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Residential owners should assess their technology strategy and its fitness for purpose

The effective deployment of a well-considered technology strategy is an important element in optimising operational efficiency, reducing costs and鈥痬aximising revenue. This article鈥痚xplains the steps that residential operators can follow in assessing their technology maturity, and selecting and implementing new products to further improve performance.

Typical鈥痵ymptoms and鈥痳oot鈥痗auses鈥�听

As service providers the global real estate industry, RealFoundations consultants frequently encounter companies seeking to solve challenges鈥痳elated to:鈥�听

• The use of disparate, disconnected鈥痵ystems鈥�
• Siloed data sets that hinder reporting and decision making鈥�
• Manual workarounds鈥痶hat address鈥痠ssues within and between systems鈥�
• Prevalence of Microsoft Excel鈥痑s a 鈥渟ystem of record鈥濃��听
• Widespread use of personal and鈥痵hared drives鈥�
• High volumes of internal鈥痚mail听听

These鈥痶ypically鈥痵tem from鈥痮ne or more of the following:鈥�听

• Lack of an overarching technology vision or strategy鈥�
• Unwillingness鈥痮r inability to invest in 鈥渆nterprise grade鈥� technology, particularly in the early years of an organisation鈥檚 operations鈥�
• Outgrowing previously adequate technology鈥�
• Poor implementation and/or maintenance of applications, particularly Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems鈥�听
• Inadequate鈥痑doption of specialist software (global real estate has traditionally been run on spreadsheets)鈥�
• Failure to keep up with new technologies and ways of working (notably cloud-based systems and鈥痗ollaboration software)听

Each business is different, and it鈥檚 probably fair to say that no organisation perfects everything.听听
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Additionally, real estate is a relatively immature sector from a specialist technology standpoint, in comparison to many other industries and investible asset classes. It is important to prioritise areas with the biggest positive impact, while ensuring that no significant risks remain elsewhere.鈥�听

Strategic鈥痯rinciples鈥�听

Clients often听believe they need听to resolve a specific problem, but on closer inspection that problem frequently requires a wider perspective to address it听adequately.听Clients should听think holistically and consider the overall business operating platform and application architecture, before considering specific technological solutions.

It鈥檚 also important to鈥痩ook beyond today鈥痶o the future. Solutions that鈥痺ork for鈥痶oday鈥檚 business might not be sufficiently scalable, while鈥痩eading鈥痵oftware suppliers are constantly evolving their offerings from both a technological and functional perspective.

Finally, not everything has to be to be provisioned in-house: external partners can offer systems鈥痑s part of managed services offerings.鈥�听

Diagnostic鈥痑ssessment鈥�听

A technology stack is a series of discrete technologies that interoperate.

When considering a technology stack, it can be difficult to foresee the degree to which it supports current and future operations and how it can drive better efficiencies. RealFoundations uses a number of artefacts to describe an organisation鈥檚 operating model, and to see the critical functions of the organisation:鈥�听

• Work Map: A depiction (that, at a high level, fits on a single page of paper) of the work being performed by or for an organisation, which provides much better clarity than a traditional organisation chart鈥�
• Sourcing Map:鈥疍escribing who performs that work, be they internal groups or external partners鈥�
• Technology Map:鈥疉 functionally-aligned view of all applications being used by the organisation and relevant third parties听

Collectively, these models can鈥痳eadily depict relative levels of health and pain across the current business, and then form鈥痑鈥痓asis to explore the future possible options.鈥�听

Improvement road map

Having identified鈥痠ssues to address, solutions can be developed to each as distinct but linked workstreams that can be implemented as individual projects.鈥疻hich鈥痮f these鈥痝et retained for鈥痙eployment,鈥痑nd in which order, depends on factors such as business urgency, direct and indirect costs,鈥痓enefits and resource availability to deliver.鈥�听

Solution鈥痵election听principles鈥�听

In many cases,鈥痠mprovement actions will include the selection and implementation of one or more technology components. Use case-based requirements to form the core of an RFP (Request for Proposal) to software vendors, and a level playing field for software demonstrations.

When assessing options, we consider four dimensions of 鈥渇it鈥� for any application suite:鈥�听

• Functional fit: Where there is typically the most focus鈥�
• Economic fit: Solutions need to be affordable (but consider whole-life costs 鈥� implementation and support as well as the headline licence cost鈥�鈥撯�痠n addition to鈥痶he business benefits that they can drive, which can be a multiple of the costs鈥痠ncurred)鈥�听
• Technology fit:鈥疉rchitecturally, the solution needs to fit with your wider application stack鈥�
• Vendor fit: It is important to select a software supplier with whom you can partner over many years; perfectly adequate software鈥痠s frequently replaced due to a breakdown in the client-vendor relationship鈥�听

Implementation鈥痑nd听adoption鈥�听

Real estate technology projects take time, cost money and can cause鈥痗onsiderable upheaval. They should only be started with clear objectives in mind, as well as鈥痵trong senior management sponsorship.

The project team will鈥痬ake the difference between success and an expensive failure.鈥疢ost real estate organisations do not have鈥痵ufficient in-house business and/or IT鈥痳esource availability,鈥痮r indeed the specific capabilities (system implementation skills are quite different from those required to manage a live system)鈥痶o successfully configure and implement a new solution that supports existing business operations.

While software suppliers can鈥痶ypically provide their own implementation teams, the most successful deployments 鈥痑re often the result of a partnership between鈥痶he client organisation, the software supplier and an independent implementation partner with detailed knowledge of both the software solution and business operations.鈥�听

Conclusion鈥�听

This article offers high-level guidance on assessing the real estate technology stack, identifying鈥痑nd prioritising improvement initiatives and successfully implementing them.

All residential owners should actively assess their technology strategy and its fitness for purpose: for today and the future. Independent real-estate technology experts can offer an external perspective on solutions that may support their enterprise strategy.鈥�听