Tango Strengthens Its Value Proposition For The Hybrid Workplace By Acquiring AgilQuest

Tango Strengthens Its Value Proposition For The Hybrid Workplace By Acquiring AgilQuest

On January 12, 2022, integrated workplace management system (IWMS) vendor Tango announced that it had acquired AgilQuest, a specialist provider of hybrid workplace scheduling software. The acquisition will strengthen Tango’s product portfolio for office hotelling, meeting room management and tenant engagement, and will expand Tango’s customer base to over 300 customers. The deal follows the injection of private equity funding into Tango in December 2021, providing new resources for product investment and bolt-on acquisitions. 

The acquisition is a smart move for Tango, helping it rapidly enhance its value proposition for flexible and hybrid workplaces. AgilQuest’s speciality is assisting firms in managing more complex space management strategies. Witness the US Customs & Border Protection agency using AgilQuest software to transition from assigned seating to desk hotelling, as employees started working from home two days a week. This move helped the agency consolidate two floors into one smaller floor with fewer workspaces but with a higher frequency of use for each space.

Reflecting the huge momentum behind agile and hybrid working, that started years before the pandemic, other IWMS vendors have made similar moves. For example, in 2019 FM:Systems acquired workplace analytics start-up Rifiniti, enhancing its ability to precisely monitor space utilization. Then in 2020, Archibus acquired SpaceIQ, a specialist workplace vendor with capabilities for smart workplace planning (and took the name SpaceIQ as the new parent brand instead of Archibus). iOFFICE (which has now merged with SpaceIQ) also acquired room booking innovator Teem in early 2020. 

With firms continuing to shed office space and commit to new workplace strategies, IWMS vendors must continue aligning product investment to hybrid working usage scenarios. Key functionality includes helping firms manage hot desks, co-ordinate office visits, manage employee moves and restacking. More innovative functionality for the hybrid era includes helping firms sub-lease spare desk capacity, host hybrid meetings, use machine learning to optimize space design (as delivered by Finch), automate office floorplan polylining (as delivered by Tango) or provide dynamic notifications about who is available on-site during a given day (as delivered by Kadence). 

For more insights on the future of the smart building and workplace market, read our latest report 10 Predictions For Smart Building Technology In 2022 And Beyond.