PikeNet Dispatch, June 24, 2003
Vol 8 No. 49 (678), "More than 9,000 subscribers"

Corporate America Wants Standards! ... The recent Dispatch subtitled Why Do We Need Standards Anyway? (Jun 5, 2003) triggered a lively response from participants in OSCRE (the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate). OSCRE is the evolution of CoreNet Global's eCRE initiative to automate the corporate real estate supply chain mentioned in the Dispatch Will Standards Make You More Money? (Feb 4, 2003)

Keith Perske at Sun Microsystems wrote, "There is a clear need for standards in our industry. ... standards that automate repeatable processes, allow clients and service providers to interact seamlessly, enable the transfer of skills as people move between firms, and reduce the friction in our industry, which only adds heat and cycle-time, not better designs, better processes and better service." [Editor: I've paraphrased the sentence.]

In a conference call with me last week, OSCRE members underscored the need to make the real estate process more efficient and pointed to the Data Consortium in the U.S. and PISCES in the U.K. as models for developing information standards. OSCRE likes to refer to corporations as the "drivers" that will push the industry toward freer data exchange. (Questions? Contact Ian Cameron at OSCRE, Mike Young at the Data Consortium, and Chris Lees at PISCES.)

But my guess is that most service providers and information providers secretly believe that they benefit from "friction" in the transaction process. After all, why make it easier for a client to switch from Broker A to Broker B? (Isn't that also why cell phone providers don't want to make it easy for you to transfer your mobile number from Company A to Company B?) So what incentives will promote the development and adoption of standards? And will a rising tide lift all boats? Send me your comments.

--Peter Pike