we explain exactly what features will be updated and which features will become effective in the coming three months. Improved features either become effective by date or by release number and in this comprehensive overview, it is indicated clearly whether date or release number is leading for that specific feature update. We advise our customers to watch the trailers every month so it is clear what features they should look out for, and what changes might possibly affect their workflows.
If any of the improved features impact your business, feel free to contact our Support team via the customer portal, which is available for our customers 24/7 to assist with your questions. You can easily upgrade your current product to a different version independently. However, if any help is desired or if you prefer a custom-made solution, please contact your Account Manager.
By continuously improving our features and updating our products, we ensure that our customers directly benefit from our innovations in their day to day business. This way we will guide them into the next generation(s) of smart building management and the digital transformation of buildings, moving towards the sustainable workplace of the future.