From Chaos to Coordination: What Is Integrated Facilities Management?

(Updated February 2025)

According to McKinsey, outsourcing services now make up more than half of the total facilities management market in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Various models exist within the market, and not all facilities management solutions are created equal.

In the face of recent market conditions, integrated facilities management (IFM) — that is, a holistic approach to managing facilities that integrates a wide range of service needs and capitalizes on synergies — has been a rising star. McKinsey reports that IFMs are capturing increasing market share, especially in North America, where IFM providers represent nearly 20 percent of the outsourced category.

But what exactly is integrated facilities management? Read on to learn more about this model and how an integrated approach can help retail businesses achieve greater operational efficiency and cost savings while preparing for future trends.

What Is Integrated Facilities Management?

Integrated facilities management, or integrated facility management, is a holistic approach to managing all of an organization’s facility services under one coordinated team. In a typical IFM model, multiple services — maintenance, cleaning, HVAC, landscaping, security, and more — are consolidated under a single management umbrella. This often means working with one trusted partner (or one internal department) that handles all facility-related needs, rather than juggling separate vendors or siloed in-house teams for each function.

In practice, IFM creates a unified strategy for facilities management functions. Instead of each service operating on its own, all activities are managed collectively to capitalize on efficiencies and synergies. For example, maintenance and janitorial schedules might be coordinated so that a repair and a deep clean happen during the same downtime, minimizing disruption. Or equipment data might be shared between teams so that a minor HVAC issue identified during a cleaning inspection can be fixed before it becomes a major problem. In other words, with IFM, every aspect of facilities management is connected, creating a smarter, more proactive approach.

Cristee Monahan, VP of Central Operations at City FM, emphasizes the enhanced collaboration and accountability that comes with integration. “With an IFM model, clients have one reliable point of contact for any facility issue, day or night,” she says. “There’s no juggling multiple vendors for different concerns, so nothing falls through the cracks or slows things down. This streamlined approach ensures that issues are resolved faster and more consistently, with clear ownership from start to finish.”

What is the difference between FM and IFM?

It’s important to distinguish general facilities management from integrated facilities management.

In simple terms, facilities management refers to all the services and processes that support the functioning of a building or organization. This can be handled in various ways — some companies manage everything in-house, while others outsource certain tasks to specialized vendors.

With traditional facilities management, each service (maintenance, cleaning, etc.) is managed separately, resulting in multiple contracts and multiple points of contact. Each provider or team works more or less independently. The facilities manager has to coordinate between all these parties, which can be challenging when schedules or priorities conflict. When facilities management services are outsourced, a traditional provider hires out the various functions to third-party vendors.

With integrated facilities management, on the other hand, all of the FM services are entrusted to a single provider (or a single coordinated team if handled internally).  This unified team collaborates internally to schedule work, share information, and deliver results according to an established set of standards and KPIs.

Essentially, integrated facilities management is a streamlined facilities management model. As IFM is outsourced in many cases, this approach takes the burden of coordination off the plate of the organization while reducing costs due to efficiencies.

Related: Outsourcing Facilities Management: Pros and Cons

Integrated Facilities Management Service Models

Under integrated facilities management, there are three common service models.:

• Fully Outsourced: An organization contracts a third-party facilities provider to manage all their services through various vendors. While this approach can offer strong rate negotiation, it lacks accountability and direct quality management, which can lead to repeat service calls and higher costs over the long term.
• Hybrid (Co-Sourced): A hybrid FM solution self-delivers some services with its own employees and manages other vendors for the rest. This approach offers an enhancement in operational efficiency but tends to result in some of the same accountability and service quality challenges seen in the fully outsourced model.
• Self-Delivery: Integrated self-delivery providers take a holistic approach and build a dedicated team of its own to deliver facility needs from end to end. By focusing on total cost of ownership, integrated facilities management can achieve cost reductions through efficiencies and technology innovations while delivering enhanced service quality.

As Cristee puts it, “The real power of self-delivery is in simplification. We eliminate the silos and redundancies that come with multiple vendors, making it easier to streamline operations and save costs.”

What Are the Benefits of Integrated Facilities Management?

Why go through the effort of consolidating services or hiring an IFM partner? Integrated facilities management offers a range of compelling benefits. Here are some of the major advantages organizations see when they adopt an IFM approach:

Streamlined operations

When all facility services are managed collectively, operations become far more efficient. With IFM, workflows and communication channels are unified, eliminating the need for constant coordination between separate vendors or departments.

An integrated facilities management provider may include the following services under one roof:

• Facilities maintenance
• Tenant relations and support
• Health and safety compliance
• Landscaping and grounds maintenance
• Intelligence and automation technology
• Building and engineering services
• Energy management and sustainability
• Disaster planning and emergency support

The result is smooth, coordinated operation in place of the disjointed processes of traditional facilities management, with the added payoff of the peace of mind that comes from knowing everything is being handled effectively.

Cost efficiency

Unlike traditional facilities management providers, which are hired on an ad hoc basis by the hour with costly emergency call fees, IFM companies adopt a total cost approach.

