MASTER INVESTOR
time was being taken up managing the leases for their 60 + properties . At this , a lot of resource was being spent dealing with leases and data stored across numerous spreadsheets and physical folders full of paperwork . They decided to implement MRI Contract Intelligence to automate elements of their lease management processes and streamline their approach .
Discussing how the AI-powered tool adds wider value to the business , the Financial Manager at Equites Property Fund , Nasreen Mukuddem says “ Reading a lease , you can miss things .”
“ Having the software that analyses it and pulls a report on it allows you to spot income that we should be recovering from the tenant but we ’ re not . Being a REIT , whatever revenue we get is shareholder value , so with MRI Contract Intelligence we can really add value to the company .”
Turning a Necessity Into an Opportunity The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated existing trends in the global workplace and has heralded the end of the permanent office trend , welcoming remote working as a viable and strategic option .
According to a study by EY and the Urban Land Institute , over 75 % of the 555 respondents from the property management and real estate sector predicted that employees would be working remotely between 1 and 3 days per week .
This shift makes it increasingly important for businesses to have robust systems in place to facilitate remote working . This allows employees to access data securely and efficiently wherever they ’ re based and achieving this is a constant focus for MRI .
While for many software companies , SaaS and cloud-based technologies are considered cutting-edge , MRI South Africa began their journey towards offering cloudbased solutions in 2012 , and over 90 % of MRI ’ s South African user base is now operating in their SaaS environment . This out-of-the-box support for remote system access meant that for the most part , MRI clients were able to transition smoothly to working from home .
“ Since 2015 we made the decision to focus the majority of our investment into our SaaS solutions . The pace of progress we ’ ve been able to achieve has led to a huge drive-in adoption by our client base , and this allows us to deliver great benefits to their internal processes ,” Fairweather explains .
Applying Global Expertise to Local Challenges
While Fairweather is enthusiastic about the benefits of MRI ’ s global reach for South African real estate firms , he is also a passionate supporter of continued innovation and investment in local talent .
“ Even though we ’ re a larger scale international organisation , we ’ re also able to leverage local initiative and resourcefulness . With MRI ’ s global support , we have all the benefits of larger organisation whilst also being able to respond quickly with our regional team . We ’ ve got the best of both worlds , with the ability to call on a global network plus the ability to be agile and nimble on the ground , engaging collaboratively with our clients on issues which are unique to our region ,” he elaborates .
8 APRIL 2021 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine