This is my thoughts on the question posed by Duke Long – What Are The 10 Biggest Tech Problems In Commercial Real Estate? There’s a lot of think about and the future is obviously fluid but there are a lot that needs to be thought through by everyone involved.
- Inconsistent definition of what CRE is. It’s not possible to solve a problem without first defining what the problem is you are trying to solve. Are we trying to do discovery? CRM? Workflow? Projects? Selection? All the above? Is this all of CRE? It all starts with definitions.
- If all data matters then no data matters. We have a data problem for sure. In some areas we don’t have enough data (real, accurate, current market rates?) and in other areas we have too much (are we really trying to rival economists in terms of understanding local market conditions?). What’s really important and what isn’t? It’s easy to fall into “analysis paralysis” or “collect it all” mentalities.
- Are we seeking disruption or lock-in? It’s hard for people outside of our industry to understand it (or so we always argue – somewhat correctly, somewhat incorrectly). If we build everything ourselves we will not get the necessary disruption but how do we teach people on the outside what we need?
- Is it possible to sell technology on value if you are associated with commissions? This is the core problem. The big brokerage firms see themselves in a technology arms war. Who can build the “best” systems possible for their accounts. And yet for the advances some technology is always a give-away. As the adage goes – you get what you pay for. If you sell technology can you also provide other services effectively?
- Who is the customer? Sure, the people who occupy space are the ones using the systems. But who is our real customer? Is it the head of real estate? The CFO? COO? CEO? Operations leads? A space management system has just as much value for the non-real estate groups as it does for the real estate team – arguably even more value. Yet they aren’t the typical customer and we don’t market well to them.
- Flexibility. The holy grail of real estate is giving occupants and owners of space the best return on their associated investments. For owners that means the highest occupancy levels and revenues per square foot possible. For tenants that means occupying exactly the amount of space they need when they need it. Why take 30% more space than you need as insurance against the future? Can technology align these incentives?
- Workplace planning. Following along the idea of Flexibility, how can technology give companies visibility into how their space is REALLY being used. How do you incentivize an employee to use real estate more conscientiously? How do you give upper management real data on who appears in the office and actually needs to?
- Defining the user experience. In reality, anyone who sits in a building could be considered a potential user of CRE technology. They interact with the Building Management Systems, they know they best nearby amenities, they could make recommendations on building conditions, they are the workforce we are trying to identify. That’s a big potential pool of users to be tapped. How do we use tech to get that information – and make it useful?
- Cutting through the BS, misdirections and bad marketing. There are lots of solutions out there now. Some are valid, some are stupid, some are vaporware. None are perfect, all have some type of value to someone. How will the future develop in this morass of insanity?
- What’s the fall-out once all of this happens? There will be disruption – what does it look like?