Datscha launches in Finland

(Full disclosure: This post is a shameless self-promotion when I'm the Product Manager at Datscha. I try to stay clear from writing about Datscha on this blog, but this is to good to be left out.)

Datscha, the Swedish SaaS solution for the commercial property market, launched last week it's services in Finland by adding data on 140 000 properties and market information for 7 municipalities (to be 50 soon).

Property data

The data to be found on all commercial properties in Finland includes  id, owner, type code, land area and total size of the building. 

Below is the rather useless, but all so cool view of all the 510 000 (!) commercial properties in Sweden and Finland. 

Makes much more sense when zooming in.

On a detailed level the user is able to do a 'mouse over' on any property icon and see the id, owner and type code. There is also a link for more details.  

Market data

As in Sweden, market data from a consulting firm is available in order for the user to getting a better understanding of what office sub markets that exist and their rent-, vacancy- and yield-levels.

More information

Is found at www.datscha.com and through the press release (in English). 

My thoughts

Very proud indeed.  ;-) 

Time to start marketing the standards

One of the great (small) challenges in business life is all the silos of data within an organisation. For example, the property information in the property management software that could be useful to have in your CRM system and through the growth of standards there may be a solution in sight. 

 

The hard work

However, standards don't just pop-up. They are the result of some serious hard work and timeless efforts to put them in place. A standard is an agreement between maybe 100s of counterparts that first of all not may be aware why they need it (!) or want it (software suppliers making it harder to switch supplier). That's a tough starting point. The second is that everyone is doing their business in an unique way making it hard just to have a common understanding of 'what is included in the rent?' or 'what type of area is it?". 

  

The organisations

Luckily for the property industry there are organisations driving the work of standardisation. The largest effort internationally is run by OSCRE, which is a merge between an US based organisation (OSCRE) and a UK one (PISCES) a few years back. Their effort is nowadays not limited to any particular country. See some of there larger projects listed here. A great interview with Stephen Spooner, the Executive Chairman of OSCRE, is found at crePodcast.    

 

In Sweden the equivalent effort is run by the fi2, which has been successful in the construction phases. (OSCRE has been more focusing on the investment & valuation phase.) 

  

Real solutions

Some examples on the benefits of standards.  

   

Case: Lease data

A great examples is from the large commercial real estate consulting firm JLL described in a PISCES case paper.

Jones Lang LaSalle has devised a lease administration system to manage its clients’ portfolios. Originally information was transferred to this system from lawyers using paper-based systems. This traditional approach required specialist staff to extract the data, was monotonous for those involved, and therefore prone to error.

      

In contrast, when the PISCES Lease Standard was developed it became possible to take lease data direct from law firms straight into the lease administration system. Using PISCES, ambiguities are minimised and the responsibility for data is more clearly defined. Definitions are often unclear with paper leases but with PISCES there is more precision, because the data standard defines that if a data field is populated in a particular way it carries a precise meaning.  

  

Case: Underwriting process

Found a video showing how standards are used in the underwriting process.  
.    

Find more videos like this on CREOpoint

 

Case: Making the data in CAD drawings searchable (In Swedish)

The fi2 has created a PDF with existing solutions at companies like ABB Fastigheter and Regionfastigheter.  

Next step

Why not sign up at www.OSCREiForum.org (hosted by CREOpoint) and join the discussion?  

   

My thoughts

The different standards have today reached the point when the main problem is not to make them work, but to convince firms to start using them (or demand suppliers to put them in place). This is a challenge of marketing and selling.

 

I believe the only way is to SHOW existing real time solutions (like the video above). Then also to focus the 'sales' towards the large investors & banks who then will show the benefits for (/put the pressure on) all other parties in the industry. Cause like always, money talks. 

 

Finally, to all you people out there working within the area; keep up the great work. 

 

Realcomm goes to London

There aren't to many conferences or events focusing on the benefits of smart use of IT in the real estate industry. But there are two,  Realcomm for the commercial part of the industry, and the Inman Connect Conference for the residential part. In a months time the Realcomm London will take place (20th October).

