81% of CRE and FM teams anticipated to embrace BI by 2022
Business intelligence (BI) software and services have become a central facet of corporate real estate (CRE) and facilities management (FM) operations. These teams are dealing with an ever-growing list of disparate data streams and need a BI solution to find clarity amid the data chaos.
This trend was reflected in a recent March 2021 study, commissioned by JLL and conducted by Forrester Consulting, which polled 336 CRE and FM decision-makers. According to the study, nearly half of companies (48%) have already invested in a BI solution. Is it just tech companies that are adopting these sophisticated technologies? No. BI platform adoption spans industries—including retail, education, and professional services.
BI solutions help CRE professionals manage assets and their portfolios. They’re key to efficiently and affordably analyzing relevant enterprise data to make informed, strategic decisions.
Results from the Forrester study also suggested that the trend of CRE leadership embracing BI solutions isn’t slowing down. It’s accelerating.
Among CRE and FM decision-makers, a resounding 33% plan to invest in a BI platform in the next six months. If they follow through, that means a total of 81% of firms will have invested in BI software by 2022.
The broad scope of the Forrester study, which reflects attitudes from decision-makers across the spectrums of company size, industry, and portfolio, reveals a shift in how CRE and FM professionals do business.
Some BI solutions fall short in capturing the full picture
Existing BI solutions have attempted to help CRE and FM teams harness disparate data streams but aren’t always successful:
- Generic BI tools don’t address CRE-specific needs
- Enterprise-level integrated workplace management systems (IWMSes) have limited integration capabilities
- Multiple CRE point solutions aren’t thoroughly integrated
- Custom solutions often aren’t scalable, nor are they built with CRE expertise
Another significant trend reflected in the study was a sense that many of the companies that have already invested in BI solutions felt they still lacked key functionalities—for example, of the 48% of respondents who have invested in a BI solution, 53% expressed a willingness to invest further in third-party data analytics support.
In fact, multiple data points in the study indicated CRE and FM teams find it challenging to pull together relevant streams of data:
- 49% of teams that invested in a BI solution lack the technology to collect data
- 59% of teams that invested in a BI solution lack the technology needed to analyze data
- 50% of teams that invested in a BI solution have difficulty generating actionable insights from data, due to the lack of technology
The search for a comprehensive CRE BI platform is over
JLL Azara is the first complete, purpose-built, real-time CRE BI platform. Azara addresses the limitations of legacy BI solutions so companies can efficiently and affordably analyze data enterprise-wide to make informed, strategic decisions.
