How to Select the Best Facilities Management Software

We sat down with two people who know this process better than just about anyone. Darin Porter has spent years building and operating efficient facilities and has worked alongside more than 500 organizations to evaluate FM software and find the right fit. Justin Dyson brings 23 years of K–12 facilities management experience and now helps organizations navigate the software selection process full-time.

Both have spearheaded facilities management software selection processes at their prior organizations. Here’s what they’d tell you.

Define your selection criteria before you start shopping

Darin breaks the selection criteria into two buckets: the necessities and the nice-to-haves. Before you engage any vendor, clarify what belongs in each category.

For most organizations, the necessities include:

Core functionality

Does the system handle work orders, preventive maintenance, and asset management? Does it support the departments that will actually use it, such as maintenance, events, IT, and transportation? Can it consolidate what you’re currently doing across two or three disconnected systems?

Ease of use

This one is deceptively important. Can you train a technician on this system without significant oversight? User adoption at the technician level determines whether the entire organization derives value from the investment. If the people doing the work won’t use it, nothing else matters.

Reporting and dashboards

Justin calls them “paramount” and lists them as one of his top decision factors. If you can’t get meaningful data that you can put in front of your board, your CFO, or your superintendent out of the software, then you’ve simply bought a glorified ticketing system.

Interoperability

A standalone maintenance program is worth less than one that integrates with your inventory, your projects, and your asset data. The goal is a connected platform, not a collection of separate tools.

Scalability

Can the system grow with you? If you add buildings, staff, or new departments, does the pricing model and the functionality support that growth?

Customer support

It’s crucial to find a vendor whose customer success team will provide implementation, training, and ongoing support to help your team adopt and derive value from the system. You want to ensure that, if you ever run into a snag or augment your team, your vendor is quick to respond and willing to provide additional training as needed.

Your big rock list may match this one perfectly or include other items that aren’t listed. The important thing is to identify what you consider important to your organization before meeting with vendors. This allows you to maintain control of the conversations and, ultimately, the decision.

Get the right stakeholders in the room

One of the most common selection mistakes is running the evaluation from the top down, without looping in the people who will live in the system every day.

Darin’s rule of thumb: the smaller the organization, the more inclusive the evaluation should be. In a small district, the superintendent and CFO are often in the system too, and they should have a voice. In a large district with multiple administrative layers, this becomes more of a department-level decision.

But regardless of size, don’t leave your technicians out. They’re the ones who will either adopt the system or quietly work around it. And don’t forget the stakeholders whose reporting needs you’re trying to serve. Justin’s advice: “Find out what they want to see. Because a lot of times you can adjust implementation to fit that need.”

These folks may or may not attend all the product demonstrations, but it’s important to keep their perspective in mind when evaluating systems.

Build a scoring matrix

No matter if your procurement requirements demand a formal evaluation process or you’re just looking to evaluate a few vendors, a scoring matrix is your best tool.

Justin recommends identifying 10–30 evaluation criteria and assigning a weight to each criterion. Then score each vendor 1–5, multiply each score by its appropriate weight, and add the points at the end. This will help you narrow down to your top two or three before moving to live demos and a second round of scoring. Take a look at the example below, for reference.

		Functionality Weight= 3	Ease of Use Weight= 1	Support Weight= 2	Total
Vendor #1	Score	4	4	3	22
	Weighted Score	12 (4×3)	4 (4×1)	6 (3×2)
Vendor #2	Score	3	5	5	24
	Weighted Score	9 (3×3)	5 (5×1)	10 (5×2)
Vendor #3	Score	5	3	4	26
	Weighted Score	15 (5 x3)	3 (3×1)	8 (4×2)

Note that this is a very generic example. As mentioned above, you’ll want to create more thorough evaluation criteria to ensure you’re creating the appropriate short list.

Be sure the matrix you create complies with relevant procurement guidelines for your organization.

What happens when two systems score the same?

As Justin shares, “If your matrix is robust enough, you shouldn’t end up with a true tie. If I built my matrix right, there will always be a difference between companies.”

However, even with a well-built matrix, you may find yourself staring at two vendors with very close scores. In this situation, Justin’s advice is to choose the vendor with the lowest price. Darin relies on gut feel and factors such as organizational fit and responsiveness. Both suggest it’s also fair to bring in an impartial third party at this stage, someone who can offer a fresh perspective and may surface considerations that never made it onto your scoring matrix.

Watch out for scope creep in the demo

Once you get to the demo step of the process, it’s important to remember your evaluation criteria.

Both Darin and Justin have seen “scope creep” happen dozens of times. A vendor demo is going well, and then the salesperson shows you something that wasn’t necessarily on your evaluation criteria. Suddenly, you’re considering a package twice the size of what your team can realistically stand up.

The advice is simple: stay anchored to what you actually need to implement in year one, and what your team has the bandwidth to adopt. “You’ve got to be careful not to buy a bigger package than what you could potentially stand up with your team,” Darin says.

This doesn’t mean ignoring future capabilities. Justin suggests making note of what growth-oriented features you’ve been shown. They can serve as a differentiator when two vendors score similarly. But there’s a difference between understanding your roadmap and buying features you won’t use for two years. This leads us to the next point.

Think crawl, walk, run

Resist the urge to purchase every product on day one. Switching systems is already a significant lift for a team that’s busy and likely short-staffed. Layering in too much complexity during implementation is one of the most reliable ways to kill adoption.

Darin’s recommendation is to start with what you’re already doing. If you’re coming from another system, review the features you actually use and make sure the new system covers them first. Work orders, preventive maintenance, and inventory are a solid starting point for most organizations.

From there, evaluate your appetite for expansion. If events management is a real pain point, that’s a natural next step in the conversation. But have it after you’ve launched, stabilized, and gotten three to four months of real usage under your belt.

Look for these red flags during the sales process

Both Darin and Justin advise looking out for the following during a sales call:

• Question dodging: If a vendor won’t give you a straight answer, that’s telling.
• Vague or shifting pricing: Hidden implementation fees, unclear licensing structures, and big claims about “unlimited” customization without specifics are worth probing.
• Bold, unverifiable claims: “Fully customizable” means nothing without specifics. Push vendors to show you, not just tell you.
• No references: Any reputable vendor should be able to connect you with customers in your industry who will take your call.

One final watch-out: Don’t let another department decide for you

Darin warns facility leaders not to let their FM system selection get hijacked by IT, finance, or another department that bought a platform first.

We hear this quite a bit: “IT bought this system years ago for help desk, and we have to piggyback onto that system.” Or a free maintenance add-on came bundled with something else, and now leadership won’t approve a standalone purchase.

Facilities management deserves a solution purpose-built for what facilities teams actually do, not a module bolted onto someone else’s platform.

Conclusion

Choosing a facilities management solution can be challenging, especially with so many options available. While each organization will have its own approach to selecting its preferred vendor, the above tips have been crafted by two former facility leaders who have helped hundreds of organizations navigate the software selection process.