Will You Need More or Less Space? ... "Connect your real estate strategy to your business strategy." That's the mantra of Mark Friedman, CEO of Accruent, which provides contract management solutions to 150 of the Fortune 1000. Recently Mark WebEx'ed me around his brand new Portfolio Planner module, which leverages the existing data in Accruent's lease management system by connecting it to various "modelers."

"What if corporate revenue falls 7%? What if the FDA approves drug Y and sales increase 200%? What if insurance rates rise 25%?" These are the types of questions that Portfolio Planner will help answer. Sounds simple, right? Not exactly. Mark displayed dozens of screens requiring detailed input -- Business Modeler, Renewal Modeler, Location Modeler, Portfolio Modeler, Disposition Modeler and Market Rent Trend Analyzer. Thinking about the future is complicated!

And I guess that's the point. Forecasting the future quickly meshes your real estate strategy with your business strategy. It's way beyond cutting monthly rent checks and lease administration. In fact, it's almost an entirely different discipline, and working with Portfolio Planner could be a huge undertaking. As corporate real estate directors knock on the C-suite (CEO, CFO, etc.), the questions that they ask will be as important as the information that they provide, maybe more important. Accruent strengthens their case for a strong voice.

--Peter Pike