Attacking Cycle Times... Quick. Name a real estate services company that has grown its revenues 20% each of the last two years. Well, it's got to be a very short list! But United Systems Integrators (USI), headquartered in Stamford, CT, claims to be one. That's according to Rick Bertasi, President and CTO of USI, which is solely focused on corporate real estate services.

You can bet that USI isn't totally reliant on brokerage fees. (That's an understatement.) In fact, Ed McLaughlin said recently that USI's revenues are equally divided into three categories: Design & Construction, Consulting, and Transaction Management. During his presentation to KPMG Consulting's CRE Seminar, McLaughlin showed a slide with four words: "Technology Is the Driver." He believes. And when you think about it, how else could you efficiently deliver integrated services?

Central to USI's strategy is its Sequentra software, which integrates property data (lease administration) and project data (transaction management) into a central repository for collaboration between USI, the client, and associated professionals. Bertasi took me through a comprehensive PlaceWare demo of Sequentra's features starting with the customizable "MySequentra" home page.

Sequentra's design emphasizes constant client feedback and evaluation. For example, actual cycle times (transaction timelines) are automatically calculated and compared against an agreed upon standard, and this cycle time calculation translates directly into cost. So the client has a persistent metric to measure USI's value. As Bertasi says, "If our clients don't tell us how we can do better, we can't improve." Good advice.

--Peter Pike