9 Dec - Jan PropTechOutlookposes the question of whether companies should buy and build and identify their core strengths. Compared to other industry verticals, the proptech space is still taking small steps toward adopting newer technologies into their workflow and operations. Another critical element is having the right vision and strategy in place to allow digital technologies to become enablers of business growth. In the current scenario, where the real estate world is facing a huge technology test, it has become incumbent for companies to align the transformation and technology roadmap to their existing strategies. It is also vital for visualizing incremental steps and creating value along the way so as to foster change and innovation.Despite being a slow adopter of technologies, the largest asset class shows huge potential in terms of value creation. This deepened interest in new technologies has been heightened by the expansive emphasis on sustainability, where technology creates opportunities to support the transition to more sustainable buildings, along with tenant experience as its subset. While there are several enablers of change, including connected buildings, concepts, data enablement, data sharing, and automation technologies, companies view sustainability as their priority in their agenda going forward. Please elaborate on the technologies that impact the Proptech space.In my opinion, the opportunities for improvement are majorly driven by technical management, facility management, and technical services. There exist several technologies related to the core building infrastructure, such as sensors and IoT, among others. These innovations enable the seamless communication of building data by property managers and real estate professionals, which can then be utilized for improving their operations and processes. Another big change within the proptech space is being driven by automation technology. This helps clients focus on the core value drivers and eliminates the need for tedious, mundane tasks. With these new technologies, the proptech space now consists of several interesting services that improve network infrastructure, provides analytics software, drive process automation, and other platform services for information and data sharing. Digitalization within the proptech space also enables the provisioning of value creating services for tenants, which ultimately increase the operating profits. What should be the right approach in identifying the solution providers and partners within the industry?I would say the most important aspect to keep in mind is to understand the company's existing capabilities and know what needs to be incorporated to make it better. This, in turn, helps to have a smooth dialogue with the solution provider or partner and thereby increase the building development process. On the other hand, the partner should also take heed of the real estate market, the key value drivers, and the core problems to truly address the property owners' and managers' issues and target the value chain. As a property management firm ourselves, we are heavily investing in improving the core processes, digitizing them, and ensuring the introduction of technology as much as possible into our operations. We are also looking at bringing in newer solutions and platforms for future-proofing property management. With a future-oriented outlook, we urge companies to have the right know-how to access data, create synergies from hardware in the building, and get valuable insights from the property. In effect, we have also introduced a collaboration platform for us and our clients to push new solutions and improve our property management workflows and services. What does the future hold for the Proptech space?There are many improvements that mark key milestones in the proptech space with exponential growth in handling volumes and the number of budding startups in the industry. The coming years might witness more consolidation and cooperation of traditional real estate companies with tech startups. As technology development in technical and facility management keeps evolving, it is imperative for companies to focus on improving the use of data and new software while always moving forward with a patient attitude as the industry propels to newer dimensions with speed. The proptech industry is improving over the years and is gradually maturing and understanding the benefits of digitization. It will be important going forward that companies realize where to draw the line when it comes to what is to be done and where to build partnerships to establish core competencies in integrating solutions and technologies
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