“The shift is already there and we are on the right path”

BY Realty Plus

Outsourced Client Solutions (OCS) forayed in India market almost 20 years back. The company had the first mover advantage but it also took them time to understand the market and customize product offerings accordingly. The current Managing Director of OCS Group India Sumit Sabharwal speaks to Sapna Srivastava.

The new way of working in Indian real estate provides huge opportunities but it also took us a while to plan our way forward and customize product offerings according to India market. OCS provides 70 different services in 40 countries worldwide. When we get our global learning to Indian customer, the difference it makes to the end customer is vast. This can be the passenger experience at the airport, the residents experience at the residential complex, the employees experience at the commercial offices or the patient experience in a hospital that is managed by us. How do you synergize with architect and developer of the project? We are involved at the early stages, before the site is getting handed over. We work closely with our clients in providing them with the right solutions based on our knowledge of the industry. We help them with everything right from deciding what is the best security needed for the premises and to maintaining the greenery around their area. We have these value discussions at every step of relationship with the client. Also read http://realtyplusmag.com/dda-to-launch-online-portal-to-facilitate-stakeholders-of-land-polling-policy/ Also, when we take over already constructed project we do a very detailed analysis of the project and the works that need to be done, whether they are AMCs or renovations that have taken place over the years. We even worked with very specialized assets like Vapour Absorption Refrigeration Systems (VARS). We are one of the leading players in India who can not only maintain them but also optimize their usage. One of the key areas we add value is that client doesn’t have to deal with ten different technicians for various solutions. In this way it creates a lot of ease of use for the clients as well as the end users.  The core functions are completely in-housed. Where ever we have to get a very specific expertise then we have our partners.

The company is leveraging digital media platforms, automation in energy management, customer experience analytics and transformational predictive maintenance services to offer an integrated facility management solution across multiple industries including healthcare, aviation, commercial, residential, manufacturing and information technology.

How are clients responding to FM services or they cut corners in that area? It is value that the client is expecting at the end of the day and we have a client centric model. Then comes the cost, for example, if we are making a customer invest in an energy saver then we approach him and then explain to him the return on his investments. In addition, we keep updating the clients on the benefits that they are getting through our regular monthly and quarterly governance meetings with our clients. We also inform them about the new things like in a shopping mall if there is any customer feed-back that we are getting, we put it across to the client and how to improve on that. This all translates into customer being convinced on his investment in the right product and service. In fact, we also have a command center in our Mumbai office that gives updates of all the 1300 sites that we are managing. This provides a seamless communication between the sites and up to date benchmarking of various functions at the sites. Also read http://realtyplusmag.com/deleveraging-boosts-opportunities-for-foreign-investors-in-china/ What are the challenges facing the Facility Management companies? The biggest challenge for FM companies is getting the right solution for the right requirement. In some of the parts of the country, skilled man power is a challenge. Sometimes growth becomes a point of discussion. However, awareness is increasing. Now the discussion is on the end user experience, earlier it was on the SLAs. Now the mindset has changed, especially amongst the big developers. We come together and decide at what stage do we find the right solutions. And in many projects, we have managed to co-create the experience with the end users and developers. The shift is already there and we are on the right path.

Tags : Projects Interviews Developers Architects OCS group Facility Management commercial offices residential complex