{"id":1004036451,"date":"2012-02-10T11:03:48","date_gmt":"2012-02-10T19:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004036451"},"modified":"2022-12-08T19:35:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T03:35:19","slug":"property-management-managing-the-tool-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/property-management-managing-the-tool-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"Property Management: Managing the Tool Kit: Choosing Software is Only the First Step to Address a Growing Array of Tasks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Rosta<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technology is changing the rules for real estate management. A constantly expanding roster of new tools offers potential for automating formerly labor-intensive tasks in a way that could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations. Real estate managers today use technology for a bewildering variety of tasks, from managing expenses and depositing rent checks in the bank to processing lease applications and maintenance requests.<\/p>\n

Innovative tools that seemed unimaginable not long ago are a sure bet to come on the market in the next few years. Technology that automates many new functions is on the way. These trends will demand \u201ca need for competence and understanding of information technology net- works,\u201d observed Frank Santella, director of the U.S. General Services Administration\u2019s Smart Buildings program. \u201cDuring the next five or 10 years, property managers are going to have to have that basic understanding of IT networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Managing these new property management tools itself calls for a strategic approach. One critical choice is whether to select products for each task that are considered best-in-class but may not be designed to integrate with popular platforms. The other path is to favor technology with an eye toward its ability to work with the most common products.<\/p>\n

For many property management executives, the choice is clear. \u201cIf a software (product) does not integrate, we won\u2019t talk to the vendor,\u201d said Lori Burger, senior vice president & director of marketing for Eugene Burger Management Corp. \u201cWe want everything to integrate.\u201d That way, accounting, maintenance, bill paying and other tasks can function all of a piece. Yet Burger also warned that the idea of integration itself appears to have different meanings to different vendors. Managers will select a product that is billed as clicking with a given platform, only to find that the product actually needs significant modification before it works smoothly with the larger platform. That requires diligence on the part of the real estate manager to determine the true parameters of integration for a particular product.<\/p>\n

As in other commercial real estate special- ties, the spread of technology in property management has had fringe benefits. The opportunity to learn cutting-edge skills \u201ctends to attract sharp people who value training,\u201d noted Joe Greenblatt, president of Sunrise Management, a San Diego-based multi-family management specialist. \u201cWe also attract and retain sharp people who truly want to be part of a progressive organization.\u201d This is good news for those worried about the forthcoming wave of retirements by Baby-Boom generation property management professionals. The opportunity to work with innovative, sophisticated technology platforms could prove to be an enticement to young people who have their pick of commercial real estate specialties.<\/p>\n

Given the sophistication of today\u2019s products, property managers need continuous training to keep up. Among forward-thinking owners and third-party providers, learning never stops. At the same time, education in technology requires choices. One area that can call for trade-offs is the time dedicated to training the staff. \u201cA lot of these software packages will make you more efficient, but there are only so many hours in the day for training and integration,\u201d Burger explained. One strategy that has proved particularly effective, she added, is hiring a staff member dedicated to training the team in specific platforms and troubleshooting any problems that the property management team may have. Rather than attempting to use every aspect of a platform from the beginning, Burger Management prefers to introduce its functions one by one as the staff masters each element.<\/p>\n

Making the most of today\u2019s new tools calls for nimbleness and circumspection. \u201cTechnology is advancing fairly rapidly. You\u2019ve got to be able to deploy it pretty quickly,\u201d said Charles Rau, senior vice president & chief technology officer for Forest City Enterprises Inc. Equally important, however, \u201cyou don\u2019t want to go down the wrong path.\u201d Rau cites the iPad as an example of a popular product that has a few significant gaps when it comes to the needs of real estate professionals. For example, the most recent version lacks both a USB port and the capacity to run Adobe applications.<\/p>\n

Another balancing act occurs for firms that manage geographically diverse portfolios, whether in house or through outside service providers. The challenge is to maintain as much consistency as possible while still addressing the diverse needs of a company\u2019s end users. In an effort to meet both goals, the General Services Administration is in the early stages of an exercise that will help to standardize elements of its IT system over the next several years.<\/p>\n

Currently, the agency oversees eight to 10 computer maintenance management systems nationwide. Recently, it took the first steps toward creating a uniform platform, including developing naming conventions to promote consistency in asset inventory. Standardizing the system will allow the agency to more systematically assess operation trends and building performance across a portfolio that encompasses upwards of 364 million square feet of owned or leased space in 9,600 buildings that house a broad spectrum of federal agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can make decisions around the cost of equipment, and we can provide analysis on a national level,\u201d Santella explained. \u201cWe feel that coming up with a standard approach is going to have some financial benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even for portfolios much smaller and less far flung than the GSA\u2019s, geographic diversity can present a hurdle to meeting the IT needs of property managers. As it turns out, there is no substitute for legwork. \u201cYou have to be very aggressive in reaching out to (outside) customers and internal customers and understanding what they\u2019re trying to accomplish,\u201d Rau said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just sit in your ivory tower.\u201d In working with its in- house and third-party property management clients, Forest City\u2019s IT team is tasked with under- standing the nuances of operating a retail, office or residential property in a specific local market, he explained.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s sophisticated, multi-faceted property management products have capabilities galore when they come off the shelf, but there is a high probability that they will need tweaking before they are ready for prime time. Burger Management recently went through such an exercise. The condominium associations that make up a sizeable portion of the company\u2019s clients have widely varying formulas for calculating fees for late payments. But Burger quickly discovered that the software it had selected did not account for that variety, a gap that limited the product\u2019s usefulness to condo associations.<\/p>\n

Alerted to the problem, the vendor worked closely with the Burger team in order to create a mechanism capable of adjusting to each condo association\u2019s needs. The modifications took time, but the effort paid off for all concerned. \u201cWe explained to them what we needed, and they fixed it,\u201d Lori Burger explained. \u201cThey were able to use our knowledge to make a better product\u2014and make a better product for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Innovative tools that seemed unimaginable not long ago are a sure bet to come on the market in the next few years, but choosing software is only the first step. By Paul Rosta.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":445,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21785],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004036451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProperty Management: Managing the Tool Kit: Choosing Software is Only the First Step to Address a Growing Array of Tasks - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/property-management-managing-the-tool-kit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Property Management: Managing the Tool Kit: Choosing Software is Only the First Step to Address a Growing Array of Tasks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Innovative tools that seemed unimaginable not long ago are a sure bet to come on the market in the next few years, but choosing software is only the first step. 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