Owoeye Johnson, The Co-founder and Executive Director of Sysserve has urged businesses in Africa to embrace intelligent digital platforms as the future of sustainable facility management. He made this call while delivering a paper at the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Global Africa Conference. An event designed to connect industry experts, share knowledge, and explore innovative strategies.
Highlighting Sysserve’s impact, Owoeye explained that the company’s facility management solution. Deployed over the past 13 years, has supported organisations at different levels of their digital transformation. He outlined five stages of digitisation maturity non-existent, nascent, emerging, connected, and intelligent. Stressing that each reflects how companies adopt technology to improve operations and sustainability.
At the non-existent stage, firms lack centralised systems, relying on manual record-keeping and slow approval processes that hinder efficiency. The nascent stage involves basic systems, often underutilised, serving more as storage tools than operational drivers. Organisations in the emerging category fully operate facility management systems but remain heavily dependent on human input, leading to errors and delays in reporting.
The connected stage advances further, with businesses investing in IoT-enabled sensors that track energy usage, occupancy, and equipment performance. These systems integrate with enterprise applications to automate procurement and vendor payments, though data overload often creates new challenges.
At the intelligent level, companies achieve digital maturity. Here, AI and big data analytics deliver predictive insights for planning, budgeting, and resource allocation. Operations become almost autonomous, powered by real-time IoT and AI-driven decision-making.
Reinforcing this view, Abuja-based facility manager Femi Kareem noted that intelligent platforms enhance resource efficiency in energy, water, and space while cutting waste, reducing costs, and driving sustainability.
Owoeye concluded that building an intelligent facilities management system is a gradual journey that requires strategic planning, investment, and continuous improvement. He stressed, “Every step forward brings organisations closer to a smarter and greener future. The time to begin is now.”
