Commercial Real Estate Technology/Automation Trends - Last 12 Months

• Weak technology firms are gone from the real estate market / the strong are growing
• Large technology and automation firms are coming into the commercial real estate market
• Smart commercial real estate companies never stopped automating after the dot.bomb period
• The NextGeneration Intelligent Buildings discussion has begun
• Commercial real estate data standards groups reaching new levels of acceptance
• Outsourcing has impacted our business - real estate firms and tenants
• The paperless/digital paradigm tipping point is in sight (music, video, paperless firms)
• Commercial real estate CIOs have arrived and are now being recognized as a force
• Asia is beating US in vision and innovation as it relates to NextGeneration buildings and cities
• Commercial real estate innovation in general is very slow in the United States
• Efficiency is driving the world economy and commercial real estate will soon follow
• Consolidation in technology and specifically in our industry will continue

Commercial Real Estate Technology/Automation Trends - Next 12 Months

• Many Industries will continue to eliminate paper in their business processes
• Due to impressive results by early adopters, accelerated adoption will follow
• The fiber across the ocean and strong work ethic will increase international competition
• There will be a continued pressure on productivity impacting real estate efficiency and profits
• Accuracy and regulation (Sarbanes) will continue to influence real estate firms
• The Enterprise Computing Platform will dominate while disparate applications will lose favor
• NextGen buildings will begin to be recognized and new performance criteria defined
• The gap between those real estate firms that "get it" and those who do not is growing
• The relationship between CEO and CIO will continue to improve and become more strategic
• Data standards In the industry will take hold and become an influence in business solutions
• Business mobility will continue to impact real estate professionals as well as tenants
• Old and outdated business models in our industry will become more obvious
• Outsourcing will continue to impact technology development, business models and use of space
• All technology budgets including real estate industry will increase due to legitimate ROIs
• Due to accelerated awareness/adoption of new models, good consultants could be scarce
• Asia, Europe and the Middle East will continue to lead in innovation in NextGen projects
• As more firms overlap applications in the "enterprise" there could be more consolidation

By all indications, the Commercial Real Estate Business Solutions and NextGen Buildings marketplace should see consistent growth over the next 3-5 years. 2004 should mark the beginning of a new chapter for this relatively new industry and the next few years should prove to be exciting. This period is quite different from dot.com and the poorly executed business plans. This phase is more pragmatic, more disciplined and determined to legitimately and positively impact business. With all the new ideas, major companies and conservative investments, the next 5 years should be very, very interesting!