Geeks at the Gate -- Real Estate in the 21st Century

The Slow Road to Digital Real Estate - Part II... My August 14 Dispatch, Technology's Dirty Secret -- It Doesn't Save Time, really got the juices flowing.  Full Disclosure: I'm a passionate believer in the value of real estate's new digital tools, even though adoption will be a slow process.  I just wish that the journey weren't so painful for you and me!  Oh well, we're in good company.  Just read Stewart Alsop's latest column in Fortune, "My So-Called Unwired Life" (September 3, 2001).  And here are some reality checks from Dispatch subscribers:

Scott Williams with Lease Harbor in Chicago: "Unfortunately the real Dirty Secret is that companies often select technology that supports the culture they want to have, not the one they do have.  Then they wonder why the technology is not adopted.  A big red flag goes up any time I see 'cultural change' in the same sentence as 'new technology.'  It usually means that someone (usually upper management) has made a decision independent of the people that will have to use the technology.  This always ends poorly.

Jay Scott Brown with Grubb & Ellis | Beffort Brooks Hogan in Oklahoma City: "Yes there is a cost (a tax you pay) to learn new software.  Scanning documents into files saves me hours of looking through stacks papers and/or files for information.  Using ACT as a contact manager restructures the way I think.  I could never keep track of all the information I keep there.  So although I do work faster (once I’ve paid my dues learning a technology) my work is also qualitatively different."

Larry Morgan, Director of Engineering, Boston Properties in San Francisco: "Statistics show that two out of every five CMMS's (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems) that are purchased are shelved or completely replaced within the first year of purchase.  Why, you ask? Well for one thing, unless you have 110% buy in from the top, and I mean the top you will be off to a really bad start."

--Peter Pike / ppike@pikenet.com