By Dave Clifton
Content Strategist
SpaceIQ

For many companies, the workplace is their largest overhead expense outside of employee salaries. The question is, in the age of remote work and telecommuting, what exactly are you paying for when you choose to maintain a centralized workplace? The answer needs to be some form of competitive advantage and to achieve it takes a calculated approach to workplace design. That’s where SiQ comes in.

SiQ stands for “space IQ” and represents the concept behind the software. SiQ helps companies understand the workplace, the expectations of employees, and the financial impact of facilities, so that administrators can bring them all together in harmony. The software is a full Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) platform that enables everything from space utilization to real estate efficiency in an effort to ensure the workplace’s value outstrips its costs.

Here’s a look at what SiQ is, how it works, and why the concept of real estate management is such an important factor in the larger mission of a company.

SiQ overview

SiQ was formerly SpaceIQ, until the partnership with Archibus and Serraview, when the conglomerate adopted the latter as the umbrella’s moniker and renamed the existing software to SiQ. Despite the new name, the software has remained a powerful, intuitive, technological-driven staple for facility management professionals.

SiQ empowers workplace professionals to understand the space available to them, and to make the most of it at every level. From floor plans and desking concepts, to stack plans and portfolio insights, SiQ helps businesses own their facilities and leverage them into mission-driven operations. In short, SiQ is an intuitive, fast-to-implement workplace solution for mid-market companies that’s designed to make space management simple.

Using SiQ, companies gain access to foundational insights that drive more efficient use of space and an understanding of how best to leverage it into operational success.

SiQ features

Space insights need to happen at-scale. SiQ offers a robust range of features to help facility administrators and portfolio managers identify opportunities for efficiency at every level. Some of the essential features of the software include:

  • Space planning. Coordinate space and allocate it for maximum efficiency to unlock the true potential of the workplace. SiQ offers workplace administrators visual floor plans that make space planning simpler and more efficient, alongside contextual data about utilization rates, occupancy limits, and employee use trends.
  • Move management. Whether it’s a move to new facilities, a rearrangement of the workplace, or a temporary shift to meet a unique need, move management is imperative. SiQ offers a full suite of tools to manage moves and take the friction out of relocation including communication tools, checklists, ticketing integrations, and more.
  • Real estate insights. Is your workplace paying for itself? Real estate insight tools from SiQ help portfolio managers measure the ROI of each facility and the nuances of the workplace in a way that improves costing, allows for budgeting, and leverages workplaces into the company’s broader financial goals and mission.
  • Space forecasting. Growing companies need a way to forecast their need for space, and SiQ gives it to them. Space forecasting tools let workplace admins see utilization trends, occupancy metrics, and real estate costs—all alongside employment data that informs the future of facilities.
  • Floor plan visualization. From individual floor plans to stack plans and even intricate CAD and digital twin layouts, SiQ brings visual tools to floor plan design and modification. This, leveraged together with space planning tools, makes optimizing the workplace a visual process.
  • Hoteling and hot desking. For many companies, the best way to optimize space in the flex work era is through hoteling, hot desking, and other forms of space sharing. SiQ builds in desk and room reservation frameworks that let employees choose their workspace and style, without hampering space efficiency metrics.
  • Wayfinding. The workplace is for more than just employees. Visitors, collaborators, and craftspeople need to feel like they belong immediately, and to have no difficulty navigating facilities. SiQ wayfinding integrations make this possible, and unlock a seamless sense of navigation that promotes a better workplace experience.

From making space more accessible via wayfinding to forecasting and adapting for future changes to a real estate portfolio, SiQ empowers companies small and growing to understand and make the most of physical workplaces—even in an era when work has become distributed and decentralized.

How can SiQ help?

Real estate costs are continually on the rise. Now, in the age of remote work and alternative workplace opportunities, companies have begun to look closer at their own centralized workplaces. Is the cost of facilities worth the benefit they offer?

SiQ ensures that the answer to this question is a resounding “yes.” Through space planning, real estate insights, forecasting tools, hoteling software, wayfinding, and much more, SiQ helps companies optimize their workplace, to transform it from a cost center into a competitive advantage.

Keep reading: What is SpaceIQ?