Customers in sight: Supporting corporate accommodation decisions with real estate data Available to Purchase

Information and communication technology (ICT) support of corporate accommodation processes with real estate data is not a simple subject. Insight is required into the primary processes of very different organisations, and inclusion of many aspects of portfolio management is necessary. This paper highlights possibilities for ICT support of these complex processes, although it does not explore in detail the different technology products available on the market. Instead, an overview of considerations focused at possible functionalities is provided which may contribute to sound decision making on actual development, purchase and implementation of supporting systems. To an increasing degree business support systems function in a network or are ‘webenabled’. Also transactions are frequently effected using new infrastructures (e‐commerce, business‐to‐business [B2B], etc). New technologies are also rapidly gaining ground in demand and supply chains regarding corporate accommodation, real estate and portfolio management. In many cases, though, the need for an overall and ‘future proof’ vision when applying them in a corporate real estate (CRE) environment is not thoroughly recognised. With regard to the Government Buildings Agency (GBA) in the Netherlands, it is important to bear in mind that this is not a commercial organisation. It functions in the public domain, and therefore there are aspects that must be specially treated. The paper presents a survey of important matters in GBA’s primary (and partially secondary) processes, and establishes connections with possibilities (and implications) that state‐of‐the‐art ICT support may provide. A conceptual outline of the primary processes of a CRE organisation is used as a starting point, and an overview of the data needs in these processes is given. By explicitly applying an approach aimed at (potential) data customers, who will decide for themselves what data has informative value, functional boundaries in internal processes are easily crossed. From this approach, many possibilities for added value, marketing and B2B communication become more obvious and manageable. Although this paper focuses on the primary process of the GBA in the Netherlands, many subjects may be applicable in other CRE organisations.