Facility Management – 30 years of moving forward!

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In August 1990, Gunnlaugur B. Hjartarson and Linunhonnun engineering office, along with Petur Gunnlaugsson, started the MainManager adventure. At the time, the concept of Facility Management did not exist in the minds of its founders. The main objective was maintenance of buildings and the development of knowledge banks for durability of building parts.

Founder, Gunnlaugur reflects:

We were lucky to get good customers from the beginning, but in these early years, we probably also made all the mistakes that could be made. Brave men and women were sent out to building sites to measure and record building components, ranging from windows and walls to technical systems and beyond. We soon became champions on registering building parts, but we had little focus on how maintaining all this detailed information would do the building owner any good. When we saw what they really needed; tools that solves daily tasks, we began to identify what kind of processes are useful for the general management of real estate.

This was a good lesson for us – and our customers. It should be mentioned that they are still our customers today.

After some time, we learned that our subject is called „Facility Management“. We have developed this subject further, with great partners in Scandinavia and the UK. The journey has been extremely instructive. Now, 30 years later, MainManager is used to manage 10.000.000 m2, in 7 countries.

Through our many and varied customers, and off course our skilled employees, we have learned which processes in Facility Management gives the most benefits. It is fair to say that MainManager over the years has developed recognized and tested solutions within the Facility Management sector. So, after 30 years on our own, we are now super excited to start a new adventure as part of the ØRN Software family. I always wanted our product to be accessible for everyone who needs a clear overview of their properties. With ØRN, we will achieve just that.

Graphic Designer, Gro Teig continues:

In 2017 I started my adventure in MainManager. That makes me one of the latest to join the MainManager team. Still, I think my observations, my experience, (and my survey for the employees…) can shed some light on the people behind the product.

So, what started with 1 person in Iceland 30 years ago, now consists of a group of talented individuals in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. We love to educate ourselves, and in total we spent around 120 years doing so : )

As a goldsmith, turned graphic designer, I must admit, I was a bit nervous about joining the crew of developers, engineers, sales- and product experts. I had been very ill for a few years. I felt a bit off my game, and entered a high intensity work environment, with my own reduced work capacity. All my nerves were soon calmed, as I from the start was very well taken care of. A reason for this might be that we, in addition to working with making great software, also are raising 37 children, 5 dogs, 5 cats and 9 (!) rabbits. That requires a lot of care & love!

I guess we also really love our workplace, as we in average have spent more than 10 years in MainManager. Some a lot more, a couple of us a little less. One can only do so much business, without a good dose of pleasure. We are travelers, nature lovers, party people, sportsmen- and women. We love Fridays, but do not mind Mondays. For those of us, who needs coffee to get through the week, we drink around 4 cups of the brew every day.

Every year all employees, and our partners, meet up for a fun weekend. With offices in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway, we do not really see each other that often. The annual party is therefore an event we all look forward to! 2020 was sadly a year we were not able to keep up the tradition, hug each other and dance the night away. I hope we can reach out beyond the screen soon!”

Now we are entering a new era, with our new extended family; Ørn Software. It’s exciting and we are looking forward to the road we’re going to walk with our new colleagues in Norway.

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View Software Acquires MainManager

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New chapter for MainManager

The MainManager team is looking forward to being part of View Software and the Viking Venture family. We have found a perfect match for our vision and ambition to be a leading company within Facility Management in the Nordic region and other countries. We are experiencing a major shift in the construction industry. Professional building owners are gaining much more focus on how to efficiently managing their building portfolio. Using FM tools enables them to make even better decisions about new facilities and more sustainable solutions.

Who is View Software?

View Software is a Norwegian company with a dominant position in the development of software to support all forms of digital maintenance and energy follow-up. The company was founded in 1990 and has its headquarter in Trondheim. Their current activities are based in Scandinavia, but they have a clear strategy and goal of expanding in other parts of the world.

In recent years, View Software has acquired a number of software companies that support the maintenance of production equipment, aquaculture and properties. Read more about viewsoftware.

With the acquisition of MainManager, we have gained access to a modern software platform that will quickly strengthen our competitiveness in Scandinavia. When we look across our portfolio, we will be able to put together unique industry-specific solutions. Solutions that will enable our customers to realize even greater gains with View MainManager in the future.

Sten-Roger Karlsen, CEO View Software 

View Software Acquires MainManager

Why selling MainManager?

At MainManager, we have always had ambitions to distribute the solution to the whole world. After 30 years in the Nordic region, we have learned that it requires in-depth market understanding and capital to gain a foothold in new markets. The owners of MainManager see the transfer as an important part of being able to realize the company’s full potential. We believe that View Software can meet this long-term strategic challenge. View works professionally with sales. Customer Success and User Experience Design are among the company’s core competencies. We have no doubt that it will benefit our current and new customers.

