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The Transition to IWMS: Data Migration | The Spark

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November 20, 2025

IWMS Migration: Data Cleanup as the Foundation for Integrated Workplace Management

Moving client data from older applications (like spreadsheets, outdated CAFM systems, or separate lease trackers) to an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) is key to improving real estate and facility operations (Laudon & Laudon, 2018). An IWMS brings together crucial data across five main areas: Real Estate, Space, Maintenance, Asset, and Sustainability (Gartner, 2023).

The main problem is that old data is often spread across different departments, leading to widespread inconsistencies, missing spatial data, and compliance risks (Smith, 2019). Successful migration depends on thorough data cleanup and formal client approval on the "Master Record" for each workplace entity.

Key Areas to Look For in Data Cleanup for IWMS

Systematic data preparation fixes workplace-specific flaws by applying standardization for inconsistent formats, imputation for missing values, fuzzy matching for duplicates, coercion for date issues, transformation for unit errors, parsing for structural flaws, and filtering/aggregation for outliers and data volume/noise.

Preparation must systematically find and fix flaws in data specific to the workplace environment:

  • 1. Space and Facility Data Integrity

    This data is the foundation of the IWMS, directly affecting space use and planning.

    • CAD/Floor Plan Accuracy: Check that all digital floor plans (CAD files) are up-to-date and correctly scaled. Look for differences between the plans and the physical space or the data in the old system. Inaccurate square footage can lead to wrong cost allocations (Wang & Li, 2019).
    • Space Classification/Normalization: Standardize room types (e.g., make sure "Conference Room," "Meeting Rm," and "Class Room" all map to a single IWMS category). Ensure every space is correctly linked to the responsible cost center or department.
    • Occupancy and Utilization: Clean up old occupancy records. Identify unassigned or expired employee records (staff who have left but are still assigned a desk) and make sure employee-to-space assignments are consistent. This needs to be linked to the HR system (Baskerville & Myers, 2015).

  • 2. Real Estate and Lease Data Compliance

    This data is sensitive and affects financial standards (like IFRS 16/ASC 842).

    • Critical Date Validation: Carefully check lease summary data. Ensure all key dates—start, end, renewal options, and break clauses—are correctly captured. Errors here mean a major financial risk (Jones & Brown, 2020).
    • Financial and Cost Data Alignment: Check that the base rent, operating expenses, and CAM charges in the old system match the original legal documents. Any differences must be resolved and confirmed with Finance/Accounting.
    • Option and Clause Standardization: Standardize the names for lease options (e.g., 'Option to Renew' vs. 'Extension Period') so the IWMS can track them properly.

  • 3. Asset and Maintenance Data Quality

    This data is vital for the maintenance management (CMMS) part of the IWMS.

    • Asset Categorization and Hierarchy: Standardize the Asset Naming Convention. Ensure assets are logically grouped and linked to their parent location (e.g., the HVAC unit linked to the specific building and floor) (Chen et al., 2018).
      • Standardize Asset Naming using a concise, unique format: [LOCATION CODE]-[CLASS CODE]-[UNIQUE ID] (e.g., BLDG-C-HVAC-001).
      • Establish a clear Parent-Child Asset Hierarchy (Site → Building → System → Asset) to logically link equipment to its physical location and functional system for consistent tracking and maintenance.
    • Missing Lifecycle Data: Look for missing data like the installation date, warranty expiration, or estimated useful life. This data is essential for setting up preventive maintenance (PM) schedules.
    • Outdated Work Orders: Decide the cut-off for moving old work orders. Keep only operationally relevant history (e.g., the last 1-2 years of maintenance records) and archive older, completed tickets to keep the system tidy (Xu & Wang, 2020).

Potential Pitfalls and Mitigation Strategies

1. The Over-reliance on HR Data

Pitfall: Simply trusting that employee data from the HR system (HRIS) is perfectly linked to space data without checking. Mitigation: Set up a cross-functional reconciliation process. The IWMS team must run reports that find employees in the HRIS who are not assigned a space, or spaces assigned to employees not in the HRIS. This must be resolved and signed off by both HR and Facilities experts.

1. The Over-reliance on HR Data

2. Ignoring Spatial Data Mapping Complexity

Pitfall: Treating graphic (CAD/BIM) data as a minor part of the project. The IWMS needs the accurate shape and size of the floor plans to run utilization reports and provide wayfinding. Mitigation: Dedicate resources to a "Geo-Validation" phase. This ensures layer standards (walls, doors, assets) are consistent and that the CAD blocks are correctly linked to the IWMS database records, often requiring specialized tools (Grimshaw, 2006).

1. The Over-reliance on HR Data

3. Compliance Risk Through Partial Cleansing

Pitfall: Rushing the cleanup of lease and financial data to meet a deadline, resulting in wrong financial reporting in the new IWMS. Mitigation: Prioritize Lease and Real Estate data cleanup above all non-critical modules. Get sign-off from the CFO/Accounting team on a sample of checked leases. The project team should understand the specific data needs of compliance standards (IFRS 16/ASC 842) to ensure the migrated data supports them.

1. The Over-reliance on HR Data

4. Lack of Data Ownership Clarity

Pitfall: Not clearly defining which department (Facilities, IT, HR, Finance) is the official owner of specific data domains (e.g., square footage, employee occupancy). This ambiguity halts cleanup efforts (Davenport, 2014). Mitigation: Establish a Data Governance charter early on that mandates ownership and defines data stewards responsible for maintaining data quality in the new IWMS environment (Tallon, 2010).

1. The Over-reliance on HR Data

5. Relying on Manual Data Entry Post-Migration

Pitfall: Cleansing the initial migration data, but failing to set up systematic data quality checks in the new IWMS. This causes data quality to quickly degrade after go-live, necessitating constant, expensive manual effort (Marr, 2015). Mitigation: Configure data validation rules and automated alerts within the IWMS itself (e.g., an alert when an asset is entered without a required service date) to prevent the recurrence of poor data practices (Schwartz, 2017).

1. The Over-reliance on HR Data

Stakeholder Endorsement and Commencement Authorization

The final step is formal client confirmation that the cleaned and mapped data is ready for use in the new IWMS.

  • Reconciliation Reports: Give the client reports showing the "before and after" of the data quality (e.g., "500 duplicate assets fixed," "20 expired leases archived").
  • UAT with Critical Data: Run the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) using the cleaned, migrated IWMS data. The client must confirm that critical tasks—like running a lease liability calculation or generating a departmental chargeback report—produce the accurate financial results they expect.
  • Formal Data Governance Sign-Off: A final, signed document is required from the head of Facilities and the head of Finance/Accounting, accepting the migrated data set and confirming its readiness for live use (Schwartz, 2017; Riner, 2008).

By focusing on these specific data points and requiring strict checks across all departments, the IWMS migration will create a unified, reliable data foundation for strategic workplace management.

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