730: Calculating the Cost of Convenience in Facilities Management W/ Alex Carlson

Art of Procurement

“Everyone has an opinion about facility services in your buildings, so you're always trying to accommodate multiple stakeholders and juggle multiple departments.” - Alex Carlson, VP of Facilities Management Services at Fine Tune

In the world of indirect spend management, there are few categories as complex - and high stakes - as facilities management. Delivery locations and sometimes provider networks are distributed and fragmented, making selection, implementation, and ongoing oversight especially difficult.

It is no wonder, then, that so many companies are tempted over to “the dark side” of convenience-based solutions in this category. Unfortunately, allowing third parties to manage the delivery of services may also give them more control over cost than procurement realizes.

In this episode, Kelly Barner is joined by Alex Carlson, former Vice President of Category Management within Wells Fargo’s Corporate Properties division and new VP of Facilities Management Services at Fine Tune.

His experience and advice can help your organization avoid “the dark side” and instead walk towards the many opportunities for value creation associated with this category of spend.

Listen in to learn:

• The benefits of managing costs as well as services through a cost plus model
• How to navigate the transition from service provider to client
• Unique facilities management challenges in C-store, big box retail, and office environments
• In depth category perspectives and stories of managed services survival

Links:

• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Alex Carlson on LinkedIn
• Watch Again: Why is facilities management so complex?