Last December I drove to Redwood City, CA, (near San Francisco) to meet with John Ryan, Financial Products Manager for the Real Estate Suite, and Randy Smith, Oracle's Vice President, US Real Estate and Facilities. No question. The Real Estate Suite is an ambitious undertaking with three major programs aimed at integrating the enterprise: Construction Management, Lease Administration and Space Management, and Facilities Management.

With a portfolio of 10.8 million square feet (5.5 million in the U.S.), Oracle's Smith manages the full range of real estate operations. That's probably an understatement! As we talked about his workflow, it was clear that even Oracle faces challenges integrating all of its real estate operations into its own financial system. But where it has (for example, sublease reporting), Smith has saved a huge amount of time.

Here's the importance of integration. To fully participate in your C-suite (CEO, COO, CFO, etc.) you'll need to leave your silo and integrate real estate data into your company's financials. The Oracle E-Business Suite for Real Estate offers to do just that by linking the entire real estate life cycle to your corporate financials.

--Peter Pike