Space management

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Space Management

    Space management is a feature within the Facilities Service Management application that standardizes space definitions across all organizational levels using a consistent unit of measure. It provides key metrics such as occupancy percentage and total space available for effective space analysis. Although this feature is no longer available for new customers, it offers important capabilities like forecasting future space needs, simplifying chargebacks, and enabling space analysis for both current and planned scenarios.

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    Key Features

    • Space Hierarchy: Organizes space into a natural hierarchy—campus, building, level (floor), and individual space—allowing clear modeling and management of facilities. Custom space types can be created, extending the base space table with proper access controls.
    • Space Roll-up Calculations: Aggregates occupancy, area, and usage data from lower hierarchy levels to higher ones. Spaces marked as “available for occupancy” have a maximum occupancy set, enabling calculation of percent occupied based on actual occupancy.
    • Associated Users: Users can be assigned to multiple spaces with one primary location. Assignments automatically update occupancy and availability metrics, with space becoming available when a user becomes inactive.
    • Associated Departments: Spaces can be linked to multiple departments for cost allocation and reporting. Ownership percentages are calculated based on assigned weights to ensure they sum to 100%, facilitating accurate chargebacks.
    • GeoJSON Map Files: Supports floor plan visualization using GeoJSON, an open standard for mapping geographic features, enabling detailed spatial representation.
    • Customer-Created Maps: Allows creation of maps starting from campus, progressing through buildings, floors, and spaces for comprehensive space visualization.
    • Data Transform and Import: Facility data can be exported to .xls files and imported into ServiceNow space management to keep records up-to-date.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This space management functionality helps organizations optimize facility usage by providing clear visibility into space occupancy and allocation. Forecasting and chargeback simplification enable better financial and operational planning. The hierarchical structure and roll-up metrics support comprehensive analysis across multiple organizational levels. Assigning users and departments to spaces ensures accurate tracking of space utilization and financial responsibility. Integration with GeoJSON maps enhances spatial visualization, aiding in effective facilities management.

    The concept of space is part of the Facilities Service Management application. Space provides a definition at all levels with the same unit measure, and presents metrics that are readily available for analysis. These metrics include occupancy percentage, total space available, and so on.

    Note:
    This feature is no longer available for new customers.
    The additional benefits of space management include:
    • Ability to forecast future space requirements
    • Simplification of the charge back process
    • Space analysis for actual and planned use cases
    • Addition of zones for creating different collections of spaces

    Space hierarchy

    A natural hierarchy models all the spaces of your organization. You can use this information to determine how effectively you are using your facilities space. The hierarchy from top to bottom is campus, building, level (floor), and space.

    You can create types of spaces as needed. New space definition tables extend the [fm_space] table. Be sure to set the proper ACLs. The following graphic depicts how tables are related to one another.
    Figure 1. Space table hierarchy
    Picture depicts order of tables as fm_campus, alm_building, fm_level, and fm_space and how they are extended

    Space roll up calculations

    The Facilities Service Management application can roll up occupancy, area, and usage information from lower to higher levels in the space hierarchy. Roll ups are spaces designated as available for occupancy. The occupancy values from that space roll up to the level above them.

    When you designate a space as available for occupancy, you can also specify the maximum occupancy. Depending on the actual occupancy, a percentage appears to show how much space is available. A script include modifies the roll-up calculations.
    Figure 2. Available for occupancy selected and dependent fields
    image is a screenshot showing the available occupancy check box and dependant fields
    The values that roll up are:
    • Occupancy
    • Max occupancy
    • Assignable area

    The percent occupied calculation takes place based on the current and max occupancy values.

    Associated users

    You can assign users to more than one location, with a primary location.

    Assign employees a primary location. A business rule ensures that an employee can have only one primary location. Employees that travel between campuses can have an assigned space on each campus. The [fm_m2m_user_to_space] table stores these records. Adding a user automatically updates the current occupancy and availability status of the space and performs the percent occupied calculation.
    Note:
    Space becomes available when a user becomes inactive.

    Associated departments

    You can assign spaces to more than one department for cost allocation and reporting purposes.

    The Associated Department [fm_m2m_department_to_space] table extends the fm_space table, containing the relationship of departments and percentage ownership. A percentage automatically calculates after setting the weight for each department. A business rule sets the percentages based on weight so that the sum of percentages equals 100%.