How good property data can transform a company and drive its competitive edge

This paper discusses how data and their effective utilisation comprise one of the key ingredients in becoming more competitive in the corporate real estate (CRE) arena. In an ideal world, access to useful and meaningful information across a CRE organisation would be just a click away. All the required information would be accessed in real time, from anywhere and at any time. The reality is that many CRE professionals are operating in the dark without having access to the relevant information to support decision making. Although CRE companies are literally inundated with data, many have not been able to extract the maximum value, due to a combination of poor quality data; cumbersome tools used to extract, analyse and transform the data into useful information; and poor integration of data across the organisation. The need to integrate data from a myriad of systems and inputs increases the difficulty rate when implementing a new CRE system. An incremental implementation approach has proven highly successful, allowing CRE companies to ‘digest’ new functionality ‘one bite at a time’. CRE companies that recognise their corporate data comprise a strategic, mission-critical resource are able to extract greater value, and are positioned to take full advantage of data analytics, financial modelling and other leading edge technologies — enabling better and faster decision making. Employees now have a new role to play within the corporation that focuses on analysing and delivering tangible value instead of just collating data. Such CRE companies have a clear competitive advantage over their less data-driven rivals.