April’s edition of CoreNet’s magazine, The Leader, is out, featuring an article about recent technology trends by Ernst & Young’s Real Estate Advisory practice. In the article, E&Y artfully describes different strategies for technology, data management, and support – especially in light of the continuing trend of outsourcing key CRE services.

Additionally, E&Y predicts the comeback of “Best of Breed” solutions.  Best of breed solutions are generally point (standalone) systems that perform one function very well.

“With data essentially becoming portable, applications can be more closely tailored to the specific processes employed by the CRE organization.  They can reside virtually anywhere and be supplied by a far greater number of providers.  For this reason, rather than deploying a one-size-fits-all package application, where the maturity of individual modules may be highly variable, CRE organizations can more cost-effectively deploy “best of breed” application strategies”.

The article also notes the increasing demand for access to data from smart phones, iPads and laptops:

“Rather than having a single do-it-all device, many of us carry around multiple devices such as smart phones, iPads and laptops.  The expectation is to be able to access data from each and every device, anywhere, anytime”.

To read the entire article on CoreNet’s website, click here.

We are very excited about this forecast due to our “Best of Breed” approach to developing lease management software.  Visual Lease also works on the iPad, iPhone and Android devices, giving real estate professionals access to lease data anywhere, anytime.

In a recent post on the Agent Genius Blog, commercial real estate broker Duke Long posted his compilation of the 32 best commercial real estate websites. Visual Lease is flattered to be the only lease administration software on the list and to be characterized as “simply stunning”.  When designing our website we applied the same principals we use with our leasing software – easy to use, clean and intuitive.  Check out the rest of his list below:

ROFO- putting business and available space together. This site was honored with a Webby Award. This IS the future of commercial real estate online.

Arcestra- is a revolutionary 3D visualization and marketing online service that helps lease commercial real estate quickly. Did I say THIS is the future of commercial real estate?

Creopoint.com- they say 1) rapid access to businesses and experts 2) improved digital branding 3) wants/haves and corresponding invitations to network 4) member viewpoints and forums 5) CRE news aggregated from around the globe 6) industry-focused search to avoid clutter.  I say #1 worldwide commercial real estate network?

Mos Atlanta- the best personal commercial real estate agent blog out today. Period.

Argussoftware- the best software in commercial real estate for property management, asset valuation, portfolio management, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and lease management.

Loopnet- iPhone search app. One of the first.

Zstrata- commercial real estate CRM.

Space for lease- well… space for lease.

OSCRE- commercial real estate data standards. But, is it working?

Intelligent buildings- look in the library section. Great white paper intelligence.

Realcretv- commercial real estate TV. Yes ,yes, yes but, will anyone watch?

Green building law blog- just cool content.

Transaction data and analytics- if you are big time, this is a must have.

Real estate investing news watch- real estate investment blog and news aggregator. Great info.

Realcomm- commercial real estate corp., commercial real estate tech and automation.  A must attend event.

Core Net Global- big time corp. global association.

Green exam prep- LEED training classes. Green is gold. I can’t believe I still use that line.

CPExecutive- commercial real estate executive news. Here are the hitters and this is what they read.

Crew Crew Crew- commercial real estate women… love the ladies.

Real Estate Forum Magazine- hardcore corporate, but a must read.

Realcorner- I still think I’m banned or blocked or something.

Visual Lease- leasing software. Just stunning.

Google Sketch Up-  3D buildings. Still fun and cool to play with, but also practical.

Chain Links- retail leasing group.

Property Week- from the UK. Commercial real estate, best site over all.

Multi-family Insiders- the name says it all.

Investor Loft- investor database.

REIS- commercial real estate property stats and data.

Biggerpockets.com- 50,000 members and growing.

CCIM- the best Commercial Real Estate education, period.

Urban Land Institute- best overall commercial real estate organization.

Retail Traffic- design, development, retail, finance. Kick ass blog too.

Galaxy Partners recently conducted a survey on important issues facing corporate real estate. From the results it is clear that the challenges of the current economy will continue to have an effect on how corporate real estate into 2010.

Here are the results:
1.   The most important real estate issue facing my business in the coming 12-18 months is:

• 53% reported Reducing occupancy costs with about the same locations
• 34% reported Expanding the number of locations
• 13% reported Reducing the number or size of our locations

2.   Regarding outsourcing real estate management tasks or services:

• 53% reported Currently outsourcing most or all corporate real estate services needed
• 40% reported Managing real estate in-house and it is working well
• 7% reported Is considering/open to outsourcing most or all corporate real estate services

Observations:

Reducing occupancy costs can be accomplished by managing the portfolio more efficiently with a set of tools and processes. Real-time, instant access to space availabilities and usage will be required.  This allows organizations to be responsive to changing space planning requirements.

Organized and report-able lease data will be needed to provide year over year comparisons of real estate expenses, making variances and anomalies easy to find and remedy. Variances will need to be researched using the lease terms, documents and notes. In addition, current and historical financial data for existing and expired leases will need to be accessible for desktop audits and forecasting.

The remaining 47% are planning changes in their portfolio.  This means that documents, financial information, contacts and critical dates will all need to be tracked and leveraged during the lease life-cycle.

In regards to question 2, whether outsourcing or managing real estate internally, a system is needed to monitor the process.  Changes, progress indicators and information will need to be shared.

Summary:

The combination of well implemented processes and tools can help lower occupancy costs, manage portfolio change, and facilitate an effective relationship with outsourced services. Visual Lease is a system that when combined with effective processes, helps real estate department work more efficiently.  The key features of Visual Lease that are used to meet the requirements in this article are space usage tracking, expense tracking, flexible reporting, centralized documentation and easily accessible lease terms.

About Galaxy Partners:

Galaxy Partners helps companies get the greatest possible value out of their commercial property. Through managing a wide range of lease portfolios and corporate real estate transactions, their seasoned team has solved real estate issues for clients ranging from local businesses to Fortune 500 companies.  Galaxy Partners can be reached at 770-350-0411 or online at http://www.galaxypartners.com