Commercial Real Estate Corporation (CREC)¹ is a major full-service real estate services provider. Operating globally, the firm holds a leadership position in most of the world’s key business centers. CREC provides real estate and facilities management services ranging from property and lease management to utilities and supplies oversight. As a value-added service, CREC collects, analyzes and reports to its clients regularly on key metrics to support both parties as they strive to optimize real estate holdings and management.
The Problem
The CREC account team needed a consolidated view of the real estate portfolio of a large financial services organization. Their portfolio included thousands of leased and owned properties. Information about facilities management, lease administration, project and work order statuses, and budget performance was generated by core systems that were not integrated. Similar information was stored in separate systems and reconciling the numbers was troublesome. When a consolidated view of the information was created, the process was time consuming and sometimes not even possible. CREC asked Teksouth to apply business analytics in the form of a real-time view of key portfolio metrics that crossed multiple service lines for use by executive leadership.
The Approach
Several solutions were considered. The constraints included leveraging software that was already approved and deployed to the users’ desktop. In addition, a browser-based solution with mobile access was also desired. A proof of concept (POC) was initiated to insure that the technology and processes deployed fit the needs before significant time and dollars were spent. The POC was developed in 4-6 weeks utilizing Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Reporting Services, SharePoint and Office.
The Solution
The solution developed was named pView (Portfolio View). pView is a consolidated repository of 5 core systems that is integrated and available in multiple formats depending on the audience. SharePoint and Excel Services is the primary delivery method for about 75% of users. The remaining 25% of the user base utilizes dashboards developed with Microsoft’s PowerView.
Watch a video of this solution using Microsoft Power BI.
Results
pView has provided the CREC account team visibility into aspects of their business that wasn’t possible before. It has helped improve data quality by highlighting areas where the source systems had inconsistencies. It has provided front line users the ability to check spend versus budget, track invoices and vendors. It has provided the strategy and space optimization teams the insight to make more informed decisions and see patterns that they weren’t aware of prior to pView. It has provided management a consolidated view of their portfolio that they can access at anytime from anywhere without having their staff spend hours compiling multiple reports into a presentation.
Summary of Benefits
Increased Efficiency: Less time compiling data; more time analyzing
Improved Accuracy: Integrates legacy data from authoritative sources
Added Flexibility:
- Can be changed as business requirements change
- Provides access to reports and dashboards anytime
- Provides reports in multiple formats
Low Cost:
- Implemented within two months
- Leveraged existing software licenses with no additional major software purchases
¹Commercial Real Estate Corporation is an alias created to mask the client’s identity.
