Mobile tech creating new opportunities and challenges for time-sensitive business

By Carolyn Cummins
Updated September 20 2014 - 12:23am, first published September 19 2014 - 11:45pm
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.
Handy: But devices such as smart watches will also create another data stream that needs to be managed.

The creation of the mobile phone and now the "Dick Tracy" style watch will make lives even more connected and time sensitive, but will also put pressure on industries, such as real estate, to cope with the increased complexity of the technology

When just-in-time practice was introduced into manufacturing, it revolutionised the industry with new efficiencies that companies could only have dreamed of.

More time saving measures were introduced which led to stock savings for retailers and efficiencies of scale for ordering, all of which led to cost savings.

The days of waiting for a shop assistant to make calls to other shops to determine the availability of stock and sizes and then having to wait until delivery day, have disappeared.

Now we can order the item on the phone on the bus home and it's on the doorstep within hours.

Retailers are embracing technology on a daily basis through the multi-channel and omni channel systems.

That, in turn, is forcing warehouses to adapt at the same rapid pace, which is putting pressure on landlords to get with it, or lose the retailer's business.

But can we all keep up with these changes?

As fast as we work out how to master the latest mobile phone application and system, that there is another news report of a chief executive in a polo neck walking around a stage offering up the next "new born" technology.

According to JLL's analysts, the digital world in which we live and work is awash with data, and that data is forecast to grow tenfold by 2020. As computing power and technology advances at breakneck speed, creating and gathering new data has become both fundamental and transformational for business. The researchers say entire industries are being revolutionised by the use of data to make better informed decisions, target prospective clients more accurately and drive revenue. This has led to increased investment in CRE data platforms and processes.

Indeed, 78 per cent of survey respondents in our Global CRE Trends report said their ability to extract real estate metrics improved since 2010.

According to Dr Lee Elliott, global lead for corporate occupier research at JLL, the boom in wearable technology represents the next phase in a revolution shaping corporate real estate, namely the immediate need for real-time data and analytics.

Dr Elliot says real estate owners and occupiers recognise that real estate analytics generated by smart buildings and the Internet of Things can, if addressed properly, provide rapid insight that can be used for competitive advantage.

"Devices such as the i-Watch will provide further opportunities for the creative use of technology to drive operational efficiency, corporate productivity and real estate strategy," he says.

One issue in the rise of the use of the devices is having the back up that requires the employment of many staff.

How many times are the words "what's the IT number?" yelled across an office? And can the carriers of the technology cope?

The growth in the technology will also demand a rise in conduit towers. More buildings will become their own private satellite stations, which some staff my not wish to be near.

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