Will the sale lead to any major changes?

The founders of MainManager, Gunnlaugur B. Hjartarson and Gudmundur Ludvigsson, will remain in the company. They will become investors in View Software in connection with the transfer. All other employees remain in the company after the takeover. Our Icelandic team continues to work tirelessly from Reykjavik, and daily tasks will still be solved from our offices in Oslo and Copenhagen. MainManager’s brand and interface, lives on. We look forward to welcoming you and a lot of new users to View MainManager.

Best regards

Guðrún Rós Jónsdóttir, CEO MainManager

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Hattrick for MainManager!

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MainManager – ‘Excellent in Iceland’ – three years in a row

In September 2020, MainManager Facility Management once again received the Fyrirmyndarfyrirtæki í Rekstri (Excellent in Iceland) recognition by Viðskiptablaðið and Keldan. MainManager is among the 3% of companies in the country to receive this award. Now we have received it three years in a row – and we are pretty happy about the hattrick!

MainManager Facility Management - 'Excellent in Iceland' three years in a row
We are really happy to have accomplished this, three years in a row now.

In order to get listed, companies need to live up to various conditions;

The companies must have delivered a positive return in the 2019 fiscal year. Revenues must have exceeded 30 million IS krónur, assets over 80 million, and the equity ratio must have exceeded 20%. In addition, other factors, like the results from previous year are taken into account.

But that’s not all

In addition to receiving the ‘Excellent in Iceland’ recognition, we are really excited about the development of our future MainManager FM version. We have learnt a lot within Facility Management for the last few years, and we are still learning. We have a great team, that consists of a diverse group of talented individuals that are passionate about delivering an outstanding product and service. That’s how we move forward in such a good way.

Big shoutout to MainManager Facility Management offices in Denmark and Norway, we all pull together! Hopefully we get to hang out together again – both customers and MainManager teams – across the different countries, when the world opens up again. In the meantime – stay safe out there.

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Excellent in Iceland 2019

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We are generally a pretty happy crowd here at the Icelandic office, but today is extra special!
Big shoutout to our offices in Denmark and Norway too, we all pull together!

FEELING A LITTLE PROUD TODAY

In September 2019, MainManager received the Fyrirmyndarfyrirtæki í Rekstri (Excellent in Iceland) recognition by Viðskiptablaðið and Keldan. MainManager is among the 3% of companies in the country to receive this award. That is kind of cool!

In order to get listed, companies need to live up to various conditions;
The companies must have delivered a positive return in the 2018 fiscal year. Revenues must have exceeded 30 million IS krónur, assets over 80 million, and the equity ratio must have exceeded 20%. In addition, other factors, like the results from previous year are taken into account.

You can read the special edition of Viðskiptablaðið here.

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​

FACILITY MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE IN ICELAND

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Last Friday we held a Facility Management conference in Iceland.  The goal was to talk about the different uses of MainManager in Denmark and Norway. We also wanted to share what we have learnt within Facility Management for the last few years.

This was one of the hottest days until now in the Icelandic summer (around 10 degrees). That did not stop the enthusiastic crowd of Facility Managers from attending our conference. We would like to thank them all, because we know how hard it is for an Icelander to stay inside, when there is sunshine outside : )

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TALKS

After a nice introduction from our CEO Guðrún Rós Jónsdóttir, Gulli B. Hjartarson, the Manager of MainManager Norway, honoured us with the first talk of the day. He told us everything (and more!) about Facility Management and the effects of the digital revolution on Facility Management as an industry. He was followed by our Norwegian based employee Einar, who told us about Statsbygg (The Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property), and how MainManager has become one of the critical systems within their organisation. 

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Statsbygg’s use of MainManager by Einar


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THE DANISH MARKET

After a 15 minute break where attendants were able to stretch their legs and consume some fuel in the form of mini burgers, it was time to talk about our Danish market.

Our Danish Branch Manager, Guðmundur, kicked it off by talking about how Danish municipalities are using MainManager, focusing on the Danish municipalitie Slagelse. He then moved on to talking about Region Midt (Central Denmark Region), and how they are using BIM within MainManager. Our Iceland based employee, Þorgerður, then concluded the Danish part of the conference, by talking about Copenhagen University, and how they use MainManager within Space Management.

Our energy specialist in Iceland, Sævar, then proceeded to talk about how MainManager can be used within energy consulting. 

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Sævar on energy consulting

SNEAK PEAK TO MAINMANAGERS NEW SOLUTION

Then it was time to give participants the opportunity to stretch their legs again before the last talk of the day.  Elísabet, Guðjón and Hilmar gave participants a glimpse into the new version of MainManager that is on its way later this year.

