Do you manage your building operations through one modern platform? Or, do you have many different solutions to run your building that never quite work?
As real estate becomes more digitalized, using technology is increasingly important to keep up with competitors and attract tenants. But, it’s essential to choose the right technology for your building.
Otherwise, you could be stuck with an expensive platform that doesn’t work well for your property. Or, you could have to implement new tech every year to keep up with the competition. You could even end up with many disjointed solutions that do little for your building.
You wouldn’t build your building on shaky ground with an unstable foundation and expect it to stand up over time. The same thing is true with building operations tech. It doesn’t make sense to cobble together many tech solutions without a base foundation to support them. When you go to operate your building, these tech solutions won’t work together because they don’t have a solid foundation.
How can you find the right building operations technology for your property?
One way is to look for a platform that’s easy and fast to implement. It’s also important to choose a platform that uses modern technology. And, your building operations solution should be tenant and team focused.
Read on to learn more about the top three things you should know when searching for a building operations platform.
1. Quick Time to Value
One of the most important aspects of any building operations platform is usability. So, you should look for one that’s easy and fast to get started with.
While technology can make running your building easier, getting started with new tech can be a challenge. The onboarding process can drag on for months before you can even use your new technology. And, once you have access to the tech, it’s overly complicated and nearly impossible for you and your team to use.
So, after spending a lot of time and money on new technology, it does little to nothing to help you reduce expenses or increase revenue. And, you can’t keep up with your tech-enabled competitors who use their technology effortlessly. While you’re trying to figure out your technology, your tenants are moving to other high-tech buildings – costing you revenue.
Quick to Get Started
The solution is to choose a building operations platform that has a quick time to value. You should be able to get started using it yourself. Instead of the tech requiring a specialized team to get it up and running. That way, you can start using it in a matter of hours or days – not weeks or months.
And, your building operations platform should tell you what you know when you need to know it – without you having to hunt for the information. A good building operations platform should tell you what you need to know with little effort on your part from day 1.
Easy to Maintain
And, you should be able to address issues with the building operations platform yourself. You shouldn’t have to wait on a specialized team to fix minor issues. Instead, the platform you choose should make it easy to resolve issues quickly – with the help of great customer service. That way, you have little downtime if any issues occur.
Compatible with Other Systems
Plus, your building operations software should integrate with other technology you’re already using. For example, if you already have a property management software that works for you, your building operations platform should work with it. Instead of requiring you to get new tech just to accommodate a new platform.
Compatibility means you’ll only have to learn how to use a new building operations platform – not any other technology you already have. This makes it faster to get started with and see benefits from your building operations software.
Scalable
Your building operations platform should also be scalable to have a quick time to value. While it’s great if your building operations software works well for one building, you need it to work across your portfolio. With a scalable solution, you can easily deploy it across all your properties – without having to learn a new system for each building.
The first essential characteristic of a building operations platform is being easy and fast to get started with.
2. Modern Technology
Using modern technology that works both today and in the future is another crucial aspect of building operations technology.
Real estate technology has evolved significantly in the past decade. Excel and email are no longer high-tech. Instead, technology like software as a service (SaaS), cloud-based platforms, and mobile compatible software is now industry-leading.
However, if you choose a building operations platform that relies on outdated technology like desktop-only functionality and manual entry heavy solutions, you’re not going to get all the benefits of building operations platforms. Instead of increasing revenue and lowering expenses, your building operations software will simply be another expense.
And, you’ll fall behind competitors who implement the latest technology in their buildings. Their teams can take advantage of improved workflows and automated insights, while your team is stuck doing everything by hand. And, your competitors will be able to provide a great tenant experience, attracting tenants away from your outdated building.
Cloud-Based SaaS Platform
To avoid this problem, you need to choose a building operations platform that uses the newest technology. One important technology is cloud-based SaaS platforms. These platforms have the latest software that doesn’t need to be backed up. Thanks to the cloud, you and your team can access your building operations platform from anywhere – so you can get more done.