About the event

"Realcomm London is a networking and educational event for commercial and corporate real estate technology professionals. This unique “by invitation only” event will focus on global best practices that pertain to technology, automation and innovation in the property industry."

Agenda

The focus on the event will be “SHOW ME THE ROI: Using Technology to Increase Revenues and Decrease Expenses”. 

SharePoint: Real Property ITs Secret Strategic Weapon? 
Over the last 24 months, SharePoint has taken the world by storm, and the property industry is no exception. The versatile yet powerful platform has given organizations the ability to automate tasks never before considered while encroaching on applications traditionally developed by the vendor community. In this exciting session we’ll explore some of the new features of SharePoint 2010 and demonstrate some innovative applications for the property industry. 

The ROI for Smart Connected Buildings – Global Best Practice Update
Until recently the concept of a "connected" building was just emerging. Over the past year we’ve seen a significant number of positive signs in this space; major agreements signed, new multinational vendors joining the industry, vendor revenues matching GDP growth, but most importantly, a number of legitimate, quantifiable case studies. This update will showcase the most significant, smart, connected projects from around the world focusing on both the challenges and the ROI opportunities. 

Data Challenges for Global Property Organizations
It has become very apparent that large multinational firms with portfolios in different regions around the world have specific and complex needs. Issues such as master data management, integrating data from multiple property systems, and regional differences in data definitions often result in a lack of data transparency and costly, inefficient reporting processes. In this session we’ll discuss and debate options for building stronger transactional, management, and reporting systems in global property organizations. 

Leveraging Technology to Meet Carbon Reduction Commitment 
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme mandated this past April will have a profound effect on all public and private property owners and investors in the UK. This mandate will require the half-hourly monitoring of energy consumption in buildings and will impact the cost of energy to both small and large portfolio owners. Managing energy in one building is complicated enough but the issues become even more complex as multiple buildings are added to the equation. This session will address the technologies required to manage the CRC processes and will also discuss the concept and implementation of a centralized command and control center. 

My thoughts

If you have the possibility you really should make it to this "complimentary “by invitation only” event that brings together commercial real estate practitioners to discuss and debate global best practices that pertain to technology, automation and innovation in the property industry".

I've been to four Realcomm events over the years and Jim Young and Howard Berger always manage to exceed my expectations. 

Unfortunately, I'll not be able to make the trip from Stockholm due the fact that I've a major release within days after the event. Will have go into crunch time the last week...

The confusion about the Cloud, Web based and SaaS

I'm often caught up in discussions about 'the cloud', web based, SaaS and so on. There seems to be a lot of confusion and different understandings around this topic.  

First of all, 'the cloud' is (foremost) about marketing

The use of Internet didn't start with the word 'cloud', but I see three main reasons why the use of the word 'cloud' has spread so fast:

1. people's eager to find new things  (the fuel for marketing)
2. the use of Internet was matured enough for the corporate world 
3. the growth of PasS and IaaS liked services    (see below)  

I believe the strongest reason is the marketing part. Never underestimate the eager to sell old stuff in a new package. The 'cloud' was also the perfect excuse to create events and for journalists to write articles.  

The levels of 'the cloud'

On a high level 'the cloud' is all about "using the the Internet". However, the Internet has evolved so much over the last years that it make sense to divide it into different levels. It is now common to divide Internet based services into three levels:

• SaaS - Software as a Service     
• PaaS - Platform as a Service           
• IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service 

Software as a Service (SaaS) 

Probably the most common 'cloud' service is the 'Software as a Service' (the name was started to be used in 2001). Instead of installing the software on your computer, you only 'run' it in you web browser. (No installations or upgrades.) More commonly known as 'web based' or 'Internet Based'. Of the different cloud versions, this is the only one the end user every will see.

OpenCrowd describes it as...

Examples of SaaS services are Projectplace (Swedish collaboration tool), Fortknox (Swedish accounting 'software'), Real09 (property management tool), Squarespace (brilliant blogging platform) and, of course, the most common examples, Salesforce (CRM) or Google Apps (email and more). More examples at OpenCrowd.  

