Digital Transformation

Harnessing the Power of Data in Commercial Real Estate

Written By: Ronald Van Loon
July 12, 2022
6 min read

The commercial real estate industry is experiencing the benefits of transformation and technology adoption. Business leaders in this industry are exploring the value of technology in reducing the complexities of project management, enhancing real-time visibility into portfolio progress status, and driving automation into all levels of databases that support varying workflows.

No-code platforms are transforming key areas of commercial real estate such as asset management, leading the development of new stores, relocations, and asset acquisition. Also, it is improving overall management functions of properties and business strategies including construction, leasing, and site selection.

Organizations across the commercial real estate sector can benefit from a no-code customizable technology solutions platform to enhance project quality, connect critical systems, and improve collaboration and communication between teams and departments.

Ronald van Loon is a Quickbase partner and had the opportunity to discuss how flexible, agile, no-code platforms are providing an essential solution to the commercial real estate sector.

Commercial Real Estate Trends

Commercial real estate trends often shift dynamically on top of changing market conditions and encompass various real estate options, from single stores to larger shopping centers and other buildings like office spaces, retail, and industrial properties.

No-code technology platforms are designed to adapt to different ways of working so that companies operating in different real-estate environments and business types can have access to accurate real-time data to visually see all types of information across the business, whether that’s project goal requirements, strategic operations, finances, or management.

The evolution of commercial real estate

Commercial real estate is evolving. For example, retail physical store locations are changing in the face of online and offline omnichannel approaches to retail strategies. They have to operate as distribution centers where customers pick up online orders and use mobile technologies.

Also, physical traffic from shopping mall locations has drastically reduced since the pandemic, and developers are approaching them with repurposing in mind. The pandemic has also forced businesses to reimagine new ways of cutting costs as they prepare for fluctuating customer demands and new safety requirements. On top of that, warehouses and logistics are more popular than ever, as distribution centers have become key to product delivery for e-commerce.

As the world begins to reopen and rebound from the impacts of the pandemic and markets recover, commercial real estate businesses need technology solutions that help them to adapt as business districts in cities show signs of growth, more people return to restaurants, and people begin returning to the office and operating in hybrid remote work environments.

Data is a critical component

Real estate technology trends are a top priority for organizations today. Real estate companies have a vast amount of available data at their fingertips that can help them evolve and transform alongside changing market landscapes and new competitive environments. Efficiently managing all this data is critical to decision making, growth, and opportunity, which is why organizations are interested in exploring technology solutions that enhance data management capabilities.

Commercial real estate companies must realize the opportunity of moving to the cloud and their need for digital capabilities to improve areas such as employee productivity, investing, and transparency.

However, the real estate sector is lagging behind technology transformation compared to other industries. Organizations are looking to use technology to move past outdated processes, consolidate disparate systems, and solve the challenges of operating in a remote work world. Organizations want to restructure internal processes and partner with technology companies that can give them a competitive advantage.

Lastly, security is a top concern for organizations in commercial real estate, as data is a critical component of the industry. However, data breaches are occurring with greater frequency and companies need advanced protection to meet compliance requirements and secure data across touchpoints, utilizing tracking and role-based access control capabilities.

Commercial real estate is at a turning point in its evolution. The commercial real estate industry is using technology to improve operational efficiencies, access the information they need in a centralized location, and move past legacy processes that have previously been the industry's cornerstone.

Benefits of a No-Code Technology Platform

No-code technology platforms are built with the future in mind. Businesses in commercial real estate can benefit from no-code because they require very little programming experience, and organizations can use them to quickly customize their workflows, processes, and applications.

Businesses don’t have to rely heavily on IT departments to customize and deliver applications, which can often take months. No-code technology platforms are built to be easy to navigate, with interfaces that are simple to understand and operate. Everything a person needs to work is in a single place, and moving between different choice applications is only a few clicks away.

As the commercial real-estate sector evolves, a no-code technology platform is flexible enough to grow alongside the industry. Businesses can change applications and workflow processes as needed, exploring and experimenting with new solutions in a safe environment without the strain of committing to months or even years-long implementation that might not even result in the desired outcome.

Project management, real-time visibility, automation

Data is an essential asset in commercial real estate, to say the least. Managing commercial real estate operations and projects requires a vast knowledge of rules, regulations, laws, leasing, finances, market conditions, construction, and much more.

Businesses operating in these complex environments need an advantage that brings them real-time visibility into their reports and project status across varying portfolios and operations. This information also needs to be shared between different teams in a way that helps each individual who is operating within the context of their specific job to manage their unique workflow processes.

A customizable no-code technology platform is essential because people can manage their projects and workflows accordingly. Automation can be introduced into varying datasets, disparate systems can be connected together, and complex workflows can be integrated together seamlessly. As a result, all employees in the organization will have visibility into daily operations and the insights they need to maximize the effectiveness of their jobs.

It’s even possible to monitor the lifecycle of applications, quickly testing new features and changes to applications in controlled environments while adding new data sets to existing live applications.

Like other industries that benefit from technology solutions that improve project management, real-time visibility, and automation, this same approach is being applied to businesses in commercial real estate with great success.

Transformative Technology for Commercial Real Estate

Although technology adoption in the commercial real estate sector has been slower than in other industries, this presents an equal opportunity for businesses to differentiate themselves from the competition and bring transformative value by embracing no-code technology platforms that help to harness the power of commercial real estate data.

To learn more about how no-code technology platforms can benefit commercial real estate, be sure to check out Quickbase.

Ronald van Loon

Ronald Van Loon is the Principal Analyst at Intelligent World and a Quickbase Partner.

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