Mobile Capable
Another important modern technology is mobile tech. Almost everyone has a smartphone or tablet, so your team should be able to access everything they need on mobile devices. This helps your team get work done throughout your building – instead of having to return to their desks. So, your team is more efficient, reducing expenses.
AI-Enabled
And, you should look for a platform that incorporates AI. With AI, your building operations platform can help you communicate with tenants, generate building and portfolio level insights, and more. So, you and your team can delegate some tasks – helping you accomplish more to keep tenants happy.
Modular Solution
You should also choose a platform that offers modularity. You might not need all the tech features in your building operations solution. So, you shouldn’t have to pay for features you don’t use. Modularity allows you to pay for only the tech you need – while providing the option to use more as your needs change. This helps you reduce expenses and have a tailored solution for your building.
By using cutting edge technology, your building operations platform can help you run your buildings better today and for years to come. Modern technology is another important area for your building operations platform to focus on.
3. Tenant and Team Focused
Your building operations platform should also be team and tenant focused – to improve efficiency and the tenant experience.
A building operations platform can help you increase revenue, improve the tenant experience, and cut expenses. But, it can only do this if it’s designed to make it easier for your team to get everything done. From addressing work orders to conducting preventive maintenance to finding the right vendor, your building operations platform should make it simple for your team to be efficient.
And, your building operations platform should be designed with the tenant experience in mind. Communication, submitting feedback, getting problems resolved, and more should be a stress-free experience for tenants with your building operations platform.
However, if your building operations platform isn’t designed with your team and tenants in mind, it will do little to help you maximize building revenue through efficiency gains and increased tenant retention.
Multi-Channel Communication
To make sure your building operations platform is tenant and team focused, it should have multi-channel communication. So, your team can communicate with tenants in the way they prefer – such as through slack or text. That way, your tenants will always get important info and be able to resolve problems quickly – leading to increased satisfaction.
Communication Writing and Tracking Tools
Your building operations platform should also have communication tools that make it easy for your team to communicate. Saved message templates, the ability to send messages to multiple groups, message tracking, and more can help your team communicate effectively in less time. So, they can create a great tenant experience more efficiently.
Intuitive Workflows
And, a building operations platform should have intuitive workflows that streamline your team’s tasks. With improved workflows, your team always knows what they need to do and when they need to get it done. All without constant oversight – allowing you and your team to be more productive.
Easier Vendor Search
Another important tenant and team focused aspect your building operations software should have is making it easier to find vendors. Since vendors interact with your team and tenants, they can either improve efficiency and the tenant experience – or harm it. So, you need to make sure you have great vendors, without spending more than necessary.
Building operations software can make this easier with a vendor database, automated comparison, and more. That way, you can reduce operating expenses – while choosing vendors that improve the tenant experience.
The final thing to look for when searching for a building operations platform that it’s tenant and team focused.
Wrapping It Up
As technology becomes increasingly more important to real estate, you’ll fall further and further behind if you’re not using modern solutions to run your building.
While you may use some tech, if it’s disjointed and hard to use – you’re getting little benefit from it. The same is true if you have a solution that uses outdated technology. And, a building operations platform that’s not tenant or team focused won’t help you be more efficient or retain more tenants.
If you’re using tech like this – instead of a modern building operations platform – you’re falling behind competitors who have an up to date tech stack. While they’re reducing expenses, increasing revenue, and improving the tenant experience, you’re stuck doing things the same way they’ve always been done. And, falling behind your high-tech competitors.
The good news, though, it that you can find the right building operations platform if you look for three important characteristics. Your building operations platform should be easy to get started with. And, it should use the newest technology. Plus, it should be tenant and team focused to create a better experience for everyone.
By adopting a modern building operations platform, you can maximize the revenue potential for your building.
Looking for a modern building operations platform? Consider using Prism. With its modular platform, Prism has a quick time to value, uses the latest technology, focuses on the tenant and team experience, and more.
Get started with your free Prism demo today.