Platforms as a Service (PaaS) 

This one is a bit trickier to understand for many end users. A 'platform' is for "application development and delivery". In other words, this is a service used by companies to create and deliver SaaS solutions. 

OpenCrowd describes it as...  

Salesforce is marketing it's service with the words... 

"What Does It Take to Develop PaaS Apps? 
A lot less than it used to. To develop software, you once had to buy databases, servers, networks, and a host of development tools. And then you needed the staff to install, optimize, and maintain it all.

With PaaS, you can avoid those investments and focus on developing applications instead." 

Examples of PaaS are Amazon AWS, Google App Engine and Salesforce Force.   

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)  

This level is all about the foundation of running a software in the first place. For example, servers and storage. 

OpenCrowd describes it as...  

Examples of IaaS are Amazons AWS services like EC2. 
Read more about IaaS here. 

Is ASP the same as SaaS?

Two concepts that are similar but have some differences. 

ASP - Application Service Provider 
"One instance of a software running suitable for the one customer". 
(It is then possible to then have several instances on the same server, but one per customer.) 

SaaS - Software as a Service  
"A single software will serve many clients."

In other words 
An ASP supplier commonly focus on a packaged-base approach (for example, they could offer many different solutions from different software companies) while SaaS takes product approach. An ASP provider need not be a manufacturer of the product, but a SaaS solution has been designed, built, delivered, configured and implemented normally by a single party who has total control of the system. However, it is quite common for providers of 'old' client/server products to offer their solutions as an ASP solutions from their own data centers, but still one instance per customer. In other words, no SaaS. A great paper on the difference of ASP and SaaS is found at Luit InfoTech. 

The great SaaS test 
I recommend to ask the supplier if they are able to set a demo account within 15 minutes. If they can't, they aren't a cloud supplier.  

Is web based always SaaS?

Nope!
As always when something is popular and in the press, "everyone" wants to shine. However, a service could be web based but not (according to me) in 'the cloud'. This is when a software is installed locally and the reached using a web browser. Yes, it is web based but not part of 'the cloud'. 

Below is a great example of this from a 'cloud' supplement to SvD (one of the two largest daily papers in Sweden). Out of 37 services listed, only 9 was actually 'cloud' services! 

The rest were ASP solutions.  
Nothing wrong with that, but it ain't the cloud! 
There is even a name on that SoSaaS...   

Finally, Keep it simple 

If talking to potential clients, keep it as simple as possible. Start using the word 'web based' and if they still (?) are following you, there may be reasons to explain a bit further more exactly what type of service you delivery.

However, don't forget that the user is first of all interested in the benefits.  

Wrap ups from Inman Connect 2010

Did you also miss the Inman Real Estate Connect 2010 conference in San Francisco last month? I did. But hereare some wrap ups I found.

THE INMAN SITE  

The people behind the Man show is making a brilliant job to make the speeches available online at the Inman site. For most of them you need a 99 USD subscription (which is fair).

Two examples of videos 'New kids on the Block' and 'Is Google getting into Real Estate?'.

REFLECTIONS OF ATTENDEES  

My friend Alistair from New Zealand writes about "the feeling that after 3 days you have been exposed to the largest mass of insight and emerging comprehension of where this industry is heading in the future"...  

... and Brian at 1000watt summarize the "perhaps the best Inman show ever" in five points...

... Rudy at Trulia describes some hectics days for the Trulia team (including a 3 mile run with clients)...

... Katie from Future of Real Estate Marketing is talking about her favorite session"building great web sites" (presentation at Slideshare)... 

... Peter at Business2 makes a great job on interviewing many of the exhibitors...

... and finally the Inman Contest Winners are announced including Innovator Awards.  

MY THOUGHTS  

Inman Real Estate Connect is a brilliant event if you're working in the area of residential real estate and technology (I'm more into commercial real estate so I have a had time to argue to go to the US twice a year...).

Furthermore, it's growing in international participants every year and it seems also to be thoughts about hosting Inman events in Sydney and Beijing (see Alistair's post). It's great news since I believe both in spreading the use of technology but also to learn from experiences from other countries. Keep up the great work the Inman Team!