Last week I interviewed Freiert by telephone at Nationwide's headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Freiert manages a staff of about 200 divided into four groups: Client Services, Portfolio Management & Strategy, Facility Services, and Quality & Management Information. One of his major goals is to build a "Real Estate Library" that gathers information from Nationwide's various real estate systems -- for example, Accruent for lease administration and Famis Software for work order management -- into a central database.

And Freiert wants to tie in his real estate service provider, CB Richard Ellis, which handles Nationwide's real estate transactions globally. Plus, Freiert wants to integrate real estate information into Nationwide's PeopleSoft and CAD programs. The list goes on and on. Freiert's dream is an "umbrella" system that ties all information together in order to make better decisions.

"Managing corporate real estate still requires quality staff and service providers making sound decisions around solid business plans. All too often people fall for the technology solution versus using technology to aid skilled people in making good decisions." Good advice.

PikeNet Forum... Only one week left for Early Bird Registration for Get Real: Execute Your Strategy (or How to Get Things Done), Chicago, April 2-3. You'll find all the details at www.pikenet.com/forum.

--Peter Pike