In 2011, famed venture capitalist Marc Andreessen penned the now famous quote, " software is eating the world." The statement took the position that "every company needs to become a software company" regardless of industry. The same holds true in the condo management world. The use of technology has become the new norm and sees no signs of slowing down. In fact, sticking with pen and paper is increasingly a hindrance to the level of competitiveness of property management companies in what is becoming a more and more crowded market. With the right set of software tools, new levels of efficiency and scale is achieved.
A host of new technologies have impacted property management and will continue to do so, such as mobile technology, green technology, virtual and augmented reality, drones and business intelligence. In this post, we address cloud computing or in other words, software as a service (SaaS) as a first step in establishing a fundamental layer for efficiency and scale.
Benefits of Moving to the Cloud
Using software as a service is a trend that has become the standard in condo management. Moving to the cloud offers many benefits, including the following:
- Cost savings: Using the cloud enables management companies to forgo the costs of building IT infrastructure.
- Secure: Most software providers use secure data centers and conduct regular security updates in order to ensure that confidential data is of utmost priority.
- Latest versions: Updating to the most up-to-date versions of applications is a breeze.
- Accessibility: Perhaps, one of the biggest advantage is the ability to access key applications from anywhere and at any time.
What Does This All Mean to Your Property Management Business on a Daily Basis?
Sure, the use of technology sounds interesting, intriguing and enticing, but all this may sound daunting to you. Typically, it is the unfamiliarity that breeds uneasiness when considering a new system. An appropriate way to dissect this is to outline what this all may mean to you specifically on a day-to-day basis?
Eliminating Paper
One of the benefits of eliminating paper from your operations is obviously, going green - doing your part for the environment (boards actually look for this nowadays). Not only that, having digital records of documents means very easy access to them regardless of where you are. Further, that equates to minimizing the risk of human error in your processes. The benefits are actually endless in this regards and security and longevity of important documents are also ensured. Seems like a no-brainer to us.
New Levels of Efficiencies
Applications have become so easy to use that they in fact, automate a lot of the tasks that you would otherwise do manually. This provides for consistency among different team members.
Workflow automation goes beyond helping the current team. In an industry where there's a lot of movement in staff, successfully on-boarding new staff is of paramount importance. The right software will guide them through this process. Less time spent on training means more time is available for other areas of the business such as strategy, quality of service and growth.
Growing the Business
Property management software nowadays include features that enable the growth of portfolio. In fact, some are designed with that in mind to allow for the growth in business, boards and residents without a less proportionate increase in work to do. From processing maintenance requests to inquiries about financials, these are all taken care of in a manner that allows your business to thrive without crumbling under the pressures of growth.
The big takeaway here is that while there is a myriad of technology to integrate into your business, it is extremely important for you to assess which would be immediate value-adds. It is important to distinguish between what is a 'nice to have' application vs. what is in today's market a 'must have'. What needs to be taken into account in assessing this is to take the time to analyze what your competitors are doing and also to see the market through the lenses of customers. A good way to do that is to speak to an expert such as the team at Condo Manager.
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