The Leader - January/February 2008 - (Page 36) real e stat e maNaGemeNt Technology Readiness Quotient: Adobe and Symantec Move Beyond Simple Reports to Full Analysis BY michael t. sWaNstrom, raNdY kNox iii, aNd lUiGi sciaBarrasi techNoloGY shoUld Be easY to Use aNd implemeNt, complemeNt orGaNizatioNal WorkFloWs aNd eNaBle occUpaNts to staY FocUsed oN the core missioN. is this aN ideal or realitY iN YoUr Workplace? perhaps more FUNdameNtal QUestioNs Need to Be addressed….is there a thoUGhtFUl corporate real estate techNoloGY strateGY iN place? A re you attempting to utilize enterprise systems designed to serve the core competency of the business (i.e. insurance, financial services, etc.) to manage your real estate portfolio or, perhaps disparate platforms (point solutions), where information must be cobbled together to provide the strategic intelligence required to make effective real estate decisions? This article will put forth some scenarios and questions to help gauge your real estate technology readiness, briefly describe what an effective platform might deliver and provide examples where technology has been deployed to help leading organizations obtain the required insight to achieve superior results. Corporate real estate leaders are charged with managing what in many businesses amounts to the second largest expense, yet even today are using a combination of legacy applications, point solutions and partially deployed integrated systems that don’t provide insight. Technology has made it easier to obtain information and that is both a blessing and somewhat of a curse (i.e. there is an abundance of information that is “interesting” and then there is information that is “powerful”). The demands being placed upon corporate real estate (CRE) leaders don’t allow for time to cull through reams of reports laden with content. Often times, current reports present a “rear view” mirror approach to information and are designed to reflect what already happened. 2 0 0 8 the le ade r Technology must serve as a global positioning system helping CRE leaders chart the optimal decision path for their organization. When organizations are able to use real estate technology to move beyond reporting to analysis and the identification of opportunities, they maximize the potential for superior performance (i.e. improved processes and productivity, operational & financial excellence, optimal service specifications, enhanced business continuity, etc.). Here’s a small sampling of questions that might be asked to determine the state of readiness of your real estate technology platform that cuts across the tactical and strategic realms where many real estate organizations operate. These questions might be broadly answered along 36 J aN Ua rY / F e B rUa r Y
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.