Benefit from advanced analytics without sensors

The initiatives that are most often suggested for applying big data and analytics to real estate are energy management and equipment monitoring applications.  These initiatives can be incredibly valuable, but they only address operating costs and they often require a significant implementation, including investment in sensors.  Another popular analytics initiative, capturing real-time space usage, can also require additional investments in sensors.

Core Planning provides another way to apply analytics for your real estate.  Compared to energy and maintenance initiatives, Core Planning can provide more significant returns with significantly less client implementation, as illustrated in the chart below.  

Multi-facility planning projects can provide some of the greatest benefits because planners are considering the full cost of many of the highest cost properties, placing these projects highest on the vertical access.  Core Planning can have greater benefits than standard campus and regional planning because optimization modeling can search through many more alternatives to find additional savings and productivity improvements. 

Equipment monitoring and energy management are lower on the vertical access because they only address operating costs, even though many organizations may be able to see these benefits for a larger number of properties.  

In the middle in terms of benefits are the initiatives that compare current occupancy costs to market costs for their locations, providing real estate professionals with better knowledge of the opportunities.  These initiatives address the total location cost, but generally only apply when tenants have leverage through a lease expiration or cancellation option. 

On the horizontal access, ease of implementation, the initiatives on the left involve adding sensors and collecting lots of additional data.  On the right, for campus and regional plans, organizations are using existing data for just the properties that are part of the analysis.  

If your organization's senior executives are encouraging you to implement an analytics initiative, consider using Core Planning for your campus and regional plans and other complex projects.  As a first analytics project, you will see more benefits with less implementation.  Then, move on to capture even greater savings with energy management and equipment monitoring.