This method involves evaluating all costs associated with facilities management — both direct and indirect — over the entire lifecycle of the building and its systems. It goes beyond just hourly service rates to include long-term considerations like preventative maintenance, energy efficiency, and asset performance.

With this comprehensive view, IFM providers can reduce unplanned expenses, boost uptime, and optimize asset performance. Ultimately, the total cost approach helps businesses achieve more sustainable cost savings, while also allowing for long-term strategic planning to generate even greater cost efficiencies down the road.

Enhanced compliance & risk management

Facility management today involves navigating a web of regulations, safety standards, and risk considerations — from OSHA requirements and environmental laws to health codes and emergency preparedness. IFM makes it easier. For example, when new fire safety regulations or food handling standards are introduced, an IFM provider can update procedures once and roll them across all locations. There’s no need to chase down each individual vendor to ensure they’re aware and conforming.

Additionally, IFM enhances risk management by centralizing compliance efforts, ensuring every location meets the same high standards. With an expert team constantly monitoring regulations and compliance on their behalf, businesses can rest easy.

Scalability

If your business is growing, changing, or spread across multiple regions, scalability is a critical consideration for facilities managers. Integrated facilities management shines in its ability to scale and flex with business’s needs, ensuring facilities support doesn’t become a bottleneck to growth.

For companies planning to grow, an integrated facilities partner is a game-changer.Cristee Monahan, VP of Central Operations at City

“For companies planning to grow, an integrated facilities partner is a game-changer,” says Cristee. “We can mobilize support for new locations in weeks instead of months because we already have the people and processes in place. This means our clients can scale up without missing a beat on the facilities side.” This agility is a major reason fast-growing enterprises and widespread franchises often choose an IFM model.

Improved asset management

Facilities management isn’t just about day-to-day cleaning and repairs; it’s also about caring for expensive assets like building equipment, machinery, and systems over their lifecycle — and making them last. Integrated facilities management can significantly improve asset lifecycle management and maintenance outcomes.

Under IFM, all assets — from HVAC units to refrigeration systems to elevators — can be logged and tracked in one platform using the latest IoT technology. This helps forecast capital replacement needs and prevent scenarios where multiple critical assets fail unexpectedly because nobody had the full picture.

Vendor consolidation

Managing a long list of vendors can be a huge drain on resources. One of the simplest yet most impactful benefits of IFM is vendor consolidation — drastically reducing the number of external service providers you need to coordinate. Instead of dealing with 10, 20, or even 50 different vendor relationships, an organization utilizing an IFM provider only deals with one (or a very small number), freeing up internal facilities management team members to redirect their energy into higher-value  activities.

Access to expert resources

Integrated facilities management not only streamlines existing services; it can also expand access to expertise and resources that an organization might not have otherwise. Partnering with an experienced IFM provider opens the door to a wide range of skilled professionals, technology, and knowledge.

In addition to skilled facilities management technicians such as electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians, IFM providers often employ seasoned experts in specialized areas including the latest technologies, safety and compliance standards, and environmental regulations, ensuring their clients stay on the cutting edge of industry best practices and innovations.

This is especially powerful for companies whose core business isn’t facilities-related, as it enables a stronger focus on primary operations while the IFM partner brings in the best in the business to care for buildings and equipment.

How to Choose an IFM Provider

Once you’ve decided to explore integrated facilities management, the next big step is selecting the right integrated facilities management services provider for your organization. This is a crucial decision, as you’re essentially choosing a strategic partner who will touch almost every part of your operations. Here are some key credentials to help you make an informed choice:

• Proven experience in your industry: Look for an IFM provider with a track record of success in your specific industry or facility type, including demonstrated cost savings.
• Comprehensive service offering: Ensure the provider can truly handle the full scope of services you require.
• Delivery model and staffing: Ask about the provider’s delivery model. Do they self-deliver with a team customized to your needs, or do they primarily coordinate third-party vendors?
• Technology and data management capabilities: Any modern IFM provider will leverage leading technology solutions to enhance service, including a robust computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), an energy management system (EMS), IoT asset management, predictive analytics, and more.
• Safety and compliance focus: Since one of IFM’s benefits is improved compliance, dig into how the provider manages safety and regulatory requirements. Ask about their safety record (e.g., incident rates) and training programs.
• Scalability and coverage: Make sure the provider has the resources and geographic coverage to handle your portfolio, now and in the future.
• References and reputation: Finally, do your homework on the provider’s reputation. Beyond the polished case studies they offer, look for independent testimonials or talk to peers in your industry.

Bringing It All Together: A Holistic Approach to FM

In searching for an integrated FM provider, it will quickly become clear that not all IFM companies offer the same level of service. Simply consolidating your maintenance, building projects, energy management, and other services under one roof will have a powerful impact — but a truly successful partnership requires choosing a provider with a proven track record of delivering expertise, reliability, and long-term value.

As part of our industry-disruptive, data-driven delivery facilities management system for grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retailers, City can help FM teams implement the latest innovative practices to improve service quality, lower costs, and meet sustainability goals. Learn more about our Integrated Facilities Management services.