By Sue Whitman & Steve Mikolay

Under tremendous pressure to reduce real estate costs--which are typically their second largest expense--corporate and industrial tenants are longing for an end-to-end technology solution that can help them effectively manage their entire portfolio. Most corporate real estate solutions only address a small piece of the complex real estate puzzle.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the world’s largest tire company that manufactures tires, engineered rubber products and chemicals in more than 80 facilities in 28 countries, was a prime example of a company that needed a more robust real estate software solution.

Consequently, it teamed up with Intuit Real Estate Solutions (IRES) to shape the direction of CRE ManagerTM, the company’s end-to-end corporate real estate software solution. Before IRES, Goodyear was using multiple systems to administer their portfolio.

Acknowledged for its innovative paperless lease administrative process, Goodyear’s culture promotes technological innovation. The company, however, was disappointed with small real estate software vendors, that either went out of business, or could not provide the level of service and functionality this global player required. The result of switching software systems was a painful data conversion process that wasted valuable time and resources.

IRES, on the other hand, is uniquely equipped to address the concerns facing companies such as Goodyear. IRES supports more than 4,500 software installations, with in excess of 50,000 users in 38 countries on five continents. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intuit Inc., a leading provider of business and financial management solutions.

Client-driven invention at work

Client-driven innovation is key in the product development process, ensuring a robust and easy-to-use product. Through formal usability testing and other client-centered design practices, Intuit is working closely with Goodyear to ensure the product is easy to use and meets the client’s expectations.

Goodyear’s position as a global manufacturer and supplier, operating and managing corporate facilities, manufacturing plants, distribution centers and retail outlets makes it an ideal team member to share best practices. From assisting in the review of screen prototypes to participating in card sorting activities that tested the menu structures, Goodyear has helped to define both product design and functionality.

During a "Day in the Life" session, Goodyear emphasized the importance of common area maintenance (CAM) reconciliation and percentage rent processing in its day-to-day activities. Goodyear also ran through property and lease setup tasks and provided feedback on the basic navigation. Ther feedback has helped produce a highly functional and easy-to-use solution.

End-to-end strategy allows CRE Manager to stand out among the pack

Due in part to the insights gained from the client-driven invention process, CRE Manager evolved as a business solution that provides all industry-standard functionality within a single database. This end-to-end strategy differentiates CRE Manager from other corporate real estate solutions, which provide varying levels of functionality via proprietary and third party products with no real time communication between acquired solutions.

Goodyear expects to achieve a number of business goals with CRE Manger including:

*Streamlining all real estate operations into one system.

*Utilizing workflow technology to keep track of a person’s individual task, as well as department-wide esponsibilities. In addition, ensuring critical dates and tasks are not missed—namely renewal dates that could result in higher costs.

*Verifying lease terms to ensure proper payment, as well as uncovering opportunities for more cost-effective terms and locations.

*Seamless upgrades, enabling utilization of the latest in technology without interrupting operations.

CRE Manager integrates the most needed features into one system, with the benefit of one user interface and one database:

•Property management
•Lease administration
•Project Management
•Facilities maintenance
•Space management
•Transaction management

CRE Manager also includes a diverse set of features that reduce the operating cost of corporate real estate property management, including:

•End-to-end workflow engine – Enables organizations to automate and standardize all processes involved in managing their real estate assets, such as how leases are routed through a company’s approval process, increasing the expediency in which decisions are made.

•User roles customization – Allows users to easily tailor CRE Manager to specific roles in their organization, increasing productivity. For example, the role page for a Lease Administrator would show budget submissions due and leases that need to be renewed.

•Event management tools – Proactively alerts users to important triggers they set in the system. For instance, CRE Manager gives notice of a rent increase or when a maintenance expense exceeds a preset threshold.

•Real estate administration—Provides immediate access to critical information that directly impacts a company’s bottom line. CRE Manager protects organizations from accidental overpayments by automatically verifying invoice totals against the original lease terms.

•Single real-time database architecture – The elimination of multiple databases prevents redundant data entry and errors, resulting in accurate, current data that enables better decision-making.

Client service is the core of IRES’ business

In addition to a robust and easy-to-use product, IRES believes a complete solution also involves superior customer service. Sixty-percent of the company’s resources are dedicated to consulting and support services that are tailored to meet each client’s needs.

•Consulting: IRES’ consultants average 10 years’ experience implementing real estate systems. From data conversion services to project management and personalized reporting, IRES’ solutions are adapted to its client’s businesses.

In stark contrast to Goodyear’s previous experiences, the implementation of CRE Manager has been a smooth process. The data conversion only took a couple of months, versus a year or more with the company’s former provider.

•Training: Providing a variety of options, clients can choose from classroom training, customized on-site training and web-based training…or a blended approach to maximize utilization of CRE Manager.

Goodyear found the training to be excellent, driving home the tools that could improve its real estate operations and reduce real estate costs.

•Client Service: IRES’ extensive client service staff offers thorough knowledge of the real estate industry and its unique technology needs. Client service representatives quickly understand a client’s questions and provide the answers it needs.

To Goodyear, one of IRES’ key differentiators is the quality of its people. Their expertise and responsiveness were critical factors in Goodyear’s evaluation of the complete solution.