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Hilmar and Guðjón happy to show off parts of the new solution

Overall the conference was a big success. We hope that all the participants went home a little wiser about Facility Management as an industry, and with more knowledge on how MainManager can be used to optimize success, within that industry. We noticed that people were very excited about the development of our future MainManager FM version.

This will defenitely not be the last conference MainManager will hold. We are already looking forward to the next one!

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Travelling to Mid-Norway

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CASE: Municipality of Trondheim, Norway

As you might know, MainManager consists of a mix of Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic employees, and we are not necessarily residing in our native country. We have Icelanders at the office in Oslo, and I am a Norwegian ‘gal’ living and working in Denmark. So I always get a little excited, when I get to connect with our clients in Norway. Our yearly ERFA meeting is certainly a nice opportunity. This year’s ERFA was no exception. Our project specialist Henriette and I were seated at the same table as Kenneth Løkslett from the Municipality of Trondheim’s Property department.

Our customer in Mid-Norway

Trondheim Property is the largest unit in the municipality of Trondheim, with close to 600 employees. They are responsible for management, operation, maintenance and cleaning of all 4000 municipal buildings – approximately 1 mill m2. They are also Mid-Norway’s largest owner / developer, and builds for approx. one billion NOK every year. Kenneth – and a couple of his colleagues – participated on last year’s ERFA meeting as brand-new customers. This year he was one of our guest speakers. First of all, he gave us insight in how they will use MainManager software for efficient operation and maintenance, with the help from 2D drawings and municipal mapping. Furthermore, how the 2D drawings likewise will be a great asset to the planning of cleaning tasks in the municipality.

Getting ready for work

Henriette has been working for quite some time on creating interactive 2D drawings of all kinds of buildings managed by the municipality. For now, a total of 919 drawings are ready to be implemented to the system.

One of the 919 drawings – done in 10 seconds…

Working with MainManager

About this time of the year – 26 years ago – I was living in Trondheim. It was my first real home away from home, and I was working at a primary school called Charlottenlund barneskole. It was a great school. What I remember the most, is that the kids were cool, and that the teachers were really, REALLY into soccer – their pride and joy – the city’s team Rosenborg. I finally left Trondheim to live in Iceland for some months, and I fell in love with the beautiful island. Now my Icelandic employer has taken me back to Trondheim. Among other things, because of 2D drawings of my old workplace, Charlottenlund. Henriette was teaching the team at the Municipality of Trondheim’s Property department on how to implement the drawings to MainManager.

Henriette and Berit working their way through implementing the drawings to MainManager

I was there to assist – but also to see how it works in the customers hands. It’s the absolute best way of finding out how to move next, both for us, but more importantly, for the hands-on users in Trondheim, starting up a whole new system. We went home with a lot of feedback, and the group in Trondheim got insights on how to start up their work of implementing their drawings to the MainManager system. To be continued…

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New interface for the MainManager system

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My name is Hilmar Steinthorsson and I started working with MainManager in 2001. I know I’m a dinosaur : )

In this blogpost I’m going to recap a little bit the history of the MainManager solution. I will also tell you about the exciting work that is going on at the moment. We are working on a brand new interface for the MainManager system. For the past 18 years I’ve taken part in many redesigns and changes to the MainManager system. I have to say though, that the current design we are working on, is the most exciting yet!

MainManager version 10

When I started working at MainManager, the solution was only available as a Windows program. It was accessible through something called terminal server.  The web technology was on the rise and the goal for MainManager was to design a 100% web-based solution.  That goal was first accomplished in 2010, with the release of version 10. This allowed our customers to work with all their processes on the web for the first time, without the use of a windows program on the side.

MainManager version 11

In 2012 we released version 11 of the MainManager solution.  That version contained a newly designed interface implemented with the latest web technologies available at that time.  We introduced a new process layout that guided the users through a specific process within MainManager. For the past 7 years we have made small adjustments and additions to this interface. Today our customers are using version 11.14 of the MainManager solution. Version 11 has served our customers well for this time, but is starting to show it’s wear and tear, especially with all the exciting new web technology that has emerged over the past few years. Also, the demands of our customers have changed with new devices available, such as powerful smartphones and tablets.  As a result of that we have been working on a complete redesign of the MainManager interface, using all the new technologies available.

 

MainManager version 11 – Setup of sites process

 

Facility Management is a big field that contains a lot of complex processes. The challenge when designing a FM solution is to be able to work with all these processes, while keeping it simple and intuitive for the user of the solution. Through the years we have listened to our customers while also comming up with new ideas internally.  Therefore, when we started working on the redesign of the MainManager interface, we wrote down some design goals that we would try to accomplish throughout the whole process.

