If you are part of a facility support service group, have you ever wondered where that title came from? In today’s outsourcing marketplace, the term “support services” sounds like something that a facility can do without. Its role of support services is to help, aid, assist, and sustain. None of these words imply that the group is required, essential, or needed. As a person who is involved with facility assessments that include studying support service organizations, the notion that a building can function without support services is not realistic or practical. Every building and every organization that owns its own complex needs to invest in the operation and maintenance of the facility.
I believe there is a place for outsourcing, out-tasking and also in-house support services. Each has its merits, benefits, advantages, and disadvantages. The problem with this type of business is that others consider it overhead, a necessary evil of business. They do not necessarily see operation and maintenance, custodial work, etc. as an integral part of their business plan. No building or organization can function efficiently without support services. No building or organization can continuously provide a reliable product without the contribution of these other groups.