CAFM software vs. Flexopus: An overview of the differences

CAFM software maps facility management processes, ranging from space management and maintenance to contract management. Flexopus focuses on daily office use: employees book desks, rooms, and parking spaces, while facility management receives reliable occupancy data. Many companies therefore use both systems in parallel.

Anyone looking for facility management software will quickly come across the term CAFM. At the same time, since the rise of hybrid working companies have needed a solution that allows employees to book their own workspaces. This article explains what a CAFM system does, how it differs from Flexopus, and when a combination of the two is worthwhile.

What is CAFM software?

CAFM stands for Computer-Aided Facility Management. It refers to software that supports facility management and building management in the administration and operation of properties, spaces, and technical equipment. The German Facility Management Association (GEFMA) describes terms and performance features in the GEFMA 400 guideline, the current version of which dates back to March 2021.

Typical modules of a Computer-Aided Facility Management system include:

• Space management for buildings, floors, and rooms, often based on CAD or BIM data
• Maintenance management for servicing, testing, and inspections
• Asset and inventory management
• Contract and lease management
• Cleaning, relocation, and locking system management
• Energy controlling and operating cost accounting
• Help desk for fault reporting

The primary users are facility managers, building services staff, and external service providers. The CAFM system thus serves as the central database for a property and supports buildings throughout their entire life cycle.

What is Flexopus?

Flexopus is a platform for Workplace Management based in Stuttgart, which companies use to organize the use of their office space. Employees book workstations, meeting rooms, parking spaces, and assets on interactive floor plans, via an app, in a browser, or directly in Microsoft Teams and manage external guests with the Visitor management software. The booking process consists of three steps: select time, select location, book workstation.

Furthermore, the catering and service module allows catering and other office and facility services to be ordered directly for meeting rooms and meetings. For example, food, technology, seating, or other services can be requested centrally and forwarded to the responsible service providers.

Facility management uses Smart Analytics to see how heavily buildings, floors, and individual spaces are actually being utilized. Flexopus runs in the cloud, is hosted on dedicated servers in Germany and is certified by TÜV Rheinland according to ISO 27001:2022.

The most important differences between CAFM software and Flexopus

Workplace management: Where CAFM systems often reach their limits

Many CAFM providers have expanded their offerings to include room reservation or workplace management. GEFMA now evaluates this area with its own set of criteria during GEFMA 444 certification. Nevertheless, three weaknesses often emerge in the day-to-day operations of hybrid offices.

1. The interface is built for specialist users

A CAFM system is designed for facility managers who work with it daily. Anyone looking for a desk quickly in the morning needs a booking process that works without training and is available where they are already working, such as in Outlook or Teams. If this is missing, teams resort to verbal agreements or their own lists, and the data in the system becomes incomplete.

2. Booked spaces remain empty

A reservation does not necessarily mean the space will actually be used. Without Check-in Without a QR code or sensor, booked desks remain unoccupied, and the analysis shows a higher utilization rate than actually exists.

3. Lack of coordination for hybrid teams

In a hybrid office, employees want to know when their team is on-site and where they are sitting. Colleague search, favorites,home zones for individual departments or the integration of absences from the HR system are rarely at the core of a CAFM system.

At Flexopus, we often find in implementation projects that the request comes from a facility management department already using a CAFM system. They are looking for a booking solution that employees can use without training while still providing reliable data for space planning.

Why companies use Flexopus in addition to a CAFM system

In practice, the CAFM system remains the lead for master data, maintenance, and contracts. Flexopus handles booking and daily usage analysis, while also supporting the organization of services related to meetings and office space. The platform provides the following features for this purpose:

• interactive floor plans, manageable via the integrated floor planner
• booking via iOS and Android app, in the browser, in the Microsoft Teams app or via the Outlook add-in
• calendar synchronization with Microsoft Exchange and Google Workspace, so that room management with Outlook continues to run in parallel
• Catering and service requests directly via Flexopus: Employees can, for example, request catering, equipment, seating arrangements, or other facility services for meetings and room bookings and transmit them to the responsible service providers
• Check-in via QR code as well as sensors and IoT device sto track actual occupancy
• anonymized utilization rates per building, floor, and workstation
• over 35 HRIS integrations that automatically sync absences
• Single sign-on and SCIM provisioning via Microsoft Entra ID
• a REST API for data exchange with other systems
• Billing per resource instead of per user, which, given a desk sharing ratio of over 1, directly impacts the costs of desk sharing software significantly

An example from our client base: An insurance company with around 800 employees across two locations was already managing space, maintenance contracts, and cleaning schedules in a CAFM system. Desks, however, were assigned via floor-by-floor lists, leading to the well-known problems associated with desk sharing with Excel. Since introducing Flexopus, employees book their desks in teams and check in via QR code. After six months, the analysis showed that one floor was, on average, less than 40 percent occupied. The company subsequently converted the space into project and meeting rooms and updated the space data in their CAFM system accordingly.

Which solution is right for your company?

The decision depends on your primary objective. CAFM software is the right choice if

1. technical equipment, maintenance intervals, and inspection requirements must be documented,
2. contracts, rents, and operating costs need to be managed centrally,
3. multiple properties with extensive master data are being managed.

Flexopus is the right addition if

1. employees need to book desks, rooms, or parking spaces themselves,
2. Desk sharing is being introduced or expanded,
3. reliable occupancy data for space-related decisions is missing.
4. catering, meeting, and facility services need to be easily requested by employees and forwarded to internal or external service providers.

If points from both lists apply, combining both systems is a logical step.

Conclusion: CAFM software and Flexopus fulfill different tasks

CAFM software is the specialized system for facility management regarding buildings, equipment, and contracts. Flexopus organizes the daily use of the office by employees and provides the occupancy data that is often missing for space-related decisions. Companies that implement hybrid working on a permanent basis are therefore well-positioned with both systems and clearly defined responsibilities.