The Spreadsheet Scramble

A case for moving on as data volume is exploding

The evolution from more manual methods of collecting and interpreting data to easy-to-find and use visualizations will not take place in a bubble. Depending on how your enterprise chooses to take this on, there could be a significant impact on people and businesses overall.

Enterprise data is quickly becoming faster, bigger and available in real-time. By 2025, smart workflows and seamless interactions among humans and machines will likely be as standard as the corporate balance sheet, and most employees will use data to optimise nearly every aspect of their work. We cover two important topics on managing increased data volume:

• The impact of data on people at work

• Things people need to make their data better
  

How is increased volume of data impacting people at work?

As companies add new data sets with the latest ‘thing to measure’, IoT sensors, and software solutions, they’re asking more from their teams.

There's a cumulative effect on people when they are required to do more with increasingly fragmented information and data silos. While team leaders are wrangling data and managing staff turnover, this is how it’s happening:

• People are falling behind in their day-to-day

• They are working overtime to catch up

• This pace is unsustainable and people are quitting

When the technology first paradigm is turned on its head, then people become the solution to the problem of managing the data volume.

Three things people need to make their workday better

When it comes to managing a data strategy, there needs to be a clear vision that bridges the gap between business and technology. This is especially important for companies who are doing this for the first time. If executed in a way that includes people in the process then there's an ongoing improvement in their day.

Under the pressure of greater data volume, here are three things needed to make that happen.

One single source of truth

Resilience to change is needed in times of growth. So, when an organization has a single source of truth (SSoT), then it’s in a better position to scale successfully. In addition, this move from a reactive to a proactive environment fosters workplace satisfaction.

Freedom from data wrangling

In a typical data wrangling scenario, people respond to a request for information with meetings and a flurry of activity. When people have access to self-serve, on-demand data then they can spend time on high-value work instead of piecing together data points.

Better Data quality

People who have reliable, up-to-date information at their fingertips have a quality snapshot of their business. Imagine your day with easy-to-access reporting that not only empowers decision making, but helps you identify previously hidden opportunities.

An agile product model that improves user experience as data volume increases

Let us be your guide

Modernizing Data Analytics Insights for REITs

There’s a widespread digital transformation leaving a path of data silos creating challenges with data democracy and ease of access among Canadian REITs. “From identifying revenue and deal opportunities to generating insights on asset performance, data analytics is a critical business enabler in light of the trends reshaping the real estate market”.

What is data analytics for REITs?

Data Analytics for REITs is the automation of data management tasks within a data platform where a centralized source of truth is used as the basis for analytical capabilities. They are surfaced through data products that provide dashboards, ad-hoc analysis and governed data extraction.

Why is data modernization important for REITS?

REITS are making investments in technology to digitize their business processes. They are now facing the challenge to provide value from their data to better manage costs and efficiencies while generating new opportunities. The benefit is, users spend more time on higher value analytics and decision-making tasks instead of lower value data extraction and preparation tasks.

What does data modernization mean for REITs?

As data sources multiply, there is more granular data available to to better serve REIT customers and people internally. "This can mean working with third-party organizations that help connect the many sources of information across the company to better manage and generate insights from the data it already has"(PwC 2023 Emerging Trends in Real Estate Report).

How can REITs benefit from data modernization?

Finance and Operational Insights

As the complexity of of data increases over time, an increase in workload has a negative impact on productivity and accuracy of reporting. Each employee’s day could potentially turn into time-consuming, mundane data wrangling.

Finance & Ops Information Silos We Integrate:

• Financial Reporting

• Asset Management and Valuations

• AR Reporting

• Property Accounting

• Corporate Accounting

• Operations

Development and Sustainability Analytics

The details of a property that’s collected via IoT and other sources combined with utilities data present a holistic picture of its environmental performance. Often regulated, DSGs (development and sustainability goals) require a transparent analytics dashboard where information can be retrieved quickly and consistently. Development and sustainability is an emerging field with high visibility that needs the flexibility to stay on top of workloads so project decisions can be made with confidence.

D&S Information silos we integrate:

• Utilities Usage

• Dev. & Budget Reporting

• Property Overview

Leasing & Marketing Intelligence

The volume of leasing data is continually increasing along with the complexity of managing it. A transparent lease pipeline will provide leasing professionals with a streamlined processing workflow and analytics. By integrating these data sources (internal and external) leasing professionals can create management and forecasting dashboards for better portfolio management and decision making.

On the Marketing side, teams are facing proprietary data pressures, where marketing analytics are becoming increasingly elusive. By combining information sources, a picture can be created to measure the success of marketing initiatives.

Leasing & Marketing information silos we integrate:

• Brand & Culture

• Leasing

• Joint Ventures

• Financial Reporting

• Legal

Turn Your Data Insights into Business Value

The people power is where REIT organizations gain their value. By integrating data sources with data products, you have an approach to reporting that's designed to improve everyone's day-to-day.

We are your guide to turning your data sources into data products so you can gain usable insights. Connect with us today for help to stop the spreadsheet scramble and create high impact teams.

Stop the Spreadsheet Scramble

Get Started

Your First Data Platform

"A unified data cloud enables the integration of data and insights into transformative digital experiences and better decision making”. Andi Gutmans, (GM and VP of Engineering for Databases, Google Cloud) recently made the comment on an industry Data and AI Trends report.

Companies are getting serious about creating data that goes the extra mile by providing industry insight. We aim to help you make this possible by first, making the move from juggling spreadsheets to that one source of trusted data available to anyone. Here’s what we cover: Why use a data platform? What is a modern data platform? The 5 key considerations for your first data platform

Why use a data platform?

When a data platform is implemented, it provides the organization with a single source of truth that brings together enterprise-wide data assets, without manual effort, to enable data-driven decision making in support of attaining business objectives.

What is a modern data platform?

A modern data platform is designed with an understanding of business user outcomes, delivered using a product-based framework and focused on driving sustainable end-user adoption.

What are the 5 key considerations for a data platform?

The 5 key considerations for a data platform are:

• ease of access

• cost of ownership

• platform scope and capabilities

• product maturity

• scalability
  

It's important to anchor technology selection in the context of a broader reference architecture that supports identified business needs. To support organizational priorities, technologies should build upon data integration, cloud platforms and business intelligence. These 5 key considerations are an important part of the journey to establishing your first data platform.

Ease of Access

It should support access to data by both sophisticated technical users and less sophisticated non-technical users.

Cost of Ownership

Take into consideration the costs associated with all aspects of development and maintaining usability and reliability of the data. These include, licensing, administration, enhancements and data usage.

Platform Scope and Capabilities

Support data management for future extensibility including:

• quality, governance, and security

• all data access patterns

• meeting basic user needs plus data drilling and pivots

Product Maturity

The maturity of the product depends on the needs of the business stakeholder taking into account the following:

• Customer install base

• Technical support capabilities and size of developer community

• Amount of dedicated research and development investment

• Product update release cadence

Every Journey Needs a Guide

Connect with us today to find out how you can help your team move from time-consuming reporting processes to on-demand reports.

Get Started