Simplify as much as possible

Even though the subject of Facility Management can be a complex subject, it doesn’t mean that the FM system has to be.  In the design of the new interface we have asked the question constantly: “How can we make this as simple as possible for the end user?”. To start with we have broken down the subjects that MainManager offers into independent processes that are predefined and require minimal setup. Each process provides extensive help and guidelines and all relevant settings are readily available.  We have kept all the things that make MainManager great, such as extensive filtering possibilities, grouping of data and accessability. In the new interface though, they are presented in a more non intrusive way.  If you are not using the feature it does not interfere, but access to it is only one click away.

Responsive design

Responsive design is an approach to web design that makes web pages render well on any device and screen size.  In the new design we have used all the latest technologies available, to make every process within the solution usable no matter the device used.

 

The same module on a big screen and a small screen

The same module on a big screen and a small screen

Performance

In today’s world users are used to have access to information within microseconds.  That can be difficult to achieve when dealing with large amounts of data as the MainManager solution does.  We have completely redesigned how we present and work with data within the solution using all the latest client side technologies available.  All unnecessary refreshes have been removed and in those places that need updating of data asynchronous web service calls are used to enhance the user experience as much as possible.

Graphics

For the past years it has been possible to use what we call the 3 graphical worlds in MainManager.  Those worlds are GIS maps, interactive drawings (2D) and BIM models (3D).  It gives the user of a FM system a big advantage to be able to use these graphical worlds within his daily work for viewing information and creating it.  The problem within the current solution is that these possibilities are not as visible as they should be and therefore are not used to their full capabilities.  In the new interface, we have worked on adding these graphical capabilities to every process, by making them readily available no matter where the user is and no matter what he is doing.

 

GIS map used to show buildings

GIS map used to show buildings.

 

Possible to open up a BIM model directly from the map

You have the possibility to open up a BIM model directly from the map.

One click setup

Our goal with the new design is to be able to offer a solution that can be up and running within minutes.  The biggest hurdle in that is to populate the system with the customers relevant data such as their sites and buildings.  Therefore, we have added integrations to the public data services such as Matrikkel in Norway and BBR in Denmark.  With just one click the customer can then populate the solution with the data available in these services.  All import of data has also been redesigned in a way that the user should always have a way to populate the solution with needed data no matter the data source.

User defined

An addition to our new interface, is the possibility for our users to create their own property windows, lists, filters and new fields.  This greatly reduces the cost for our customers since these things don‘t have to be programmed any more.

When

We estimate releasing the new interface for the MainManager system to our customers later this year. We are so looking forward to allowing them to experience a completely new MainManager. Hopefully it will give them the feel of all the hard work and joy that we have poured into it. Until that time I can give you a sneak preview of the new design through this video that shows the Helpdesk process within MainManager.

 

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Until next time I bid you farewell.

Hilmar

Gísli Heimisson has been appointed the CEO of MainManager

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Gísli Heimisson has been appointed the new CEO of MainManager.
Gísli has extensive experience from the business sector, he was the COO at MP Bank until spring 2015 and previously the CIO at Glitnir Bank. Gísli has years of experience in information technology and management, both as a buyer and seller. Gísli has played a number of confidential positions and has served on the boards of numerous companies.

Gísli is a 59-year-old engineer Msc. From the Technical University of Denmark. He is married to Þorgerður Ragnarsdóttir nurse.

Heimavellir

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On August 23 Heimavellir signed an agreement with MainManager for the implementation and use of the software MainManager. The implementation of the software has already begun and is scheduled to be completed in late Oktober.

MainManager will be connected to Heimavellir‘s Accounting System and will be used to keep track of and work with Heimavellir‘s portfolio, leases and renters.

About Heimavellir

Heimavellir is a lease company focused on long-term rentals for families and individuals. The company has around 450 apartments located all around the country.

More on Heimavellir here : www.heimavellir.is

N1 upgrades and increases it‘s usage of MainManager

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Work has begun on updating N1‘s MainManager  to version 11(the newest version). Parallel to the update N1 also decided to start using more of MainManager‘s modules.

On February 25th the new agreement between N1 and MainManager was signed. The update and the implementation of the new modules is sceduled to be completed by the end of May.

N1 wil be using MainManager for:

  • Energy monitoring
  • System monitoring (HVAC systems)
  • Task planning (5 year maintenance scedule for all service stations)
  • Managing service- and lease contracts
  • Complaint and deviation registration
  • Issuing and managing requests
  • A Helpdesk handling all complaints and deviations created on all of it´s service stations

On N1

In April 2007, the oil-company Esso and Bílanaust merged into N1, becoming one of the largest service- and service company in Iceland. With a service network of close to 100 service points, the company provides people and companies with car-related services along with fuel and supplies.

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Address:
Urðarhvarf 6
203 Kópavogur
Iceland

Office Email:
info@mainmanager.com

Phone:
(+354) 412 8600

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