How a data integration platform helps in property management

The volume of data produced in the world has been growing exponentially and will continue to increase at an even faster pace. The real estate market is no exception. The adoption of technologies such as sensors and software for various purposes brings the challenge of integrating them to extract value from the information.

After all, there are multiple equipment and systems working for specific purposes: sensors, ranging from detecting human presence to automating the reading of critical equipment such as thermostats, hydraulic pumps, air conditioning, and electrical distribution panels; biometric recognition systems for access control; and even the latest applications of thermal sensors for public health purposes, to name just a few examples.

"Different sectors of the economy need to face this reality and demonstrate their ability to handle and extract value from the data produced. With the advancement of technology, the companies that seek to experiment and master innovations more quickly are the ones that differentiate themselves. In the real estate market, data holds opportunities for operational and commercial efficiency gains, as well as optimization of sustainability-related aspects," says Vinícius Santos, Head of Product at JLL Technologies.

But, how can data from different sources be securely integrated and interpreted and compared intelligently? How can one have access to strategic information to support better decisions with the necessary agility? In what ways can owners and administrators of real estate assets know exactly how their properties have performed from the perspective of operational, financial, commercial, and sustainable efficiency? 

With decades of global experience in property management, JLL has developed JLL Management, a real estate data intelligence hub.

JLL Management is a platform whose mission is to orchestrate all the information. Its functionalities allow property owners, corporations, and real estate asset managers to control all critical and strategic information consistently, so that the market can focus on what really matters: generating value for business and society.

"The tool is Brazilian and has been in operation for three years managing over 4 million square meters of investment and corporate client properties at JLL. Since then, it has served as a source for free research reports of public interest, in addition to supporting strategic decisions in the diagnosis and planning of real estate operations. The goal is for it to become widely accessible to the market in the coming years and also contribute to the increased transparency of the sector," says Santos. 

JLL Management is an intelligence hub that integrates data from different sources, be it sensors or software. Its set of features enables property management, facilities, and portfolio owners to control the most critical asset information in a simplified and comprehensive manner, while orchestrating operational data generated from a variety of specialized software, including sensors, which play a fundamental role in obtaining real-time data. 

The solution is modular, scalable, and also includes lease contract management, facilitating full control of sensitive and strategic information and providing broad visibility of all current, expired, and future contracts. In addition, one of its features is generating automated operational reports, saving time for management teams who no longer need to manually compile recurring reports, and providing greater consistency in data for effective and informed decision-making.

"Thus, management and facilities teams can focus on what matters most: adding value to the end user, while the corporate real estate market advances in efficiency and its digital transformation journey," indicates the JLL expert. 

One of the main differentials of JLL Management is its functioning as a supervisory system, which means that any market tool with an integration interface can be incorporated into the ecosystem through a range of native integration APIs. The layout is modern, and the navigation is user-friendly, making it very intuitive to use. 

Here are the main property management data facilitated by the JLL platform:

Portfolio: asset management is one of the main modules, focused on customizing the integration of property information in the portfolio. Details such as name, address, geolocation, classification, and specifications like towers, floors, units, areas, occupancy, parking spaces, elevators, certifications, etc. It provides Business Intelligence (BI) reports for analysis and comparisons.

Rental contracts: integration and transparency regarding current, future, and past contracts. Control of information such as tenants, monthly rental values, adjustment indices, revenue projection, critical dates (reviews, renewals, expirations, and adjustments). Visualization of data in a timeline and prediction of future risks. 

Utilities and sustainability: in the real estate context, utilities refer to public services such as the supply of electricity, water, and gas. It is one of the main categories of operational data controlled in a property and essential for efficient management. Consumption data enables the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions and facilitates obtaining or maintaining green certifications.

Documentation: control of documents with validity dates, renewal periods, expiration alerts, issuance costs, responsible parties, history, etc., all to ensure risk-free operation and proper governance. 

Suppliers: service contracts, validity dates, values, adjustment indices, performance evaluations, and quality of services provided, comparisons, etc. 

Financials: organization of revenue, expenses, arrears, and budget data in a way that allows maintaining a history and applying complex analysis for diagnostic and planning purposes. Possibility of providing duplicate invoices and digital account statements.

Population and occupancy: the flow of people accessing the property is an important indicator for operation planning and resource allocation. The tool connects with access control systems, facilitating inquiries and analyses of variations in people flow over time. This feature has proven particularly useful for tracking the behavior and trends of building populations after the onset of the global health crisis in 2019. 

"The JLL Management has an NPS (Net Promoter Score) of over 50 points, and we have noticed a growing interest from managers who use it in contributing to its evolution, which means that it has become an integral part of professionals' routines, who already see the benefits of using a tool that reduces the need for manual work," concludes Vinícius Santos.