There are a fair number of property management systems in the market to cater for the owner`s requirements to manage its tenants. But if the emphasis is switched to that from a tenant`s perspective, very little exists.
By utilising Sandton-based Real FMG`s real estate consultancy skills, its directors developed software to enable the users of accommodation to more effectively manage their portfolios.
With three major retailers - the Foschini Group, Massmart and Woolworths - now running the Realyst Premises Manager software program, it is rapidly becoming the industry standard. The product is applicable for the management of a few leases through to large portfolios of thousands of premises.
Real FMG director Paul Maddison states: "Since introducing Realyst, the software has been expanded and it now includes a generic contract management product, RealContract, enabling a company or enterprise to manage the full range of contracts and have a sophisticated premises management product as well.
Realyst Premises Manager is designed to hold pertinent property information, along with details of all contractual obligations, and the system enables the user to effectively manage the many complexities contained within contractual documentation pertaining to property.
The property module includes options for benchmarking as well as variable rental calculations and turnover certificates.
In addition to the functions available in the RealContract Manager, the Premises Manager module is functionally rich. RealContract is utilised by its retail client base to calculate turnover rentals, alerts for key events, and to pay landlords the base rental directly through EFT. Benchmarking tools, eg cost per square metre or turnover, can be incorporated, that allow the user to benchmark individual stores against the portfolio.
The task of implementing Premises Manager further provides an audit of the processes, documentation, risk and information that is available per premises. Once completed, the opportunity exists to analyse the information and seek avenues to deliver value.
Corporate governance is another area where a contract or lease management system assists an enterprise in compliance with the provisions of King II, for example.
A company can ill afford individuals creating and holding onto Excel spreadsheets to manage their portfolios. The risk are simply too high. Imagine a retailer in a successful shopping centre with strong competition and someone overlooks a renewal date. The location could be lost for good, and in real life this situation does occur. The business needs to know that its assets are protected through robust systems and processes.
An automated contract management product delivers returns through reducing the administrative burden, reducing the risks of human errors, corporate amnesia, but most of all providing management with useful reports and benchmarks to proactively seek avenues for extracting value.
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