Amy Cisrow-Peterson of Rack Room Shoes has won the iPhone. AMTdirect would like to thank everyone who has either read or contributed to the blog. We have had 15 posts and 37 comments since going live. The AMTdirect staff will continue to post once or twice weekly, so please keep reading and keep commenting. Don't forget to read the blog the week of September 17-19 as AMTdirect will be blogging live from the NRTA 2007 Trade Show and Conference.
I feel extremely confident saying "the SaaS model is a perfect fit for Commercial Real Estate Management".
Wikipedia defines the SaaS model as:
"Software as a service (SaaS) is a software application delivery model where a software vendor develops a web-native software application and hosts and operates (either independently or through a third-party) the application for use by its customers over the Internet. Customers pay not for owning the software itself but for using it.")
Why?
Let's first review the alternative(s): (more…)
By the end of 2007, Gartner predicts 30 per cent of large companies will have some kind of Web 2.0-based business initiative up and running. The rise of Web 2.0 has occurred at a phenomenal pace. As a result, many people are unclear on what Web 2.0 “exactly” means and might not even realize that they use it every day. Maybe you even thought to yourself that it is just another marketing term and does it really matter? Time Magazine thought it was so important that they named it 2006 Time “Person of The Year”. This begs the question….
Technology is essential to every business, even those that aren’t considered “technology” companies. You deal with technology in your office productivity software, security system, air conditioning, computers and networks, phone systems, and much, much more. Whether it’s a simple cash register program that tracks inventory and daily purchases or a sophisticated network that links people and places around the globe, technology helps organizations maintain a competitive edge and build a strong presence in today’s business world.
If you want to compete in today’s business world, then, it’s important to keep up with technology in order to get the most out of the technology you have, to keep abreast of emerging new technology, and to find the information that will help you make the right buying decisions. (more…)
The Scanner, we’ll call him “Scan” (a mixture between Scott and Dan - the brains behind AMTdirect) has been traveling for a long time now, and there are many advantages that I can see in having AMTdirect and Scan meet all your scanning needs.
It is advantageous to use the same company from beginning to end for work quality and precision. For example, I am a Lease Administrator, and have been abstracting commercial leases for AMTdirect for over 2 years; therefore, when I am scanning, I think like a Document Imaging Specialist as well as a Lease Administrator. This means that not only am I concerned with document clarity and high resolution; I am also concerned with pages being cut off at the bottom, pages that were scanned upside down, and blurred text. After each Lease File has been completed and stored in my lap top, I open each document and check for any such misfortunes - that way I can correct the problem before it reaches the abstractors, saving the client and my company valuable time and money by keeping abstractors focused on abstracting – not correcting documents.Another reason for using a Lease Administrator instead of outsourcing your scanning needs is for the knowledge of the documents themselves. Scanning is much more than running the document through a large machine while you kick back and sip mocha lattes from a cup. It is also about file organization and document naming – both of which a company that has been hired to do the job outside the Real Estate profession, may have limited knowledge about - making it cost you, the client, time and money in correcting mistakes. To explain further, if the file has not been previously named by the client, it requires reading the document to decipher what kind of document it is, then naming the document appropriately in preparation for abstraction. (more…)
Unless you're flashing back to a grade school vocabulary test, stewardship isn't exactly a word that you bump into everyday. It's certainly not one that gets bandied about in real estate circles very often…but it should. Merriam Webster defines stewardship as "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care." As a real estate manager, you are entrusted with the care and maintenance of millions of dollars worth of investment, asked to be the steward of some of the most valuable economic assets and drivers in the land. And yet, isn’t it ironic that your average real estate manager is asked to manage his/her portfolio like MacGyver… deftly holding it all together with limited resources akin to chewing gum, a pencil and some paperclips?
In today's environment, real estate managers face the traditional challenges of budget and resource constraints while managing the requirements of a diverse and growing portfolio (lease administration, occupancy cost management/reduction, maintenance and repair, etc). At the same time, you are burdened with undertaking these challenges in a legal and regulatory environment that demands unprecedented levels of transparency, speed and reporting. I am not talking about babysitting buildings with just a paint can and roll of duct tape…I’m referring to a commitment that spans years, even decades, and requires discipline, dedication and technological savvy. Thankfully you have more than ample budget and resources to shoulder this noble endeavor, right? (Obviously, my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek.) (more…)
I worked for a large bank in their lease administration department that had properties throughout the north and southeast. This large corporation definitely would have benefited from a real estate software system in the management of there owned, 3rd party, parking lot leases and subleases. I was one of eight, each keeping track of 3,000 leases spanning multiple states, tracking renewals, required COI’s, expiration dates, and even who their property manager was at the time. With the events notification that is available with on-demand real estate solutions, all lease renewal and COI expiration dates would have been provided with a touch of a button. The on-site property managers or regional managers would have been notified in plenty of enough time for lease negotiation with this option. Some leases expired and went MTM without anyone being aware of it and MTM rent was not being collected. A lot of lost income. I also recorded rent for the leases under my care, the process you had to go through to enter an AR batch was taxing with no way to double check you’re entries until the month-end balance statement was distributed. By this time, it was too late to make any changes for the current month and adjustments were to be made in the following month with detailed explanations that got lost in the shuffle. Looking back on my previous job, I couldn’t imagine doing my job without an on-demand real estate solution at my fingertips.
