In an interesting turn of events, the commercial real estate industry--long critiqued as technologically backward--has embraced the need for online systems. So much so, in fact, that most of the executives we've talked with are still mapping out tech strategies. Those strategies are just different than they would have been a year ago.

Vertical plays, "have always been and always will be dangerous," Jeffrey Hipschman, CTO for Julien J. Studley, tells Northeast bureau chief Amy Vaughn. "Anything that does only one thing is going to have a difficult time in this market."

But as Los Angeles reporter David W. Myers learned, what he terms the tech wreck will have little to do with most real estate firms' efforts to stay on technology's cutting edge. "Just because some dot-coms fail, doesn't mean you can scrap your own company's technology budget," says Robert C. Peddicord, SVP of LA-based office REIT Arden Realty. "The two aren't really related."

"It's a necessity to spend money on technology, and we plan to keep on spending," agrees George Roddy of Roddy Information Services in Dallas. "Our investment will be ongoing." In a conversation with Southwest bureau chief Connie Gore, he explained that "there are always new data bases that we want to add. And every time we add a product, we count on the Internet to deliver it."

The commercial division of Arvida Realty Services Inc. in suburban Winter Park, FL is also continuing full-bore into tech, and Southeast bureau chief Alex Finkelstein reports that the firm is banking on its extensive Internet site as well as selected alignments with national online information-exchanging networks to keep ahead of the pack.

"We have invested substantial resources of time, manpower and money in the development of one of the industry's leading Internet sites in order to assist us in not becoming reliant on a third party dot-com for our online survival," Arvida vice president/managing broker Robin L. Webb tells GlobeSt.com. The firm has also aligned itself with Loopnet "for national online marketing and upload from our internal system to that property data base."

Has the tech side of real estate taken a beating? Of course it has. But the value of technology as a tool for industry productivity has not been diminished by the shakeout. As Justin G. Garrett, research director for Transwestern Commercial Services in Austin, tells Connie Gore: "The need for the newest and the best is still out there. The big ones will succeed, and the moms and pops won't.

Instant Insights /

BIG PICTURE: Tech's Advancement Will Continue, With or Without Current Dot-Coms

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