Real estate companies are now being defined by technology ushers. Some of these changes are beneficial but some are real posers. However, in the short term, it will be the challenges that will define the path for the winners, setting them up for success. According to analyst reports, for real estate companies, their main challenge is related to migrating legacy systems and real estate software to the cloud. However, adopting cloud technology can help real estate firms to adjust to market realities and benefit from the value that they provide.
Real estate as an industry is extremely relationship-driven and therefore relies on information sharing and collaboration. Cloud applications, align with these requirements and provide a means to capture, store and share information in real time across multiple devices. It provides for a distributed work environment and slashes down fixed infrastructure costs.
Asset management is a crucial activity for real estate firms and cloud-based applications help to provide real-time insights into operations. It simplifies contract management and thereby makes operational tasks accurate and easy to manage.
However, on the flip side, information security is a concern for real estate firms. Real estate firms have access to many personal data, i.e. driver’s license numbers, social security numbers and even bank checks. Access by unauthorized individuals can be devastating for a firm’s reputation. As a result of this, security becomes a concern especially when applications are hosted on public clouds. However, most cloud service providers ensure data security. In certain cases, a private cloud may be a better option because of its restrictive environment. To mitigate risk, several layers of protection need to be defined.
Crafting innovative ways to improve ROI for REITs.
Real estate firms considering cloud migration should opt for service providers who have a strong domain knowledge of this sector. They should ensure:
- Controls in place to ensure data integrity and confidentiality irrespective of the environment.
- Clear idea about which data needs to be encrypted and ensure that this data is safe.
- Effective monitoring of security-related threats, incidents, and events on both [software company and cloud provider] networks; comprehensive incident response methodologies; and maintenance of appropriate forensic strategies for investigation and evidence collection.
Due diligence on cloud real estate security, using appropriate guidelines, is significant work, companies like Trigent are following these practices. The goals are very much achievable and attainable, and the rewards of flexibility and on-demand provisioning that the cloud provides can’t be ignored.
