BenchCore recently became part of RefineRE, a Dallas-based proptech company. Like BenchCore, RefineRE aggregates and manages large-scale corporate real estate portfolio data that enables faster and smarter decisions. We have long argued that data is an asset and needs to be treated that way. Above all, real estate data needs to be structured, available and deployed by corporate occupiers and their service providers alike.
Whereas assets may have once been locked in corporate vaults, data is all around us. The challenge? How can we make sure that the data we need to manage from tactical lease negotiations to major long-term site location and facility policies and standards is accurate, complete, and ready to “work.”
We know from a survey that we distributed last year that 16% of the respondents (largely major corporations) have no centralized real estate database. An impressive 93% have some sort of lease information management, but only 61% have headcount, and 67% reported that they have capacity.
Without data, it is difficult for corporate real estate to do its job. Successful businesses focus on data, and in turn, advanced analytics. Forecasting, tracking, auditing, and benchmarking in a continuous performance management cycle demands data. There is no doubt that successful careers in corporate real estate will belong to those who harness the power of their data.