How Can You Control Real Estate Costs?

The website iwmsnews has published an interesting piece with the intriguing title, "10 Ways To Reduce Costs Immediately". It's worth a look. The advice may be common sense, but it touches on issues that organizations may not be acting on even though they know it makes sense: Eliminating non-performing assets and contracts; charging back internally for use of space; cutting underutilized space from the portfolio; implementing virtual meetings and the like.
One of the author's key points is that when it comes to cost reductions, organizations tend to look first at cutting valuable human capital rather than looking around them at a real estate burden that may be already taking far more out of the business than it should. And, given the cost of real estate, many jobs could potentially be saved by right-sizing the portfolio.
The word "immediately" may be misleading. Analysis of the portfolio and understanding where opportunities to divest, sublease or otherwise dispose of underperforming leases and assets takes time.
But that's where an IWMS system can provide enormous time-savings. With at-a-glance reports highlighting the occupancy and utilization of facilities, cost of leases in various markets and costs of equipment repair and replacement, organizations can gain a rapid -- if not immediate -- sense of where savings can be made.
As the article says: "Accountability is the key concept for cost reductions. You have to ensure that you can compare figures and that people are accountable for those figures. Therefore you have to identify cost reductions possibilities and start eliminating these costs now!"
Technology such as IWMS provides that level of accountability that organizations need to begin making the good decisions that can save millions of dollars and ensure a business that can survive a difficult economy.